K-State offense blows by Santa Clara in series sweep

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K-State sophomore pitcher Nate Griep pitches during the first game of the series against Santa Clara on Mar. 6, 2015 at Tointon Family Stadium. The Wildcats swept Santa Clara in the opening home series Mar. 6-8, 2015. (George Walker | The Collegian)

K-State baseball (7-7) completed their sweep of the Santa Clara Broncos this weekend with a 10-3 drubbing Sunday.

Led by senior outfielder Shane Conlon and junior catcher Tyler Moore, who each went 4-5 on the day with two RBIs a piece, K-State completed a strong offensive weekend that saw the Wildcats outscore and out-hit Santa Clara 31-9 and 37-17

“I was proud of the guys today,” K-State head coach Brad Hill said to K-State Sports. “You win big yesterday, and it’s easy to come out flat today. We didn’t come out flat, and that starts on the mound. (Junior) Corey Fischer gets a lot of credit, too, for putting up four zeros (on the scoreboard) to start it out. It allowed us to get in the flow a little bit.”

Fischer pitched four innings and allowed three runs on three hits before being relieved by freshman Jackson Douglas in the fifth inning. Douglas would go on to earn the first win of his career after giving up only one hit and no runs in two innings pitched.

The Wildcats kept their offense fairly consistent, putting up four multiple-run innings to blow past the Broncos.

Saturday

Offense was not in short supply in the second game of the series Saturday. K-State put up 17 runs on 14 hits, both a season high, to take game two by a score of 17-5.

Moore led K-State with five RBIs, the most any K-State player has had since former K-State standout Ross Kivett had five in March of 2013 against Nebraska.

The Wildcats scored seven of their runs in the first three innings before Moore hit his second homerun of the season to kickstart a three run sixth to put K-State up 10-4.

K-State then exploded for a seven-run eighth inning that blew the game open.

Sophomore Jordan Floyd got the win for K-State in relief allowing just one hit and one walk in four innings pitched.

Friday

Sophomore right-hander Nate Griep had his third-straight quality start as K-State strung together a 4-1 home-opening win over Santa Clara.

Griep gave up only one run on three hits in seven innings of work.

The Broncos struck first taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but the Wildcats responded in kind with Moore and senior outfielder Max Brown each drilling in two-out RBIs, scoring one and two runners respectively to take a three-run lead.

Senior catcher Carter Yagi added insurance with another two-out RBI that extended K-State’s lead to three runs, which was more than enough to earn the victory.

Up Next

K-State continues their eight-game home stand as they welcome the Creighton Bluejays for a two-game, mid-week series starting on Tuesday in Manhattan.

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