K-State baseball picked up their second Big 12 win of the season against West Virginia Thursday, 8-2, in front of a packed, blackout home crowd at Tointon Family Stadium.
The Wildcats (13-14, 2-5) controlled the game from the third inning on, scoring two runs a piece in the third and fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead. West Virginia managed to send runners across the plate in the fifth and eighth innings, but a three-run seventh inning secured the win in game one of the three-game series.
“It was a good team win in a lot of different aspects,” K-State head coach Brad Hill said to K-State Sports. “We pitched it really well, and we had a big stop in the fifth inning to keep (West Virginia) to one run. There were two-out hits with RBIs that helped us finish off some innings that we have not been able to finish as of late. We had a lot of guys contribute to the win tonight.”
Much of K-State’s damage came with two outs. The clutch hitting led to five two-out RBI’s, four of which came from senior infielder Carter Yagi and sophomore catcher Steve Serratore.
Sophomore starting pitcher Colton Kalmus held the Mountaineers to two hits and zero runs in four innings of work. Four other pitchers saw action for K-State including junior reliever Corey Fischer, who earned the win by retiring all seven batters he faced in his third relief appearance this season.
“I didn’t want (West Virginia) to get any momentum, so we made the move and (Corey Fischer and Jackson Douglas) came in and did their job,” Hill said. “I am proud of Jackson; he is a freshman but is continuing to progress. Corey has really adapted to this relieving role as well, which has been very unselfish on his part.”
Junior infielder Tyler Wolfe and junior outfielder Clayton Dalrymple were the heavy hitters for K-State. Wolfe finished 2-for-4 hitting with two runs and an RBI. Dalrymple also managed two hits in four plate appearances.
The Wildcats and Mountaineers will return to the diamond tonight at 6:30 p.m. K-State junior starting pitcher Brandon Courville will take to the mound against West Virginia junior Ross Vance.
