It was a game the Wildcats had been longing for.
An 11-3 win for K-State in an offensive explosion on Tuesday against the University of Nebraska Omaha inside Tointon Family Stadium ended a seven-game losing streak for the Wildcats.
“It was good to see us offensively tonight,” head coach Brad Hill said. “Our losing streak wasn’t because of lack of trying, but tonight we just grinded it out and now we need to string some games together.”
The Wildcats are now 12-13 on the season and recorded their first win since March 16 after being swept this past weekend by Oklahoma State.
K-State got the scoring started in the second inning after three straight singles by senior catcher Tyler Moore, junior infielder Steve Serratore and a RBI single by senior outfielder Danny Krause put the Wildcats up 1-0.
Wildcat junior infielder Jake Wodtke had a game that he will remember for a long time. He went 3-3 on the night after a single that scored Serratore in the second inning to give the Wildcats a two-run advantage.
The Wildcats leaned on Moore, Serratore and Wodtke, who all had singles that scored a run, and put three more scores on the board to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead after three innings of play.
Wodtke was in the middle of the action yet again in the fifth inning. There were runners on first and second, and he hit a three-run home run to give the Wildcats an 8-0 lead. This was his first home run of the season and his fifth RBI on the night.
“I wasn’t thinking the ball was going out, but the wind helped me out a little bit,” Wodtke said. “Tonight was a huge confidence booster, and that is a big key for us going forward. We just need to keep this going for the next couple of weeks.”
The very next batter was freshman outfielder Michael Smith, who walked and then stole second and third before being hit in by senior outfielder Clayton Dalrymple’s double to give the Wildcats a nine-run advantage.
Two batters later, freshman catcher Josh Rolette hit a double, scoring Dalrymple to put the Wildcats up 10-0 going into the sixth inning.
Wildcat freshman pitcher Logan Wiley threw five innings of shutout ball and only allowed three hits and one walk in the winning effort.
Junior pitcher Nick Jones had a good outing, as he provided three strikeouts in 1.1 innings and closed the game out for K-State.
K-State will host Oral Roberts at 4:05 p.m. today in Manhattan before traveling to Lubbock, Texas, to take on Texas Tech this weekend.
“We need to make a quick turnaround and get a scouting report,” Hill said. “Oral Roberts is good and beat plenty of Big 12 teams these past two weeks, so it will be tough.”
