The Kansas State baseball team came up short in the tenth inning against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, losing 4-3 in Conway, South Carolina on Sunday.
The Chanticleers got out to a quick start, an RBI single to left field from senior first baseman Kevin Woodall Jr. scored senior third baseman Seth Lancaster with two outs in the first inning.
After a 1-2-3 top of the second inning from the Wildcats, Coastal found two more runs.
With the bases loaded and no one out, sophomore right fielder Cameron Pearcey singled into right field scoring junior left fielder Kieton Rivers. Second baseman sophomore Cory Wood grounded into a 6-4-3 double play but scored sophomore catcher Kyle Skeels.
K-State’s starting pitcher, senior Justin Heskett, induced a ground out to the shortstop to end the Chanticleers’ threat.
Heskett pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits. He recorded three strikeouts.
The game then calmed down until sophomore shortstop Cameron Thompson sent a double off the right field wall.
Two batters later, a single by senior right fielder Kyle Barfield sent Thompson home to make it 3-1 Coastal.
The Wildcats threatened again in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and third and two outs, junior catcher TK McWhertor struck out looking to end the offensive half of the inning.
Coastal had Pearcey on second base with one out, but he was thrown out trying to tag up on a fly-out to right field to end the inning.
K-State, down 3-1, found a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game.
Both runs came on a two-RBI single to left field by Thompson. Freshman second baseman Brett Owen scored from third, and sophomore designated hitter Will Brennen came around to score from second.
Sophomore relief pitcher Jared Marloff struck out two Chanticleers in the bottom of the ninth and induced a two-out ground ball to second base to send the game into extra innings.
Marloff provided three and two-thirds innings of relief. He allowed one run on three hits while recording seven strikeouts.
In extras, sophomore pitcher Caleb Littlejim pinch ran for freshman first baseman John Sorensen, who reached on a throwing error. Littlejim got as far as second base, but a lineout from senior third baseman Jake Biller would end the Wildcat’s half on the tenth.
A two-out RBI single down the left field line by Woodall Jr. scored Wood to seal the Chanticleers’ extra inning victory.
K-State, now 0-3 for the season, returns to action Monday with a game against Virginia Tech in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at Baseball at the Beach.
