The Kansas State baseball team picked up their first win of the season, a 6-5 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies in their final game at Baseball at the Beach on Monday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The Wildcats started the scoring early in the game. The first batter of the game for the Wildcats, sophomore right fielder Will Brennan, reached on an error by the shortstop, stole second, advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on a passed ball.
A two-run home run to left field from Virginia Tech’s junior catcher Luke Hornaski gave the Hokies a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth.
K-State’s starting pitcher, freshman righty Quinton Potter, struck out two Hokies to get out of trouble in the top of the fourth.
Potter pitched five innings, giving up just two runs on three hits. He recorded five strikeouts.
K-State got that run back on a solo shot to left field from junior first baseman Rainer Ausmus. K-State had an opportunity to take the lead, but with runners on first and second, junior center fielder Drew Mount flew out to left field.
Virginia Tech took a 3-2 lead in the seventh on a solo home run by junior center fielder Nick Menken.
Later in the top of the seventh, a throwing error on K-State allowed Hokie junior short stop Nick Owens to reach first with no one out.
Owens advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then third on a wild pitch by senior right-hander Hudson Treu.
Another sacrifice bunt, this time by Hokie junior right fielder Stevie Mangrum, brought Owens home.
An RBI single by senior first baseman Tom Stoffel scored senior designated hitter Joe Freiday to give the Hokies a 5-2 lead.
An RBI by sophomore right fielder Will Brennan scored freshman second baseman Brett Owen from second with one out.
The Wildcats tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the lead on a three-run home run to right field by Mount.
Mount’s two-out dinger scored junior short stop Cameron Thompson and Brennan. The go-ahead home run was the junior college transfer’s first hit as a Wildcat.
Virginia Tech showed life in the top of the ninth, but with runners on first and second and two outs, K-State’s sophomore right hander Tyler Eckburg induced a fly out to centerfield to end the game.
Eckberg provided two and two-thirds innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits. He also recorded the win for K-State.
The Wildcats will head to Elon, North Carolina, to take on the Elon Phoenix in a one-off game Wednesday on their way to Norfolk, Virginia, to take on the Old Dominion Monarchs in a three-game weekend series.
