The Kansas State baseball team dropped two games in the weekend series against Oklahoma in Manhattan, but a win on Saturday may keep the Wildcats’ hopes of a Big 12 Tournament appearance alive going into the final month of the season.
Oklahoma won the first game 8-4 on Friday night. The Sooners had two four-run innings in the third and seventh innings to take the opening game of the series.
For K-State, sophomore Zach Kokoska batted 2-3 at the plate with a two-run home run in the eighth inning. As a pitcher, freshman Griffin Hassall allowed three runs on four hits and four walks in three innings of work.
On Saturday, K-State bounced back with a competitive 5-2 win in front of a Tointon Family Stadium crowd numbering over 2,200 fans in game two.
Junior Caleb Littlejim improved to 5-1 this season in 6.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits. Junior Will Brennan earned his second save of the season in 2.2 innings of work.
The Sooners opened the scoring in the top of the third inning with an RBI single by junior Brady Lindsly, but K-State junior Cameron Thompson hit a home run to right field in the bottom of the third inning to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard.
K-State added a run in the fifth inning after a double-play to break the 1-1 tie. The Wildcats scored two runs in the seventh inning on a squeeze bunt by senior Thomas Hughes and added an insurance run in the eighth inning with an RBI single by sophomore Jaxon Passino.
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It was another competitive matchup in the series finale Sunday, but the Wildcats ended up falling 6-3 in extra innings. The Wildcats held a 2-0 lead after runs in the third and fourth innings, but Oklahoma rallied to score three runs in the top of the eighth inning. Fortunately, a solo home run by Thompson in the bottom of the eighth inning tied the game 3-3.
After a scoreless ninth inning, the Sooners scored three in the tenth inning with a two-run home run by freshman Diego Muniz and an RBI double by sophomore Jordan Vujovich. K-State could not return the favor and left one player on-base as the game ended.
Freshman Jordan Wicks played seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts. K-State’s pitchers struck out nine in the Sunday loss; Kokoska went 2-3 with a walk for the Wildcats, and Oklahoma sophomore Tanner Tredaway went 3-for-4 with one RBI in the finale.
The Wildcats now sit at seventh in the Big 12 Conference, with three conference series remaining. K-State will host Wichita State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to Waco, Texas, for a weekend series with Baylor.
