Following a heartbreaking loss on Friday night in which Kansas State saw a 5-1 lead evaporate in a five-run Longhorn eighth inning, the Wildcats returned the favor on Saturday afternoon, overcoming a three-run deficit in the sixth inning to defeat the Longhorns, 6-5.
K-State (20-13, 6-5) scored three runs in the seventh behind a pair of sac flies from shortstop Nick Goodwin and outfielder Cole Johnson. An additional run-scoring single by first baseman Roberto Pena gave the Wildcats a lead the team wouldn’t relinquish.
“I’m really proud of our players and how resilient they were today,” head coach Pete Hughes said.
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Sophomore Kyler Heyne, a transfer from Navarro College, claimed the victory on Saturday. His second of the season, Heyne pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out a pair in the process.
Fellow pitcher Tyson Neighbors stepped up for K-State, claiming his fifth save of the year as he struck out eight of the 11 batters he faced on Saturday.
“Neighbors was the difference in today’s game,” Hughes said. “He was dominant.”
The Wildcats enter Sunday afternoon’s game with a chance to win its series over the Longhorns for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in five years with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
