WICHITA, Kan. Wichita State found itself buried in an early 5-0 deficit and couldn’t complete a comeback, falling 10-6 to Kansas State on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium.
The Wildcats (21-12) seized control early, pushing across two runs in the second inning and adding three more in the third. Cadyn Karl opened the scoring with a two-run single off WSU starter Brady Hamilton (3-5), and Kansas State capitalized on three straight walks issued by reliever Ethan Rogers in the following inning to add another trio of runs.
The Shockers (21-13) responded with some life in the bottom of the third. RBI singles from Jaden Gustafson and Jacob Gutierrez narrowed the gap to 5-2, and Nico Rodriguez’s run-scoring double down the right-field line in the fourth pulled WSU within two.
Kansas State countered quickly in the fifth, stretching the lead back to 7-3 with an RBI single from Shea McGahan and a sacrifice fly by Grant Gallagher. Wichita State answered again in the bottom half when Anthony Cepeda delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single.
Cepeda and Jayson Jones both turned in four-hit performances to pace the Shockers’ offense, with Jones extending his impressive hitting streak to 25 games.
The Wildcats added insurance with single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to push their advantage to 10-6. Wichita State threatened in the eighth, scoring a run on a Kansas State throwing error and putting two runners on with just one out, but reliever Tazwell Butler shut the doorretiring the next two hitters and tossing a scoreless ninth to secure his third save.
Kansas State starter Tanner Duke (3-1) earned the win despite giving up 10 hits and five runs over five innings.
Wichita State deployed eight different pitchers in the game, with none throwing more than two innings.
The Shockers return to action Friday night at UAB, with first pitch of the series opener set for 5:00 p.m. CT.
