Despite explosive outings in the box from seniors Max Kaufer and Jayson Jones, Wichita State’s pitching struggled in a 7-5 loss to Kansas State on Tuesday night in Manhattan.
It marked the Shockers’ fifth-straight loss to the team from the Little Apple.
Kaufer, a catcher, and Jones, a third baseman, hit back-to-back home runs for the second game in a row to give the Shockers (11-6) a 3-1 lead over the Wildcats (12-4) in the top of the third inning.
Kaufer, especially, has been raking, as he recorded two home runs and seven RBIs in just two plate appearances in the Shockers’ 12-7 comeback win over West Georgia last Saturday.
“That was an unbelievable weekend by Max,” head coach Brian Green said on his Coaches Show Podcast Tuesday afternoon. “He’s destroying the baseball right now.”
Jones also didn’t cool off Tuesday night, notching two hits and three RBIs in the game. Senior left fielder Jaden Gustafson and junior center fielder Kaleb Duncan recorded two hits in the loss as well.
“Obviously, we are really hitting the ball,” Green said on the podcast. “We’re scoring a lot of runs. But defensively, we just have to get better.”
Wichita State seemed to have taken note of Green’s feelings about the defense and responded with several outstanding plays. With graduate shortstop Alex Ulloa looking on from the stands after being suspended in the series finale against West Georgia on Sunday, backup junior shortstop Owen Rush made a clutch play in the bottom of the first.
Rush dove to his left, collected the ball and threw a laser to junior first baseman Jack Quick to end the inning and leave a Wildcat runner stranded on third base. Sophomore second baseman Evan Escobar pinch hit for Rush in the top of the sixth, and his defensive presence was felt immediately.
Escobar made back-to-back throws on the move to record the first two outs in the top of the sixth inning. The first of these throws beat K-State star Dee Kennedy.
Kennedy was a nightmare for Wichita State last season, going 5 for 10 with four home runs in two games against the Shockers. Tuesday night was more of the same for the speedy shortstop, who recorded two runs, two hits and two RBIs.
Although Wichita State showed improvement defensively, this was not the case for the pitching. Green said he plans to showcase a starter on midweek games, but he went with a staff approach on Tuesday night.
The Shockers used eight different arms in the contest and allowed 12 hits, three walks and seven earned runs. Senior right-handed pitcher Amar Tsengeg and graduate right-handed pitcher Brady Pacha each pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball.
However, junior right-handed pitcher Brok Eddy gave up four hits and three earned runs in just two thirds of an inning. Senior left-handed pitcher Brady Owens received the loss after allowing three hits and two earned runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Those two earned runs proved fatal for the Shockers, who couldn’t reach base in the last three innings of the game.
Wichita State will look to bounce back when it returns to Eck Stadium to take on Butler in a four-game series starting at 6:05 p.m. on Thursday.
