The two times Wichita State and Kansas State’s baseball teams met last season, the Shockers took an early lead, but the Wildcats stole the win each time.
WSU met the same fate in its Wednesday evening game against No. 22 KSU, falling to the Wildcats, 13-10, despite going into the fourth inning with a lead.
WSU outhit KSU 13-11, but lapses on the mound and defensive side of the ball cost the Shockers the win.
“We out-hit them. So that was a positive force there,” WSU head coach Brian Green said. “(We’re) a very physical team. We just didn’t get it done on the mound in the midweek, and that’s something we have to address moving forward with our program.”
The loss came against the highest-ranked team the Shockers have played this season. Their record fell to 10-18. KSU’s record improved to 20-8 as the team upped its winning streak to five games.
WSU used 10 pitchers. They gave up more than twice as many runs as the batters they struck out, with only six strikeouts for the whole game.
Green said using many pitchers was part of his game plan, but he stressed the importance of coming out of the bullpen on the right foot.
“Teams understand on Wednesday games that when you’re going to see a lot of multiple pitching that you’re not into a pitch count or anything like that,” Green said. “You’re just in there trying to be as aggressive as you can.”
Sophomore Tyler Dobbs entered the mound in the fourth, and despite two strikeouts, loaded the bases and gave KSU its first run on a full-count walk. The very next batter hit a bases-clearing shot to right field that sent the Wildcats’ fans who showed up to the game into roars of cheering.
Later in the inning, the KSU fans’ roars turned into “K-S-U” chants after the Wildcats’ sophomore Dee Kennedy sent his fifth home run of the season over the left-center wall, which drove in four more runs, 7-1.
During the spring, Dobbs caught pneumonia and hasn’t been able to find the same velocity and length in innings this season. Green said he doesn’t know whether this affected his performance on the mound against the Wildcats.
“I think there were some pitches that we wanted at specific spots that he missed on, and I think those are the things that he’ll have to learn,” Green said.
Senior Arnad Mulamekic stepped in to replace Dobbs and eventually retired the side.
After he stopped WSU’s bleeding in the fourth, Mulamekic gave up a leadoff homer in the fifth. Mulamekic and Dobbs combined for just 1 ⅔ innings pitched and gave up eight runs on seven hits.
KSU hit a sacrifice flyout in the seventh that upped its cushion to eight runs. A two-out wild pitch plated another Wildcat.
On the next at-bat, Kennedy smashed his second home run of the game and was once again greeted with “K-S-U” chants from the Wildcats’ fans. These chants, however, were the loudest of the game.
WSU’s first run came in the second inning as junior Jordan Black scored from second base on a single by sophomore Camden Johnson. The Shockers had a chance to cut into the deficit when they loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Johnson grounded out to end the inning.
In the seventh, WSU began to mount a comeback after sophomore Kam Durnin drove in two runs with a double. Senior Mauricio Millan tacked on one more with an RBI single in the same inning.
Senior Jordan Rogers doubled in the eighth, resulting in another run for WSU. Later in the inning, the Shockers loaded the bases with no outs and drove home four more runs.
The longer the inning went on, the louder the Wildcats’ fans groaned for the game to end. Luckily for them, KSU tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, and WSU went down with two runners stranded on base.
Green said that he was proud of the way his team was able to stand in and continue to fight, even with a run-rule loss looming over their heads.
“We were about to get 10-runned and embarrassed,” Green said. “And I was proud … I mean, nine runs in the last three innings was quite an effort to come roaring back against a top-25 team.”
Millan said that in the six innings before the final three, the team is going to have to find the most quality at-bats from the first pitch.
“Especially when they take a big lead like that,” Millan said. “Your first instinct as a hitter is just to get big and do more than you’re supposed to. So I think just keeping that mindset, regardless of what the score is — winning pitches, winning at-bats, and then with time, you’ll start winning some innings.”
Next up, Wichita State will hit the road for a conference series against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from Friday, March 4, to Sunday, March 6. The first pitch against the 49ers is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium.
Millan said he hopes the team can transition its late offensive firepower into its series at Charlotte.
“We’re just hoping to go to Charlotte and kind of … carry on that late-inning vibe from K-State,” Millan said.
