Cats Fall in Opening Round Tuesday, 2-1

ARLINGTON, TX (K-State Athletics) – KU managed to outlast K-State in the opening round of the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Tuesday, as the Jayhawks held on for a 2-1 victory at Globe Life Field.

“It was a well-played game,” said head coach Pete Hughes. “Disappointing from our perspective, obviously, but when you play in those tight ball games you’ve got to get a two-out hit. Have to get a misplay, there’s no wiggle room. You have to play really clean baseball to win those games.”

The Cats will play West Virginia (33-21) in an elimination game at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Globe Life Field and can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage can be heard on the K-State Sports Radio Network with live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/Watch.

The pitching staff combined to strike out 10 batters and held the Jayhawks (30-21) to five hits. Josh Wintroub logged 3 1/3 innings of three-hit, one run ball in his 13th start of the season, while Cole Wisenbaker and Jackson Wentworth combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

“It’s a challenge especially with the new format, starting a day early. It gets tricky. You need depth. Certainly, bullpen depth really didn’t hurt us today. We pitched well enough for sure to win a ballgame,” commented Hughes.

“It’ll get tricky, the key is those built-in day offs. That’s what you have to play to get in those situations. We can have a day off to rest your pitching, but going through the losing bracket will certainly test the depth of our pitching staff going forward.”

Tyson Neighbors (1-2) suffered the loss in relief, allowing one run (one earned) on one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work with three strikeouts.

K-State (31-23) held a 7-5 advantage in hits led by three-hit days from Kaelen Culpepper and David Bishop. Culpepper, who went 3-for-4, drove in the Cats’ only run in the fifth to tie the game.

The Sunflower Showdown rivals met for the second consecutive year in the Conference tournament.

The post Cats Fall in Opening Round Tuesday, 2-1 appeared first on News Radio KMAN.