| Freshman Marc Gomez tossed five solid innings but did not factor in Wednesday's decision. |
MANHATTAN, Kan. ? No. 26 Kansas State scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth on an error and a fielder's choice grounder and the Wildcats won their sixth game in a row (13 of 14 overall) with a 5-4 victory against UTSA at Tointon Stadium.
After the Roadrunners (10-8) scored three runs on four hits in their half of the inning, K-State (17-3) got a leadoff double to left field from Rob Vaughn, followed by single through the right side off the bat of Jordan Cruz. Vaughn was given the stop sign at third base, but senior right fielder Aaron Powell misplayed the grounder and that allowed both runners to move up a base.
Sophomore right-hander Kevin Clarke, who started the frame for UTSA, then walked Adam Muenster to put runners on first and second and Dane Yelovich moved the pair up a base with a sacrifice bunt. in front of the plate. Clarke then intentionally walked Carter Jurica to load the bases and Roadrunners head coach Sherman Corbett called in right-hander Zach Calhoon from the bullpen.
Nick Martini chopped an 0-1 pitch from Calhoon to second baseman Ryan Hutson, but the UTSA infield was unable to turn the double play and that allowed Cruz to come home with the game-winning run.
The Roadrunners threatened in the ninth off Wildcats closer James Allen, who had entered the game an inning earlier.
Sophomore catcher Tyler Carpenter, who was 3-for-4 on the day, reached base when he was hit by a pitch with one out Senior shortstop Marshal Davis followed with a walk and that brought up senior All-America center fielder Michael Rockett with the go-ahead run on first with nobody out. After Rockett took a first-pitch ball from Allen, he then watched back-to-back fastballs grab the inside corner and was ejected for arguing the calls with home plate umpire Jay Sanderson. Junior Ryan Rummel popped out to short for the second out of the frame and senior left fielder Jose Hernandez struck out swinging to end the series for the Roadrunners.
Allen, who blew a chance at his third save the year in the eighth, got the win after keeping UTSA at bay of the final two frames. He allowed just one hit, walked a pair and fanned three in improving to 1-0 on the season.
Meanwhile, Clarke (0-1) was saddled with his first loss of the year after giving up two runs on two hits and a pair of walks in just two-thirds of an inning. Freshman southpaw Marc Gomez gave UTSA another solid start, giving up three earned runs on four hits in his five panels of work. Senior lefty Andy Benedict added two scoreless frames in relief of Gomez and Calhoon walked one and struck out one in recording the final two outs of the eighth.
UTSA took a 1-0 lead in the third when a Davis single up the middle allowed junior designated hitter Eric Johnston, who walked to lead off the inning, to score from second base.
The Wildcats grabbed the lead an inning later on Justin Bloxom's two-out homer to left and they tacked on an insurance tally the following frame when Drew Beiry came home when a Carpenter throw to second base got away from Davis.
The Roadrunners opened the eighth with four consecutive hits and back-to-back RBI singles by Rockett and Hernandez tied the game at three. Hutson lofted a sacrifice fly to right three hitters later to put UTSA back in front.
The Roadrunners had 10 hits for the 11th time this season, but they stranded nine runners. Davis, Hernandez and Rockett all had two hits and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Cruz led the Wildcats at the dish, going a perfect 3-for-3.
K-State now has win 11 consecutive home tilts, its best opening stretch in program history and all four games in the all-time series have been decided by one run, with three coming by identical scores of 5-4.
UTSA (3-3 SLC) begins the final swing of its season-long eight-game road trip on Friday night at Sam Houston State (14-5, 5-1). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Don Sanders Stadium and the entire series can be heard live on goUTSA.com (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports).