Release from K-State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State scored eight unanswered runs while the Wildcat pitching staff limited Creighton to two hits after the first inning as the Wildcats extended their winning streak to six with an 8-2 victory over the Bluejays on Wednesday at Tointon Family Stadium.

 

Despite Creighton (6-4) scoring two runs on three hits in the top of the first, K-State (8-4) – behind a group of six pitchers – quieted the Bluejay bats over the final eight innings. Relievers Brogan Heinen, Jordan Floyd and Jacob Ruder did not surrender any hits over their combined four innings pitched from the fifth through eighth while Brandon Erickson gave up just one safety in his two frames over the third and fourth.

 

Creighton, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, finished with five hits – its lowest in a game since the first weekend of the season.

 

“We got on the pitchers really hard after the weekend (against UAPB), and they took it to heart,” said K-State head coach Brad Hill. “We got on them about pitch location, competitiveness, the whole thing. Today, we stressed getting the ball back down in the (strike) zone. For the most part, they did a nice job with it. I was impressed with all of them.”

 

Heinen earned the win, the first of his career. The freshman struck out one in his perfect – and career-high – two innings pitched.

 

The offense, meanwhile, evened the game two-all in the third with two-out RBI by Jake Wodtke and Steve Serratore and then took the lead in the fifth with another pair of two-out runs off an infield single by Jake Scudder.

 

Wodtke, Serratore and Scudder – along with Clayton Dalrymple and Tyler Wolfe – helped the top of the K-State lineup generate eight of the team’s nine hits. Seniors Dalrymple and Wolfe as well as Scudder turned in two hits each.

 

The top-five Wildcat hitters also went a combined 5-for-10 with two outs and delivered five of the team’s seven RBI in such situations. Over the six-game winning streak, K-State is hitting .382 (29-for-76) with two outs.

 

“We’re doing a great job right now with two-out hitting, and getting some clutch RBIs,” said Hill. “Those are the little things that we have to continue to do. “