Utah’s Jacob Long hit for the cycle in a 16-14 defeat over Kansas State baseball Sunday afternoon at Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark. 

After dropping the series opener, Utah (15-10, 5-4 Big 12) rallied behind a six-run eighth inning to defeat the Wildcats and earn their fifth series win of the season and second in Big 12 play. With the loss, the Wildcats dropped to 18-10 overall with a 4-5 Big 12 mark. 

“Another tough loss,” head coach Pete Hughes said in a statement. “We’re not finishing games. There is plenty of areas to look at to find the solution. It’s easy to say our bullpen is struggling but we’ve left some opportunities to score out there. We’ve played sloppy defense that led to runs. There’s blame to spread in each aspect of our game. We have tough kids who will get on the other side of this skid and we’ll be a better program because of it.”

How it happened

K-State wasted no time jumping on the board, as the Wildcats sent 10 to the plate and exploded for seven runs on six hits in the opening frame.

Leadoff Nick English laced the first pitch he faced from starter Cameron Nielson to start off the seven-run inning surge, before advancing to third on a double from Dee Kennedy. The duo came in three pitches later, as Bear Madliak shelled his third homer of the series 454-feet over the left field wall.

With two outs, AJ Evasco and Carlos Vasquez each drove in a run, leading to a two-run blast by Cadyn Karl to make it 7-0 and force Utah to make its first call to the bullpen.

Utah pulled the game within three, 7-4, with two blasts by Jacob Long, who homered in consecutive at bats.

The Wildcats added a run in the third, led by a ground-rule double from Ty Smolinski. The sophomore scored in the next at-bat, as Grant Gallagher lined a hit to center to push the lead to four.

English belted his second homer of the year to lead off the fourth. An RBI-double from Smolinski and opposite field two-run base hit from Evasco pushed the Wildcats into double figures for the 12th time this season. 

Luke Jacobs 401-foot no-doubter headlined the Utes’ four-run fourth inning.

After three scoreless innings, Vasquez delivered a two-run double to left center to stretch the lead back to four, 14-10.

Utah erased the deficit in the bottom of the eighth, scoring six unanswered to secure the comeback victory.

Up next

K-State will head over to Provo Tuesday, facing BYU (13-13, 4-5 Big 12) in a non-conference midweek matchup. Tuesday’s game is slated for 7 p.m. CT at Miller Park and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.