Kansas State baseball jumped back into the win column Tuesday night, as the Wildcats dealt Wichita State a 10-6 loss at Eck Stadium.

With the win, K-State (21-12, 5-7 Big 12) earned its sixth consecutive win over Wichita State, tying the program’s second-longest winning streak in the series’ history.

“Thought it was a good all-around baseball game we played on the road,” head coach Pete Hughes said in a statement, following his ninth victory over Wichita State (21-13, 5-4 American) at K-State. “I thought it was a good start from Tanner Duke.”

“Ten hits and five innings is deceiving, because I kind of just look at barrel contact to see whether it was a quality start or not, and it was one walk, seven strikeouts,” Hughes continued. “Tanner has improved from his last couple of outings, which is great. It’s what we wanted to see and what we needed. The bullpen was solid pitching with the lead. Those are all positives to build on again when beating an in-state rival on the road and playing clean baseball. I thought our kids did a good job tonight.”

Duke (3-1) was awarded the victory in his seventh start of the season. The junior right-hander surrendered five earned runs on 10 hits with one walk and striking out a game-high seven.

How it happened

After a scoreless first inning, the Wildcats jumped on the board with a two-run single from Cadyn Karl, ending a 18-inning scoreless drought.

K-State pushed its lead to 5-0 in the third, as Kyan Lodice, Dee Kennedy and Bear Madliak were each walked to lead off the inning. The trio all scored, as the Wildcats took advantage of a wild pitch before Carlos Vasquez and Shintaro Inoue each drove in a run.

The Shockers trimmed the deficit to two, 5-3, headlined by a two-run third inning. 

With one out, catcher Shea McGahan laced 0-1 pitch into right field to score the runner from third and make it 6-1 in the fifth. Grant Gallagher pushed another run across the plate, as the senior lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to stretch the lead to four. 

Leading 8-5, lefty Robert Fortenberry relieved Duke and set down the Shockers in order in the sixth and seventh, before surrendering a hit in the eighth. WSU tagged Fortenberry for a run, leading K-State to make its second call to the pen.

Tazwell Butler entered the game and inherited runners on first and third. The redshirt senior quickly picked up the final two outs to preserve the lead. Butler allowed one hit in the ninth before finishing off his third save of the season.

Up next

The Wildcats return to Tointon Family Stadium this weekend, when they host Oklahoma State (21-12, 6-6 Big 12). The series gets underway Friday with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. CT, and will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on KMAN News Radio.