⚾️ Late Home Runs Lift Wildcats Over Jayhawks

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks dropped Sunday’s rubber match to the Kansas State Wildcats by a score of 6-3 at Tointon Family Stadium. Kansas State hit two home runs in the seventh inning to pull ahead.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Tyler Ruhl (3-2)
Final line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO

Loss: Ryan Vanderhei (5-5)
Final line: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 SO

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas State (25-22) jumped out to a first inning lead on a solo home run by Jeff Heinrich.
• KU evened the score in the second inning. With Nolan Metcalf at second base, Jack Hammond hit a single into right field. The right fielder did not field the ball cleanly and Metcalf came around to score, while Hammond advanced to second.
• Kansas pulled ahead 3-1 in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Sergio Rivera and a sacrifice fly from Tavian Josenberger.
• After walking the first batter in the bottom of the fifth inning, Vanderhei was able to get out of the inning after a line drive double play. Payton Allen made a snow cone catch and fired over to first base to double off the runner.
• K-State scored a pair of runs to tie the game 3-3 in the sixth inning on a 2-run double by Dylan Phillips.
• The Wildcats took the lead in the seventh inning on a pair of home runs. Nick Goodwin hit a solo homer to leadoff the inning and Kaelen Culpepper hit a two-run homer to make the score 6-3 in Kansas State’s favor.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jake English: English finished the game 4-for-4 with a double and run scored. His four hits were a career high.

UP NEXT
Kansas (20-29) will return home for its final four home games of the season beginning on Friday against No. 16 TCU at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+ and live audio can be heard on the Jayhawk Sports Network.