Kansas State Defeats Oregon State, Takes 1-0 Lead In Super Regionals

Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Venturing into previously uncharted territory with its first Super Regionals berth, the Kansas State Wildcats struggled to put up runs in the first nine innings during game one against Oregon State. With just one run on six hits going into the ninth inning with 2-1 deficit, Tanner Witt hit a single to center field that scored Ross Kivett to tie the game and send the teams into extra innings. It was all K-State from there.

After managing eight hits over the first nine innings, the BatCats came alive in the tenth with four runs on five hits to break open a 6-2 lead. Three different Beaver pitchers were featured during the inning to stem the tide, but base runners aided by opportunistic hitting, a wild pitch, and an Oregon State throwing error put OSU in too deep a hole to climb out of. The Beavers had one hit in the bottom of the tenth and failed to score another run, falling to K-State.

Jake Matthys recorded the win for the Wildcats, pitching the final two innings while allowing two hits and striking out one, with no runs. Joe Flattery received the start for K-State, and went five innings while allowing four hits – including a home run in the fourth that scored both OSU runs – while striking out three and walking two.

The game took just under four hours to complete, with K-State forcing Oregon State to go deep into its bullpen. While the Wildcats only needed three pitchers to throw 126 pitches, Oregon State utilized a total of six hurlers and threw a combined 211 pitches on the night. With the win, K-State improved to 45-17 on the year and is now one win away from qualifying for the College World Series. The second game of the Corvallis Super Regional will be played at 9 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.