Despite opening the game with two home runs, costly errors doomed the Kansas State Wildcats in an 11-4 loss to Northeastern on Tuesday night.
Seth Dardar and Keegan O'Connor got things started with three early runs, but Northeastern tied it up by the bottom of the second inning.
"You have to play catch, take care of the baseball, and situationally hit to win games at our level. We did none of these things today," Wildcats head coach Pete Hughes told KStateSports.com. "Our short-term goal is to become a more consistent product and thrive on doing the little things all the time."
By the end of the fourth inning, the Cats trailed 8-3 and had some major catching up to do.
Tanner Duke (1-2) took the loss after allowing five hits, two walks, and five runs over three innings.
Shortstop Maximus Martin had a rough day in the field with two errors, while second baseman Ty Smolinski added another, adding to the challenges for the K-State pitching staff.
According to KStateSports, the Wildcats have homered in 28 of 36 games this season and hold an 18-2 record when hitting two or more home runs in a game.
They’ll look to bounce back in the second game of the two-game set, scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m.
K-State will follow up the series with the Sunflower Showdown on the road against Kansas, beginning Friday and concluding Sunday.
The Jayhawks are currently tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings with Arizona State and recently dropped out of the Top 25 rankings after four straight losses.