FRISCO, Texas - Kansas State University opened up the last day of the Frisco Baseball College Classic defeating the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 9-6.
Junior left-hander Lincoln Sheffield started for Kansas State, delivering a powerful performance. After allowing two hits in the first inning, Sheffield settled in, giving up just two more hits over the next five innings. He finished with 6.1 innings pitched, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven.
Kansas State head coach Pete Hughes said in his opening statement that he thought Sheffield pitched incredibly and held a good offensive team to very little. He also noted that everything comes back to how well your starting pitcher did.
“It begins and ends with quality pitching and I thought Lincoln Sheffield was awesome again for the second straight outing, keeping a pretty offensive team at bay… I thought it was a really good day for our offense but it all stems off the great start we got from Lincoln Sheffield.”, said Hughes.
Senior Jackson Brockett started for Nebraska but was pulled after two innings, having allowed three runs on two hits. Sophomore TJ Coats replaced him but struggled, giving up three runs on two hits and three walks before being pulled in the third. The Cornhuskers used four more relievers, who combined to allow five runs on four hits and three walks.
Kansas State’s offense came out swinging early. Junior Maximus Martin led off the first with a double to left and scored on senior Seth Dardar’s RBI double, giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. Nebraska threatened in the bottom half when freshman Devin Nunez and junior Cayden Brumbaugh singled, but Brockett retired the next two batters to escape the jam.
The Wildcats added another run in the second. Sophomore Nick English and junior Kyan Lodice drew walks, allowing Martin to drive in English with a line drive to center, making it 2-0. Nebraska got on the board in the bottom half when senior Rhett Stokes singled, stole second, and scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Kansas State broke the game open in the fourth after English reached on an error, and freshman AJ Evasco launched a two-run homer to the Home Run Terrace in left field. Senior Keegan O’Connor followed with a mammoth solo shot to left, traveling 480 feet with an exit velocity of 111 mph, extending the lead to 5-1. The Wildcats loaded the bases later in the inning but couldn’t capitalize.
The Wildcats added runs in the fifth and sixth. In the fifth, English walked and scored on Lodice’s RBI single. In the sixth, sophomore Dee Kennedy walked, and Dardar doubled him home. Dardar then stole third and scored on junior Bear Madliak’s single, pushing the lead to 8-1.
Nebraska showed signs of life in the seventh when junior Dylan Carey led off with a solo homer to left. The Cornhuskers put two more runners on but stranded them as sophomore James Guyette, who replaced Sheffield, recorded the final two outs. Guyette, in his fifth appearance of the year, went 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits.
Kansas State added an insurance run in the eighth when Martin homered to left, finishing 3-for-4 with two RBI and a walk, just a triple shy of the cycle.
Nebraska showed even more fight in the eighth and ninth inning. Senior Cael Frost singled with Carey hitting a double to bring him home. Sophomore Hayden Lewis grounded out to second, scoring Frost and making it 9-4. In the ninth, senior Joshua Overbeek was hit by a pitch, and Nunez hit a two-run inside-the-park home run, cutting the deficit to 9-6. However, the Wildcats’ lead proved too steep, and sophomore Blake Dean closed the game for Kansas State.
With the win, Kansas State finished the Frisco Classic 2-1, securing second place. Nebraska, meanwhile, ended the tournament 1-2, losing their last two games.
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