top of page
Writer's picturePeak Events

Day 2: Karbach Round Rock Classic Recap


GAME 1: Washington State Rallies for 5-4 Win Over Kansas

Kansas was five outs away from picking up their second win at the Karbach Round Rock Classic when Washington State 1B Joey Kramer flipped the script. 


With two men on and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Kramer greeted Kentucky reliever RHP Grant Adler with a two-run bomb over the left field fence which catapulted Washington to a 5-4 lead and eventual victory.


The Cougars trailed from the second inning until Kramer’s home run in the eighth inning. With a win tomorrow, Washington State will take home the belt and the Karbach Round Rock Classic title.


“If you pitch, play defense and you stay in the game and you can get a swing late, sometimes you have a happy ending. But it was a pretty clean, good baseball game the whole time,” Washington State Head Coach Nathan Choate said.


Kansas RHP Dominic Voegele picked up right where the Kansas pitching staff left off last night. The freshman dealt 6.0 innings of baseball and allowed only one earned run. He issued only one walk with four strikeouts and was en route to his first collegiate win before Kramer spoiled that. 


“He’s a very mature player that doesn't get sped up and is not caught up in the moment of pitching at a Triple-A ballpark,” Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “He might as well be back home in Columbia, Illinois pitching as far as he's concerned in terms of his mentality.”


The Jayhawks fell behind in the first inning when the Cougars RF Alan Shibley blasted a solo home run to make it 1-0. Jayhawks RF Lenny Ashby answered in the home-half with a two-run home run to right field that fired up the Kansas dugout.


The Jayhawks added to their lead and gave Voegele some more run support in the sixth frame. Singles from C Jake English and SS Collier Cranford setup 1B Ty Wisdom. His double down the right field line extended the lead to 4-1. 


Washington State continued to battle and in the bottom of the seventh frame they got a run back. Jacob Morrow entered to pinch hit and singled to bring home a run. Then in the eighth inning, it was Kramer with the biggest swing of the afternoon.


“Off the bat, no I didn't think it was gone, but it ended up getting out,” Kramer said. “I think the approach through that at bat was just to fight. We were frustrated offensively and I just wanted to continue playing and get one for the team and it ended up working out.”

Kramer finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a run scored and three RBI. C Will Cresswell was the only other Cougar with a multi-hit afternoon. Cresswell went 2-for-4 as well.


Out of the Washington State bullpen, RHP Kaden Wickersham threw up plenty of zeroes. Wickersham went 3.0 innings of scoreless baseball with two strikeouts to earn the win. 

For a team that some people picked to finish last in the PAC-12 conference this year, it sure doesn’t look like it after wins against #24 Kentucky and Kansas this weekend.


“The biggest thing is these guys are playing hard together, they're playing for each other, playing loose and maybe that's part of them picking us last. The guys have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder and that's okay. But we're just been playing good baseball,” Choate said.


GAME 2: #24 Kentucky Rides Five-Run Second Inning to Victory


#24 University of Kentucky 3B Mitchell Daly unloaded a grand slam to aid a five-run second inning as the Wildcats marched to an 8-4 victory in the second game of Saturday’s Karbach Round Rock Classic.


Daly, the University of Texas transfer, hadn’t homered in his first three games as a Wildcat but he changed that in a hurry with his grand slam. 


“I was really happy for Mitchell Daly,” Kentucky Head Coach Nick Mingione said. “Born in Texas. Just to come and get some big hits and knock in six was big.”


After yesterday’s loss to Washington State, the Wildcats offense came out Saturday with plenty of energy and tallied eight runs in the first two frames. Daly led the charge with a 3-for-4 night with a home run, a run scored, and six RBI.


A three-run first inning started when C Devin Burkes collected an RBI single to score the first run of the game. RF Lukas Schramm added two more for Kentucky with a double. Texas State leaned on DH August Ramirez for their first run of the game. His solo homer in the top of the second made it 3-1 before Kentucky scored five times in the bottom half of the inning.


Texas State continued to hang around and it was three runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead in half at 8-4. LF Daylan Pena doubled to drive in two runs and it was a single from RF Cameron Thompson to score another.


Kentucky starter LHP Dominic Niman earned his second win of the season after 5.0 innings while allowing four runs with two walks and four strikeouts.


The Kentucky offense kept humming along and in the sixth inning, Daly came up clutch again. His single scored two more runs and extended the lead to 10-4. Kentucky scratched across one more run in the eighth inning thanks to a bases loaded walk from CF Nolan McCarthy


The Bobcats got a run back in the top of the ninth but it wouldn’t be enough as the Wildcats hung on for the win 11-5 win. 


As Texas State will look to play spoiler with a win over Washington State, the Wildcats return tomorrow and will face a Jayhawks team also searching for a winning weekend. Both teams enter tomorrow 1-1 in the KRRC. 



68 views

Comments


bottom of page