K-STATE BASEBALL: BatCats Fall Back to Earth During a 4-0 Shutout Victory

MANHATTAN, KS - The BatCat hitters finally cooled off, but the Wildcat bullpen continues to shine as the K-State Wildcats (13-7) down the Air Force Academy Falcons (4-15) to wrap up the Wildcats homestand Wednesday afternoon.

The 4-0 victory was not quite the offensive explosion that the Cats have been producing in the last few games, but it continued their dominating defensive and bullpen performance. RS-Freshman Colton Kalmus (1-1) picked up the start and victory for the BatCats, recording four strikeouts, no hits, and only one walk while facing 12 Falcons batters in three and two-thirds innings of work. On the day, the Wildcat bullpen gave up only two hits while recording seven strikeouts. The Wildcat bullpen also only faced 30 batters during the combined shutout.

The high-flying BatCat offense was finally shot down by the Falcon bullpen during the afternoon matchup. Sophomore Steven Trojan (1-4) recorded the start and only surrendered four hits and one run during three innings of work. Sophomore Bo Wilson was much more efficient in recording two perfect innings of relief before the final two Falcon pitchers gave up three hits apiece and recorded three runs between them.

No Wildcat batter stood out on the day, though three Cats had two hits and four more had one, and all but two BatCat starters recorded a hit. The Cats were unable to take advantage of multiple scoring opportunities, stranding ten batters during the ball game. But four runs on ten hits was enough for the victory today.

After early struggles and a position change, the Wildcat outfield finally looks solid, led today by Ross Kivett who had a huge highlight-worthy diving catch to record the second out of the 2^nd inning. The Cats seem to have found the focus, defense, and pitching needed to continue their winning streak into conference play.

Speaking of conference play, the Cats next tilt is a three-game series in Norman against an OU squad who is sitting at 16-5 on the season and just recorded a 9-5 victory over TCU in a non-conference matchup Tuesday. The Sooners are currently 12-2 at L. Dale Mitchell Park this season, and face Arkansas-Little Rock this evening in their final tune-up game.

The current weekend schedule calls for the Friday game to start at 6pm CT, with both weekend games slated for 1pm CT. No broadcast TV has been scheduled for the game, so you will have to navigate to K-StateSports.com or 1350KMAN.com for free live-streaming audio or pay for the SoonerSports.TV broadcast.