Baseball loses to TCU

Yes, someone finally beat UConn. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke.

That sound you heard last night was CLANGA as Mississippi State’s Morgan Williams, all of 5’5”, slayed the giant that is UConn women’s basketball. She hit the biggest buzzer beater shot in the sport’s history to give her team a most improbable 66-64 win in overtime.

The Huskies had won 111 straight games before Williams’ buzzer beater. That number (eleventy-one) always seems like a typo. If it was unfathomable that any one program could win that many games, it was just as improbable the streak would end yesterday.

If you choose to read only one piece about this monumental upset, read this one from Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch: All dynasties fall.

Baseball

Back home in Manhattan, the Kansas State baseball team couldn’t quite complete an improbable day of pitching, ultimately losing 5-0 to No. 3 TCU in the 11th inning.

The highlight of the day for the BatCats was the stellar pitching of Justin Heskett. The right-handed junior gave up two hits in the first inning and then tossed perfect frames until back-to-back walks in the seventh. Reliever Hudson Treu continued the streak well into the 10th inning. Lefty Jordan Floyd eventually gave up the first run to the visiting Horned Frogs in the 11th and then began TCU’s avalanche of scoring.

Afterwards, Brad Hill noted that the Big 12 is a league with very strong pitching, perhaps as an explanation for his team’s struggles with the bat, saying “[w]e’ve got to find a way to scratch across a of run somewhere along the way.”

The series continues today with the second game against TCU. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 PM at Tointon Family Stadium.

Tennis

It was Senior Day in Manhattan yesterday, and the day’s festivities began with honoring Maria Panaite, Iva Bago, Livia Cirnu and Palma Juhasz. Together, these players have combined for more than 40 dual victories and have also been on the ITA All-Academic team three times.

Unfortunately for the team, the celebration ended there, and the team lost the season’s final home stand to Wichita State 4-1.

Although the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead taking the first doubles match with a Carolina Costamagna/Ines Mesquita win, Wichita State ultimately took the doubles point.

Panaite won the team’s lone point, beating the Shockers’ Ting-Ya Hsu 6-4, 6-3.

The team will travel to Stillwater next to take on Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

Track and Field

Kansas State’s distance runners took a short road trip to Emporia to compete in the Emporia State Relays today. This is the team’s first trip to ESU since 2015, last year’s edition of the competition being rained out.

Last week, Emma Wren and Kain Ellis were both winners in the women’s and men’s 1500m respectively. Meanwhile, Lukas Koch and Colton Donahue went 1-and-2 in the 3000m at the Hurricane Invitational last week, and will look to continue their winning ways.