BatCats make comeback

Baseball

Yesterday, Kansas State honored the nine seniors on the baseball roster, and then the seniors showed up in a big way to give the BatCats a much-needed win. With the game tied 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth, senior Jake Wodtke had an RBI single to break the tie. Ultimately, Kansas State would come from three down to overtake Oklahoma 9-7 and win the game. Seniors Jake Scudder and Steve Serratore also had back-to-back RBI singles to contribute to the win.

The teams will play in the series decider this afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 PM and is available for streaming through the WatchESPN service.

Track

The men’s and women’s teams swept the Ward Haylett Invitational, beating Kansas 42-41 and 70-28 respectively.

As expected from the final tune-up before the Big 12 Championships, a number of Wildcats finished in first place, including triple jump specialist Shardia Lawrence. Her first place mark of 13.70m is tops in the Big 12 this season and the third-best mark in Division I this year.

Shardia’s twin sister Shadae continued her winning ways in the discus throw with a toss of 57.69m. Already an All-American and an Olympian, this was her fourth meet win of the year. Her counterpart on the men’s side, Brett Neely, also took first in discus with a throw of 50.87m.

#HighJumpU was on full display with junior Miles Bearden taking the men’s crown with a jump of 2.15m. Current Wildcat Rhizlane Siba came third on the women’s side, with former Wildcats Kim Williamson and Alyx Treasure taking first and second place.

Gabby Lavington, participating in only her second shot put competition, had a career best toss of 13.62m to win the event.

The Wildcats also had success on the track with Terrell Smith and A’Keyla Mitchell both winning their respective 200m races, and Ranae McKenzie winning the 400m event. Kain Ellis won his second 800m event of the season, while Nina Schultz and Ariel Okorie went 1-and-2 in the 100m hurdles. Okorie later also took first in the 400m hurdles event.

In the distance events, Morgan Wedekind and Keegan Donahue both took first in their respective 1500m races.

Next up, the Wildcats will be at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on May 12-14 for the Big 12 Championships.

Happy Sunday!