SLATE: Kansas State completes sweep

Kansas State has a four-game winning streak after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon to complete a sweep of the three-game weekend series at Tointon.

In the fourth, the BatCats manufactured a run then got one the old-fashioned way as Zach Kokoska walked, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a Dylan Phillips sacrifice fly. A two-out double by Daniel Carinci was cashed in when Terrence Spurlin singled, and K-State had a lead they’d never relinquish.

Connor McCullough turned in his second great start of the season, lasting 5¹⁄₃ innings and giving up a lone run in the sixth before departing. C-Mac struck out six, walking only one, and two of the three hits he allowed were in the sixth inning.

The Wildcat bullpen, which has had its struggles this season, tossed 3²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball, with Caleb Littlejim picking up the save by hurling the final two innings without incident.

K-State (4-2) will now relax until Friday when they again begin a three-game series at Tointon, this time against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are 4-3, having taken three-game series by 2-1 margins against both Nicholls State and Arkansas-Little Rock while losing a one-off game against Southern Illinois. All seven games have been on the road, as is their midweek game tomorrow at Bellarmine; the series this weekend ends their 11-game road trip to start their season.

Golf

In Tallahassee, K-State improved their position on Sunday as they shot a 17-over 305 to finish the Florida State Match-Up at 46-over, 55 strokes back of the winning hosts. It was an unpleasant day for everyone, as no team broke par and only three squads were even better than 10-over. A major collapse by Coastal Carolina (+29 on the day), however, allowed the Cats to move up one spot on the leaderboard.

Niamh McSherry led the Cats with a 3-over 75, and finished tied for 24th at +10. That was 22 shots back of Florida State’s Beatrice Wallin, the only golfer in the entire tournament to finish under par — and she shot an absurd -12.

The ladies will have three weeks to practice before heading to Tucson where they will host — yes, host — the MountainView Collegiate.

Basketball

The women host TCU tonight at 6:30, with Brian Smoller and Missy Heidrick bringing you the action on ESPN+. TCU is struggling almost as much as the Cats this year, so it’s a good opportunity to snag another win.

Football

Over at GPC, Adam Suderman reports that Wildcat signee Damian Ilalio accomplished a major pre-college goal on Saturday: he finally won the 6A-285 state title in wrestling after coming up short in two previous attempts.

Other

Sad news on campus, and it means you can be pretty sure that a varsity swim team isn’t on the horizon. After temporarily closing the Natatorium for the fall semester and announcing it would be shuttered permanently within three years, the university upped the timetable. On Friday, K-State announced that due to $4 million in necessary repairs to even reopen the facility, they’re just not going to do it. (Reid Carlson, swimswam.com)