K-State Winning Streak Comes to an End, Falling 11-4 to OU

Norman, OK -- As the poet once said, all good things must come to an end. For the BatCats it’s their win streak, coming to an end at 12 following a 11-4 loss to the Sooners in Norman. The youth in the bullpen for the Cats showed cracks, with the 8-run flood bursting forth in the 5^th. Aside from the one inning of doom, the Cat bullpen actually managed to hold the Sooners to just four runs without having their best stuff.

Sophomore Levi MaVorhis (3-2) got the start and the loss for the Cats, going 4-2/3 innings before getting pulled after allowing a run to score after getting two outs. Then poor Sophomore Landon Busch, who has been the Sunday starter, came in and allowed three more runs before getting yanked. And then Freshman Jake Fromson came in and loaded the bases before allowing a Grand Slam homerun, but finally managed to get the elusive third out to end the bloodletting. Fromson worked through two more innings without allowing another run, before giving way to Sophomore Jordan Witcig who allowed two more Sooner runs in the bottom of the 8^th. It surely was a trial-by-fire for the young staff, and aside from one inning of complete and utter failure, they held well enough to remain competitive.

The bats also looked weak after a week of putting up video-game numbers. The Cats put up three runs through three innings and looked to be headed towards another victory, before the eight-run 5^th inning by the Sooners put the game nearly out of reach. The Cats scored another run in the 8^th and managed to load the bases but managed to strand all three. The BatCats scored four runs on nine hits, and could never seem to find the rhythm that propelled them to the big victories in the last several games. The big story late was the return of Blair DeBord as a pinch-hitter in the 8^th. He had torn his oblique in practice after the win against Iowa, and appeared to re-aggravate the injury after his first big swing, but managed to fight through the pain and even record an infield single.

With the loss, K-State falls to 13-8 and 0-1 in conference play. The Sooners move to 17-6 and 1-0 on the season. The series continues tomorrow at 1pm CT from L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.

(Sorry for the short recap, but BASKETBALL)