Bat Cats Stay Hot, Move to 4–0

K-State baseball capped off the weekend with an 11–8 win over Air Force today. With the win, the Cats move to a perfect 4–0 to start the season. The offense, of course, was once again a headline for K-State, registering 11 runs on 11 hits, seven walks, and four stolen bases. Shintaro Inoue and Grant Gallagher both went yard, AJ Evasco recorded his first triple of the season, and Donte Lewis showed off his bat with a double.

Hitting wasn’t the only bright spot. Despite giving up eight runs — four in the last two innings — Robert Fortenberry had a spectacular day out of the bullpen. In 3.2 innings pitched, he allowed no hits, no walks, and struck out three.

To top off the 4–0 weekend, Dee Kennedy was named the Golden Spikes Award and D1Baseball Player of the Week. Kennedy finished the weekend with a .500 batting average, two doubles, three home runs (two of which were grand slams), 15 RBI, 10 runs scored, and five stolen bases. He also showed significant improvement from last year in his strikeout-to-walk ratio, finishing the weekend with five walks and just two strikeouts.

K-State will get a short break before heading to Arlington, Texas, for three games this weekend. The Cats will face tough competition in No. 9 Auburn, Nebraska, and Michigan. The first game is at 7:00 p.m. CST on Friday against the Auburn Tigers at Globe Life Field. We’ll see if the Bat Cats can keep it rolling after a great opening weekend.