K-State Drops Series to Utah After Late-Game Struggles

It was a very disappointing series against Utah this past weekend for K-State. The Cats dropped two of three games to a team in the bottom half of the Big 12 standings.

K-State's lone win came in game one by a score of 8–5. James Guyette was stellar across six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 10 batters. Adam Arther came on in relief to earn the save. Bear Madliak stole the show, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, highlighted by a double and two home runs.

Game two featured an array of pitchers for both teams, as Utah beat the Cats 13–11, tallying 21 hits against K-State pitching. Notably, the K-State bullpen gave up eight runs on 10 hits in the seventh and eighth innings. This brought back some concerning flashbacks to previous games where K-State has struggled to close things out.

The frustration continued in game three. K-State jumped out to a big lead with a seven-run top of the first, powered by home runs from Madliak and Cadyn Karl. The offense stayed strong, finishing with 18 hits and 14 runs. However, K-State committed three errors in the game, including two in the second inning that helped fuel a three-run frame for Utah. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Utah scored six runs on seven hits to take a 16–14 lead and hold on for the win.

I generally try to stay positive and not dwell on the negatives, but it has been frustrating lately watching this team struggle to close out very winnable games. From the 11-run bottom of the eighth in Houston’s game three, to twice giving up late leads against Arizona State, and now twice against Utah, the pattern is hard to ignore. The frustration comes from knowing just how good this team is and can be. I have the utmost confidence in Pete Hughes and this Bat Cats squad to right the ship. Fortunately, the baseball season has many games, and there are still plenty of opportunities to get back on track.

That first opportunity will be tomorrow against BYU as the Cats stay in Utah. BYU is 13-13 on the season but is 4-2 at home this season against Big 12 teams, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State thus far. BYU beat Utah last week on a Tuesday night 6-5. I fully expect Coach Hughes and the team to come ready and get right before returning to Manhattan to face TCU.