Late Rally and Lockdown Bullpen Push Cats Over UConn

The Cats completed a comeback win last night against the UConn Huskies with a five-run bottom of the eighth inning. The inning kicked off with K-State down 3–2 when Micah Kendrick was hit by a pitch and Cadyn Karl came in to run. Robby Bolin followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt, and an overthrow by UConn's catcher allowed Karl to score and tie the game, while Bolin advanced to third with the middle of the order due up.

Grant Gallagher walked, then AJ Evasco blew the doors open with a triple. Dee Kennedy and Carlos Vasquez followed with singles, driving in two more runs for a four-run advantage heading into the top of the ninth.

Cohen Feser held strong in the eighth and ninth innings out of the bullpen to keep the Huskies' offense at bay. But Feser, in his K-State debut, wasn't the only impressive arm out of the pen. Carson Liggett could arguably be the player of the game.

Starting pitcher Donte Lewis had trouble finding the zone early, with 27 of his 53 pitches being balls. Lewis threw just two innings, giving up three earned runs on three hits and four walks. It was Liggett who came to the rescue in his debut for K-State. Liggett inherited two runners with no outs in the top of the third and proceeded to strike out the next three batters to get the Cats out of the jam.

Liggett totaled five innings pitched with no earned runs, five strikeouts, and just two hits allowed — a very strong debut for the right-hander coming back from a year off after Tommy John surgery.

One thing you love to see in this game is the Cats' mentality to not give up and to pick up their teammates. Much of the game looked gloomy for the Wildcat bats, with credit due to UConn starter Cayden Suchy, who threw six innings, recording nine strikeouts, walking just one batter, and allowing two runs on four hits. But it was the arms of Liggett and Feser that picked up their team, keeping the Huskies from adding on and keeping the game within reach.

K-State is back at it today at 1:00 p.m. CST against Penn State, who sit at 1–1 so far in the Desert Invitational. Penn State dropped its first game to Air Force, 15–3 in eight innings, giving up 14 hits and five stolen bases (hello Dee Kennedy and what K-State wants to do offensively). However, they looked much better in their second game, beating Grand Canyon (who the Cats will see later this season) 9–3, allowing just five hits and two stolen bases while starting a different catcher.

The Nittany Lions project to start Isaiah Shayter, a freshman who was a 2025 First Team All-State selection in Pennsylvania. The Cats will start Lincoln Sheffield, who looks to build on his seven-win, 70 strike-out season last year and his impressive outing in the Austin Regional.