MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – K-State starter Josh Wintroub tossed 6 1/3 innings, eight players recorded a hit, and K-State completed the series sweep, as the Wildcats picked up an 10-1 win over UMass Lowell Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
Wintroub stifled the River Hawks’ offense, allowing two hits over his first six innings of work and finishing with three hits against him. Jackson Wentworth took over to throw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, helping K-State (7-3) to its second series win of the season.
“A good start for Josh Wintroub,” said head coach Pete Hughes. “On a really tough day to pitch, the conditions were challenging, but it takes a veteran like Josh, who’s been around baseball for a while, to eliminate distractions and execute his pitches – which he did exactly.”
“He made some crucial pitches when needed, and we managed to minimize the number of walks. Josh only had one pitch that we had to worry about overall, but that was the storyline of the weekend: we got consistently good pitching,” said Hughes.
Wintroub finished with a season-high seven strikeouts over his 6 1/3 innings of work with just one run allowed in his first start at K-State. UMass Lowell (3-7) managed just one run via a solo home run by Brandon Fish in the seventh.
The Wildcat offense backed the righty’s gem with 10 hits from eight different players, including multiple from Nick English (2-for-3) and Brendan Jones (2-for-5). Jones, alongside Jayden Lobliner and Raphael Pelletier each drove in a pair of RBI.
“We were able to get on base and run the bases great all weekend, and we played clean baseball. When you minimize your walks and you don’t make any errors, you’re going to have a chance to win games, and we’re really proud of our team – that was a clean weekend of baseball. Ending it with a series sweep on a tough day to play is something we can certainly build on.”
THE RUNDOWN
Wintroub retired the first seven batters he faced, that included three strikeouts.
The Wildcats put runners in scoring position in the fourth, but UML’s first baseman snagged a foul ball into the River Hawks dugout to get out of the bases loaded jam.
UML recorded a pair of hits in the fifth until a walk loaded the bases. With two outs, Wintroub punched out the final batter in five pitches.
K-State broke it open in the bottom of the inning, with lead-off David Bishop lining his first hit of the day through the left side until the junior scored with a grounder to short from Brendan Jones.
Jones stole second to move into scoring position before coming around on a two-out double by Brady Day. Nick English and Danniel Rivera each singled to expand the Cats lead, 4-0.
Jones dropped a bunt down out of range of the River Hawks’ defense to safely reach first, scoring Bishop from second.
K-State took advantage of two walks and hit by pitch to score three runs in the seventh led by a two-run single past the River Hawk’s first baseman by Raphael Pelletier.
Jayden Lobliner rounded out the Wildcats scoring with a two-out, two-run homer – his third in six games.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored 10 runs on 10 hits with no errors committed and nine left on base.
- UML was held to one run and held to five hits with no errors and seven men left stranded.
- Wintroub earned his first win as a Wildcat, tossing a season-high 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts (1-0).
- Eight different players recorded a hit for K-State – two had multiple.
- All 10 runs for K-State were RBI.
- Three Wildcats had multiple RBI (Jones, Lobliner, Pelletier).
- K-State hit .304 (7-for-23) with men on base and .316 (6-for-19) with runners in scoring position.
- UML went 2-for-8 (.250) with runners, with only two reaching scoring position.
- K-State went 4-for-11 (.364) with two outs.
- Five of the Cats’ runs came with two outs.
NOTES
- K-State registered its first series sweep of the season.
- Wildcats lead the all-time series, 3-0.
- K-State moves to 5-1 at Tointon Family Stadium this season
- Under Hughes, K-State is 87-36 (.707) at home and 72-24 since 2021.
- K-State has homered in 19 of the last eight games.
- Three Wildcats extended their on-base streaks to 10-plus, dating back to 2023 (Culpepper – 17), Jones – 14), (Pelletier – 13)
UP NEXT
The Wildcats head east for a pair of matchups against nationally-ranked foes in No. 8 Tennessee and No. 10 Clemson. K-State take on the Vols Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, before making a quick turnaround against Clemson on Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
