No. 10 Texas allowed season highs for runs (11) and hits (17) as the Longhorns dropped an 11-9 decision to Kansas State in Big 12 Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Texas jumped out to a 3-1 lead with single runs in each of the first three innings. Bradley Suttle broke the scoring seal with a sacrifice fly to drive in Chance Wheeless in the first inning. In the second inning, Nick Peoples plated Preston Clark with a single. Kansas State scored its first run in the top of the third as an infield grounder pushed Eddie Vasquez across. Texas responded with a run in the bottom half of the third as Suttle hit his eighth home run of the season over the Horns’ bullpen in leftfield.
Kansas State took its first lead of the three-game series with a five-run fifth inning. Adam Muenster, J.J. Muse and Eddie Vasquez each singled to load the bases. Rob Vaughn followed with a grand slam home run, his first dinger of the year. With two outs, Drew Biery followed with a solo home run to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead.
Texas responded with six runs in the bottom of the fifth. The inning featured a three-run triple by Preston Clark. The Longhorns also scored runs on a sacrifice fly by Josh Prince, a bases loaded hit by pitch drawn by Kyle Russell and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Travis Tucker, staking Texas to a 9-6 lead.
Kansas State trimmed two runs off the lead in the seventh. Vaughn and Derek Bunker singled to leadoff the inning and a groundout by Jordan Cruz pushed runners to second and third setting up a sacrifice fly by Biery and an RBI single by Justin Bloxom, cutting the UT lead to 9-8.
The Wildcats reclaimed the lead with three runs in the seventh. In the inning, Kansas State scored runs on two separate throwing errors and an RBI single by Biery to take an 11-9 lead.
Daniel Edwards pitched the final two innings for Kansas State, allowing just one hit while striking out three to earn his seventh save of the season.
Randy Boone (0-5) was saddled with the loss for Texas. He allowed five runs on five hits and one walk over 1.1 innings.
Justin Murray (2-2) earned the win in relief allowing two runs on three hits and four walks over three innings.
Texas was paced by Suttle who went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs and two RBI. Peoples went 3-for-5 with one RBI and Preston Clark added two runs and three RBI.
The Longhorns could not find the answer for the Wildcats’ bottom of the order as their No. 8 and 9 hitters combined to go 6-for-8 with six runs and four RBI. No. 9 hitter Vaughn went 4-for-4 with one double, one home run, three runs scored and four RBI. Vasquez, hitting eighth in the lineup, went 2-for-4 with three runs. Kansas State also got solid hitting performances from Biery who went 2-for-4 with one home run, one run and three RBI and Bloxom who was 3-for-5 with one run.
The Longhorns return to action on Tuesday as Texas hosts Rice in a 6:05 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
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