Despite two lengthy postponements, No. 3 seed Kansas State weathered the Arkansas storm and defeated Louisiana Tech, 19-4, to open its NCAA Tournament campaign Friday night into Saturday morning.
In Friday afternoon's game, regional host Arkansas thumped SEMO, 17-9, before inclement weather enveloped Baum-Walker Stadium. It was K-State's first tournament game since 2013, but they had to wait a little longer after a floodlighting delay to the evening game.
The thunder eventually died down, and the sound of the Wildcats' bats soon echoed through the Arkansas atmosphere, led by a historic performance from shortstop Kaylen Culpepper.
Culpepper, an MLB prospect, hit a home run and a double on Saturday, followed by a triple and single on Friday, completing his first Wildcat cycle since 2014. Culpepper, who became just the fourth player in Kansas State history to complete the cycle, was 4-for-5 with four hits and four runs scored, along with four RBIs.
Brady Day, a first-team All-Big 12 selection, led off with a one-run single in the first inning on Friday night and then helped Culpepper score on a sacrifice fly in his next at-bat. Day finished two-for-five with three RBI.
Already leading 2-0, K-State added five more runs in the second inning as left-hander Owen Boerema struck out the Bulldogs in style. Home runs by Day and left fielder Chuck Ingram and a triple by Culpepper were the highlights as K-State stretched out to a strong lead.
Ingram got going in the fifth inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to extend the Wildcats' lead to 9-1, then hitting two home runs off the ninth batter and finishing with 3 hits in 5 at-bats.
Head coach Pete Hughes, who understands the tension of a national championship game, said midway through the game on the ESPN+ broadcast that he was pleased with how his team came out of the game with momentum. Still, he said “keeping the foot on the gas” will be key.
The Bulldogs fought back in the bottom innings, scoring three runs off Boerema, who struck out six and allowed just two runs over 4 1/3 innings, but a seventh-inning walk hampered the graduate's ability to control the strike zone, allowing four earned runs.
After the left-hander escaped the inning, thunder rumbled again and pouring rain began to fall, causing the game to be suspended for two hours before the decision was made to resume at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Kansas State used freshman relief pitcher Blake Dean in the morning, but the Cats' offense continued to be the talking point.
Trailing 9-4 in the sixth inning, third baseman Jayden Parsons ensured the offense picked up where they left off, smashing a leadoff solo home run over the outfield wall. Parsons finished with 4 hits in 5 at-bats, 4 RBI and 4 runs scored.
Parsons and Culpepper each hit a one-RBI double and a home run Saturday, paving the way for a 10-run onslaught against the Bulldogs. Kansas State had 18 hits as a team, but the pitchers allowed just six hits to Louisiana Tech.
Kansas State will play regional host Arkansas at 8 p.m. Saturday night in a double-elimination bracket due to a delayed game.
A written statement from Hughes had not been released at the time of writing.
