Impressive pitching earmarked the three-game series–Nick Pantos for ODU and K-State’s Jordan Wicks.
The Wildcats weren’t able to back-up last weekend’s series win against San Francisco as a hot Old Dominion team (11-3) took two of three games. The Wildcats dropped the bookends of the weekend series while taking the middle game on Saturday.
The Wildcats now stand at an unimpressive 6-8 with seven games to play before conference play opens.
Game 1: The series opened up Friday with the Monarchs showing off their ace right-hander Nick Pantos. He entered the game with a 2-0 record and a sub-1.00 ERA. Pantos backed up those stats by shutting down the Wildcats–going 8 1/3 innings and allowing only three hits–as ODU won the game, 5-0. The Wildcats couldn’t get a runner to 2nd off Pantos. Wildcat starter Tyler Eckberg (0-3) didn’t pitch badly (7 2/3 innings, six hits, three earned runs, and 4 K’s), but it wasn’t enough. To make matters worse, Eckberg left the game in the 8th inning with what appears to be an arm injury.
Game 2: The Wildcats bounced back on Saturday with a 6-2 victory. As the old saying goes, momentum in baseball is only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher. That was the case for the Wildcats.
Freshman Jordan Wicks showed why he’s the Wildcats best starter. Wicks went seven innings, allowing two hits (one infield), striking out four, and walking only one batter.
Game 3: The rubber game went ODU’s way, 8-2. K-State starter Will Brennan (1-3) wasn’t effective, but he also didn’t get help from his defense. In the first, 3rd baseman Rainer Ausmus committed the first of his two errors–and that gaffe led to four unearned runs. The Monarchs tacked on another four runs in the 6th to seal the win. ODU starter Ryne Moore (3-0) pitched seven innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. He had 6 K’s.
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UP NEXT: The Wildcats have a busy five-game week. Northern Illinois (3-11) will come to Manhattan for two games (Tuesday and Wednesday)and, then, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (11-5) comes calling over the weekend.
NOTES:
Friday night woes: The Wildcats are 0-4 on Friday’s this season. That won’t do in the rugged Big 12.
Freshman Standout: Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks is impressive. After four starts, Wicks is 2-0 with a minuscule 1.17 ERA. He has given up only 17 hits in 23 innings while striking out 25 batters.
Hot and Cold Offense: Offensively, the Wildcats have been feast or famine this year. K-State hasn’t collected an extra-base hit in three contests while the team has banged out 14 hits in three other games.
