1 - It had been 728 days since K-State walked off an opponent at Tointon Family Stadium. That's a long time to wait for the most exciting play in baseball in front of your home fans.
Two outs. 10th inning. Winning run in scoring position on Saturday against Oklahoma.
It felt like that streak was in danger when Dylan Phillips stepped in the box, with more hits in 2021 than any other Wildcat.
"The kid works his butt off every day to be in that situation," K-State head coach Pete Hughes said. "He's the right guy in that spot."
2 - The truth is, the streak didn't stand a chance once Blake Burrows arrived at second base in the 10th inning on Saturday afternoon.
The sophomore outfielder hadn't started a game this season until Tuesday night against Northern Colorado. For most of the year, he was a defensive replacement for the Wildcats.
But Burrows was also the guy who scored, 728 days ago, the last walk-off run in Manhattan against No. 19 TCU in 2019. When Phillips ripped a walk-off single into center field, Burrows was once again roaring home from second to deliver another unforgettable K-State win.
3 - The point of all this was lost somewhere in the mayhem that followed Phillips' game-winning hit, as his teammates sprayed him with water and ripped off his No. 24 jersey.
But after the Wildcats dusted off the Sooners on Sunday to claim their second Big 12 series win of the season, that moment feels even more significant.
The bats that K-State has been waiting on are finally starting to heat up. And the guys who have delivered all season don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Walk-off.
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 17, 2021
Winner.
Where did @DylanP_16's shirt go? #KStateBSB x @NCAACWS pic.twitter.com/Ny0juXl0pg
4 – Saturday in Manhattan felt like it was always going to be a turning point for K-State Baseball.
After opening Big 12 play with No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 3 Texas, the 'Cats finally faced an unranked opponent in their 10th game of the conference slate.
The schedule is going to get easier. But if K-State had lost both games on Saturday, the Wildcats would have dropped to 2-9 in conference play. That's a tough climb.
Hughes had an early sign his team was up for the moment.
"That's a lot of baseball, that's a long day. Our guys were at a pregame training meal at 10 o'clock this morning, and now it's almost 10 o'clock tonight, so it's a 12-hour day," he said. "To keep the intensity, urgency, and enthusiasm, I thought it was pretty impressive by our squad."
5 - It helps to start off a with a pitcher in Jordan Wicks who begins every game at a low simmer.
It took Wicks three outs to stare down his first Oklahoma batter of the day, after he ended the first inning with back-to-back strikeouts. That would be a recurring theme on Saturday.
"There wasn't much barrel contact. I think there was one quality barrel hit off him, and that team's leading the conference in hitting," Hughes said. "His stuff was really good today. His fastball command was outstanding. He had a good feel for all four of his pitches."
6 - The Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year finally boiled over after getting a fly out to end his afternoon with a one-two-three bottom of the seventh.
That meant a pretty standard (for Wicks) K-strut, yelling at the Wildcat dugout and chest-bumping his teammates. Give him seven innings, three hits, 7 strikeouts and 121 pitches.
Let 'em know 😤
7 IP, 3H, 1 ER, 7K - 121 pitches @wicks_jordan x @NCAACWS pic.twitter.com/GI4woqt93q
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 17, 2021
7 - After a loss on Saturday night, in which K-State battled from 6-0 down to get the tying run into scoring position in the ninth inning, Sunday's rubber match felt just as important.
After Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead, the 'Cats responded with a Phillips double and a Chris Ceballos sacrifice fly to even things up.
Ceballos has been a key part of this K-State offense in conference play, shaking off a slow start to the season in the process. When Big 12 play began on March 26, the senior was hitting .140.
Since then, he's been mashing with a .319 batting average and three home runs.
8 - On Sunday, Phillips delivered a go-ahead home run in the fifth, before Burrows came up with two outs in the inning and a chance to extend the K-State lead. He ripped a single into right field, scoring two and giving the Wildcats some breathing room.
🥶 @blake_burrows 🥶
'Cats hang two more on the Sooners#KStateBSB 6 - Oklahoma 3 | Top 6 pic.twitter.com/pXijsPOIUo
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
The sophomore has collected all four of his hits this season since Tuesday night, but all that mattered against Oklahoma was the punch he provided at the bottom of the K-State lineup.
Same goes for Caleb Littlejim, whose 3-for-3 day against the Sooners included a walk and an RBI."Really speaks to the depth of the program and quality of the kids who are always in the right frame of mind when their name gets called to give a productive outing for our team," Hughes said. "Couldn't be prouder of our guys to bounce back, stay positive and put themselves in a really good situation to win a series and get us back in the thick of things in the Big 12."
9 - You can go ahead and slot Tyler Eckberg into the "been here all along" category after four innings of shutout baseball in relief on Sunday afternoon.
The redshirt junior has looked comfortable as a back-end-of-the-bullpen pitcher, with seven appearances of one inning or less this season. When the 'Cats need a closer, Eckberg has been the guy.
On Sunday, all he did was help deliver the Wildcats a Big 12 series win with a 54-pitch gem.
"Tyler Eckberg was the story of the day for me. He settled everything down," Hughes said. "It was good to have those guys. I think our bullpen depth won that series for us and the quality of our bullpen depth."
10 - Two years is a long time to go without walk-off magic in Manhattan, but not quite as long as the Wildcats have been waiting for a series win over Oklahoma. That hasn't happened since 2013.
And with his team starting to turn the page in the Big 12, it got Hughes thinking about one more eight-year streak the Wildcats are trying to break this season.
"I always say that I wouldn't have taken my next job if I couldn't go to Omaha. There's a reason why we came to Kansas State. We want to go to Omaha," Hughes said. "We want to win series in the Big 12 and get back to that elite level like the 2013 team."
The Link Lonk
April 19, 2021 at 06:17PM
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SE: With a Little Walk-Off Magic, K-State Baseball Keeps Rolling - Kansas State University Athletics - K-StateSports.com
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