Cats Crush Nebraska in Game 2

Something changed overnight for Kansas State.

After suffering a 5-3 loss Friday night to open its home series against Nebraska, the Wildcats felt they needed to make a statement in game two on Saturday.

The Wildcats needed a win, and they got it Saturday with a 13-5 victory over the Cornhuskers. But maybe even more so, they needed the way in which they beat Nebraska.

The swagger was back, the momentum steadily built in the form of two grand slams and 14 hits scattered throughout the game. The Wildcat offense wasn't going to be bottled up two consecutive days.

"We needed this win," senior Adam Muenster said. "We just wanted to come into today with a little more focus in the dugout and on the field, and play like we did earlier in the year."

With the win in hand, the Wildcats improved to 22-6 overall and 5-3 in Big 12. Meanwhile, Nebraska dropped to 16-15 overall and 4-7 in the Big 12.

Sophomore left-hander Kyle Hunter recorded the win to improve to 6-0 on the year. Hunter threw five innings, giving up four earned runs on seven Nebraska hits.

For head coach Brad Hill, it started with a plan on improving what the Wildcats did Friday night.

That plan, Hill said, focused on a more aggressive approach at the plate than he saw Friday night, when the Wildcats left 10 runners on base in the 5-3 loss.

"I told the guys before the game 'If you are going to swing, swing aggressively,'" Hill said.
His team listened.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning and the game tied at three, sophomore left fielder Matt Giller connected on a pitch from Nebraska's Chase Adams, driving it over the left-field wall.

The grand slam opened the game up, giving the Wildcats a commanding 7-3 lead.
With the four-run lead, the Manhattan native gave the Wildcat bench the energy and spark they had been searching for since the series began.

"I knew it was a pretty good opportunity," Giller said. "We have been getting runners in scoring position and just not getting that hit. Coach always talks about getting the big hit, and I just tried to get the big hit."

The Wildcats weren't finished though.

With the bases loaded and another opportunity to extend their lead in the sixth inning, Kent Urban drove a first-pitch fastball over the centerfield wall for the Wildcats' second grand slam of the afternoon.

"I just got that first pitch fastball down the middle and put a pretty good swing on it and fortunately it went out," Urban said.
K-State went on to score one more run in the sixth inning off a double from Muenster and pushed its commanding lead to 13-4, and with dependable closer James Allen on the mound Hill was comfortable.

Allen pitched 2.2 innings of relief work for the Wildcats, striking out two and gave up just one run.
"I was pretty confident," Allen said. "I just knew all I had to do was hit my spots and I had to lock in with [catcher Daniel]
Dellasega, who did a great job of calling pitches. I just tried to hit his chest and good things happened."

The series finale between the Wildcats and Huskers is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Tointon Family stadium.

Photo- Michael Schweitzer The Manhattan Mercury