By Jackson Schneider
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kansas State staved off elimination on Thursday morning, coming from behind to defeat Baylor 9-4 from Bricktown Ballpark.
The Wildcats trailed 3-0 after five innings, but the power-hitting K-State offense returned thanks to back-to-back home runs from Zach Kokoska and Nick Goodwin in the sixth.
From there, the contest was spun on its head, with the Wildcats pouring on seven runs in the seventh inning to take a commanding 9-3 lead.
"What a special performance from our guys," said Assistant Coach Austin Wates. "All we talked about pre-game was 'we want to get Coach Hughes back in that third base coach's box,' and those guys were fighting like crazy every single at-bat to scratch a win."
The victory saves Kansas State's season, prolonging its bid to sneak into the NCAA Tournament conversations in the final days before the field is announced, as well as allowing Kansas State Head Coach Pete Hughes to return to the field, following his four-game suspension served for an ejection last week versus TCU.
K-State entered the day 32-22 overall after falling in the bottom of the ninth to nationally-ranked TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament yesterday.
Earning the victory for K-State was redshirt-sophomore Carson Seymour, who came on in relief in the fourth inning and pitched six innings of one-run baseball to lift the Wildcats to the win.
"My confidence has always been pretty high, I mean, I've always believed in myself," said Seymour after the game, "I was just trying to go out there and compete."
The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out six Bears, allowed just five hits, and pushed Kansas State into day three of the Big 12 Tournament, where they will meet the loser of Thursday afternoon's contest between Texas Tech and TCU.
The victory marked the 33rd of the season for Kansas State, and will undoubtedly improve its NCAA Tournament resume, but all eyes will be on the Cats tomorrow afternoon.
First pitch will be at approximately 3:15 p.m. on ESPN+ from Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.