NIL
Houston Stifles K-State in Opening Round
ARLINGTON, Texas – Three Houston relievers combined for eight scoreless innings Wednesday night, as the 11th-seeded Cougars defeated No. 6 seed K-State, 9-2, ending the Wildcats run at the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field. Houston, which earned its first Big 12 Conference tournament win, improves to 30-24 on the […]
ARLINGTON, Texas – Three Houston relievers combined for eight scoreless innings Wednesday night, as the 11th-seeded Cougars defeated No. 6 seed K-State, 9-2, ending the Wildcats run at the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field.
Houston, which earned its first Big 12 Conference tournament win, improves to 30-24 on the year and will face third-seeded TCU Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. K-State (31-24) will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday, May 26 at 11 a.m. via the 2025 NCAA Selection Show, which can be seen on ESPN2.
“We come to these tournaments to try and win them and play well,” head coach Pete Hughes commented. “We got off to a really good start, and obviously, we couldn’t build on anything from there.”
“We had the chance to answer a five-run inning in the second, and we started building an inning that allows you to get back into the game with a hit by pitch and a walk and we ran the bases poorly. So, we squandered a great opportunity to get back in, and that kind of set the tone for the game,’ Hughes added.
Cougars’ starter Paul Schmitz surrendered two runs in the opening frame and scattered two hits before handing the ball over to Andres Perez. The right-handed reliever held the Cats to just two hits in his four innings of work with four strikeouts on his way to earning the win (3-1), while Brady Fuller was credited the save.
Left-hander Jacob Frost was tagged for the loss, dropping his record to 1-4, as the St. Louis, Mo., product was spotted for five runs in the second.
Five different players recorded a hit for K-State, with Dee Kennedy driving in both runs in the first.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After holding the Cougars in the top half of the first inning, K-State jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind a two-run single by Kennedy.
Maximus Martin was issued a walk before a single from Keegan O’Connor and hit by pitch loaded the bases to bring Kennedy to the plate. The Cats’ third baseman flared a 2-2 pitch into center field to spot Schmitz for the runs.
Houston immediately answered with five runs in the second, leading K-State to make a call to the pen and bring James Guyette to the hill. The right-hander forced a grounder to second to stop the damage.
After two scoreless innings, the Cougars scored four runs over a three-inning stretch to put the game away, leveling the season series with the Wildcats, 2-2.
INSIDE THE BOX
Houston, which earned its first Big 12 Conference tournament win, improves to 30-24 on the year and will face third-seeded TCU Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. K-State (31-24) will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday, May 26 at 11 a.m. via the 2025 NCAA Selection Show, which can be seen on ESPN2.
“We come to these tournaments to try and win them and play well,” head coach Pete Hughes commented. “We got off to a really good start, and obviously, we couldn’t build on anything from there.”
“We had the chance to answer a five-run inning in the second, and we started building an inning that allows you to get back into the game with a hit by pitch and a walk and we ran the bases poorly. So, we squandered a great opportunity to get back in, and that kind of set the tone for the game,’ Hughes added.
Cougars’ starter Paul Schmitz surrendered two runs in the opening frame and scattered two hits before handing the ball over to Andres Perez. The right-handed reliever held the Cats to just two hits in his four innings of work with four strikeouts on his way to earning the win (3-1), while Brady Fuller was credited the save.
Left-hander Jacob Frost was tagged for the loss, dropping his record to 1-4, as the St. Louis, Mo., product was spotted for five runs in the second.
Five different players recorded a hit for K-State, with Dee Kennedy driving in both runs in the first.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After holding the Cougars in the top half of the first inning, K-State jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind a two-run single by Kennedy.
Maximus Martin was issued a walk before a single from Keegan O’Connor and hit by pitch loaded the bases to bring Kennedy to the plate. The Cats’ third baseman flared a 2-2 pitch into center field to spot Schmitz for the runs.
Houston immediately answered with five runs in the second, leading K-State to make a call to the pen and bring James Guyette to the hill. The right-hander forced a grounder to second to stop the damage.
After two scoreless innings, the Cougars scored four runs over a three-inning stretch to put the game away, leveling the season series with the Wildcats, 2-2.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Houston scored nine runs on 11 hits, committed one error, and stranded nine runners on base.
- K-State scored two runs on five hits with two errors and leaving eight runners on base..
- Frost was tagged for the loss after allowing five runs, all earned, in 1 2/3 innings of work.
- Five different Wildcats had a hit.
- Perez (3-1) picked up the win in relief, limiting K-State to two hits over four scoreless innings.
- Fuller earned the save after firing three scoreless innings.
- Houston utilized four pitchers in the victory.
- K-State hit .200 (3-for-15) with runners on base and .143 (1-for-7) with men in scoring position while Houston was 7-for-25 (.280) with runners on and 6-for-14 (.429) in scoring position.
- Houston drove in three runs with two outs, while K-State had two.
TEAM NOTES
- The Cats are 22-29 when playing in the Big 12 Tournament, and 8-11 under Hughes.
- K-State leads the all-time series, 7-4, with a 5-3 edge in games played in Texas.
- Wednesday’s contest marked the first meeting between the two teams in postseason play.