Bears nearly pull off rain-delayed comeback against Kansas State

Tuesday, March 29

Manhattan, Kan.

5 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

6-20

Kansas State

12-11

Northern Colorado

K-State

3/29/2022 10:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Northern Colorado outhit and outfought the Wildcats on Tuesday evening but couldn't quite get over the hump, falling to Kansas State, 8-6, in the first of two midweek games.

Freshman Kevin Sharp got the nod to start on Tuesday in Manhattan. The young right-hander should've got out of the first inning unscathed but a wickedly strong wind kept a couple of balls in play and eventually led to a run for the Wildcats.

Two home runs for K-State in the third frame, though, gave the home side a sizeable advantage.

UNC wasn't going to go down without a fight, however.

After an hour-long lightning delay, head coach Carl Iwasaki's Bears came out of the break firing. Lucas Allen's second hit of the day put a man on in front of Aiden Leahy. The senior Oregonian launched a moonshot to left to put up two runs for Northern Colorado.

Garrett Fisher, who had already battled for a walk on 14 pitches earlier in the night, kept his night going in the top of the fifth inning. Needing to respond after a Wildcat run in the bottom of the fourth, Fisher's single brought home Shaydon Kubo to bring the Bears back within four, 7-3.

Meanwhile, Ashton Mansur was delivering another solid pitching performance on the hill. In 4.1 innings of work, Mansur struck three and allowed two runs, just one of them earned

In the seventh inning, it was Kubo who kickstarted another scoring opportunity for the Bears. Josh Glenn's second double of the evening allowed the speedy Kubo to race all the way home. Two batters later, Lincoln Turner would drive in Glenn to make it a two-run ballgame at 7-5.

Kansas State responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh but this feisty group of Bears were determined to carry its effort late into the Manhattan night.

A Jacob Banister double immediately put UNC in scoring position to begin the frame. With two outs, leave it to Kubo to deliver the goods, connecting on a 0-2 pitch to send Banister home.

Northern Colorado's rally fell a step short, though. Needing two runs in the ninth to extend the contest, the Wildcats found the three outs it needed to end Tuesday's affair, 8-6.

Game Notes

Aiden Leahy notched his first home run of the season.
Lucas Allen recorded his first multi-hit game of the year.
Josh Glenn recorded his third and fourth doubles of the season.
Shaydon Kubo finished the game 4-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
It was Kubo's first four-hit game of his career and the second one for UNC this year.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado remains in Kansas for one more game against the Wildcats on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. MT.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Baseball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter.