May 23, 2002

Recap?|? Box Score?|? Quotes

• Kansas State center fielder Nick Sorensen drove in three runs and starter Brock Smith tossed 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to lead the Wildcats to a 6-2 victory over the Baylor Bears in the first of two elimination games at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament at the Ballpark in Arlington.

• The loss eliminated the Bears from the remainder of the tournament.

• Kansas State opened up the scoring in the top of the second with a sacrifice fly by catcher Ryan Baldwin to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead off Baylor starter Justin Taylor.

• The Wildcats then put three more runs on the board in the top of the fourth, thanks to a two-run double by Sorensen down the right field line. Baldwin had earlier singled home a run to give K-State a 2-0 before Sorensen's two-run blow.

• In the sixth, the Wildcats' Sorensen drove in his third run of the day, this time a single to left to score designated hitter Tim Doty to give K-State a 5-0 lead. Doty started the inning by reaching on an error by Baylor third baseman Michael Griffin.

• Kansas State made it 6-0 in the top of the seventh when Pat Maloney reached on an error, went to second on a Taylor wild pitch and scored in a single by Doty.

• Baylor got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Chris Durbin walked, forcing in Michael Griffin, who started the inning with a single.

• Griffin cut the Wildcat lead to 6-2 with a sacrifice fly after David Murphy tripled over the head of Sorensen to the 400-foot mark in dead center field.

• Smith's seven strikeouts tied his career-high against Kansas last weekend and against Kent State on March 1 at the Wiregrass Classic in Dothan, Ala. The victory for Smith was his fifth in his last seven starts.

• Baylor had their chances in the contest as they collected 10 hits, but stranded 11 runners on base.

• The victory was the first postseason victory by Kansas State since the 1995 Big 8 Tournament in Oklahoma City. The Wildcats defeated in-state rival Kansas 14-11.

• The opening game of the day was played in 2 hours, 42 minutes - 90 minutes shorter than the opening game of the tournament between Texas Tech and Kansas State on Wednesday.