K-State baseball stays alive in NCAA Tournament with big win over Houston Christian
Keegan O’Connor will remember his latest home run for myriad reasons.
When the senior catcher blasted a dinger over the right-field wall at Disch-Falk Field on Saturday in Austin, Texas, he hit his way to the top of the Kansas State record books. It was his 17th homer of the season, and no one else in program history has hit that many in a single season.
That alone made it a special play for him. But it was also a monumental swing in an important game. The blast scored three runs and gave K-State a commanding lead in the bottom of the third inning, which it protected on way to a 7-4 victory over Houston Christian in an elimination game at the NCAA Tournament.
With the win, K-State advances to another do-or-die game on Sunday against Texas or UTSA.
Head coach Pete Hughes needs to lead his team to three more wins in the Austin Regional to advance to a Super Regional.
The Wildcats played from behind throughout their first game of the postseason and lost to UTSA 10-2 on Friday night. But they bounced back in impressive fashion on Saturday with some timely hits in the early innings.
None were bigger than the one O’Connor sent out of the park.
It came after Dee Kennedy and Seth Dardar both reached base in front of him. And it gave the Wildcats a 5-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Shintaro Inoue scored twice in the early innings to round out the offensive surge.
K-State went on to eliminate Houston Christian with a strong defensive effort behind starting pitcher Lincoln Sheffield. He struck out six over the course of 6.2 innings and didn’t allow a single run. Houston Christian was only able to get four hits against him.
Houston Christian managed to score a pair of runs in the eighth inning, but it wasn’t enough. K-State responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame and cruised to a comfortable victory, even though Houston Christian added two more in the ninth.
A memorable home run from O’Connor put the Wildcats on path for the postseason win.
This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 5:06 PM with the headline "K-State baseball stays alive in NCAA Tournament with big win over Houston Christian."