Highlighted by five RBIs and two home runs by Dee Kennedy, K-State outlasted Wichita State, 13-10, Wednesday night at Eck Stadium, winning its fifth consecutive game.

“Big night offensively, you always like to get your bats going heading into conference play,” head coach Pete Hughes said in a written statement. “Great efforts by Dee Kennedy and Maximus Martin, once again. Obliviously it got a little sloppy late in the game, and we know there is room to improve, but our program is never going to apologize for winning.”

The No. 22 Wildcats (20-8) carried a substantial lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, until the Shockers (10-18) rallied for nine runs over the final three innings.

Kennedy, a product of Fort Worth, Texas, drove in a season-high five RBI with the help of his first multi-home run game. The sophomore third baseman belted a three-run homer in the fourth before launching a two-run blast in the seventh to become the third Wildcat at to send out two in a single game.

K-State starter Tanner Duke surrendered just one run in his second midweek start of the season, scattering two hits in four innings of work with four strikeouts before handing the ball over to Adam Arther. The left-hander fired a scoreless fifth and sixth inning to pick up the victory (2-0).

In addition to Kennedy, Keegan O’Connor, Maximus Martin and Donte Lewis each turned in multiple hits. Martin went 3-for-4, that included his 12th homer of the year.

The Wildcats hit .350 (7-for-20) with runners on base and .429 (6-for-14) with two outs, while driving in seven runs with two outs.

K-State has homered in 12 straight games, totaling 23 in the stretch and 52 overall on the year.

The Shockers plated the opening run after taking advantage of two-out walk and hit by pitch, before Camden Johnson singled up the middle to hand the Shockers the 1-0 lead.

After three scoreless innings, the Wildcats sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth and exploded for seven runs, all coming with two outs. With runners on first and second, Martin laced a single into left field to load the bases until catcher Bear Madliak was issued a walk to knot the score at 1-1 with two outs.

The Wildcats immediately took the lead in the next at bat, as Lewis hit a liner into right field that was misplayed and allowed three runs to cross the plate. Kennedy followed up by belting the Wildcats 50th home run into left-center to expand the lead to six, 7-1.

Duke kept momentum in the first base dugout, as the right-hander retired the Shockers in order to cap his outing.

Martin led off the fifth with his 12th blast of the year in the fifth, becoming the first Cat since 2023 to reach the milestone.

Leading 8-1 headed into the seventh, the Wildcats took advantage of a fielding error and scored four runs, highlighted by Kennedy’s second blast of the night.

The Shockers chipped away at the Wildcats’ lead in the seventh and eighth innings, bringing the score within three as seven runs crossed with Blake Dean and Miles Smith on the mound, but James Guyette managed to end a rocky bottom of the eighth with a strikeout.

After a single, a walk and an error in right field that scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, Guyette faced the tying run at the plate with two on and two out, but managed to get out of the jam by forcing a a grounder to second to preserve the win.

Up next, K-State will head to Stillwater, Oklahoma for a three-game conference series at Oklahoma State (12-14, 1-6 Big 12), starting Friday at 6 p.m. at O’Brate Stadium. The can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on 1350 KMAN.