Keegan O’Connor’s record-breaking homer leads K-State past Houston Christian 7-4 in Austin Regional

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Keegan O’Connor had a record-breaking three-run homer, Lincoln Sheffield threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Kansas State beat Houston Christian 7-4 on Saturday in the Austin Regional.

Kansas State (32-25) advances to Sunday’s elimination game against the loser of Saturday’s nightcap between Texas and UTSA.

Houston Christian (32-25), in its first season under head coach Clay Vanderlaan, finished with a 14-game improvement from last year for its second trip to the regionals.

O’Connor became Kansas State’s single-season home run leader with his 17th blast for a 5-0 lead in the third inning. The previous record of 16 was set in 1997 by Scott Poepard and Heath Schesser. O’Connor’s homer put him at 59 RBIs.

Kansas State’s shutout bid ended in the eighth on Rhett Hendricks’ two-run single up the middle. The Wildcats answered with two runs on a passed ball and sacrifice fly in the bottom half for a 7-2 lead.

Jeremy Rader blasted a two-run homer in the ninth to get within three runs before KSU closed it out.

Sheffield (7-4) struck out six and allowed only four hits.

Joshua Caravalho (9-4) went 3 2/3 innings and allowed six hits and five runs, four earned, while walking one.

Coach Pete Hughes became the fastest to reach 200 wins in Kansas State history.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports