WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State fell into a quick 5-0 hole and was unable to rally in a 10-6 defeat to Kansas State on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium.

The Wildcats (21-12) struck first with a pair of runs in the second inning and three more in the third to stake themselves to an early advantage. Cadyn Karl chopped a two-run single into left against WSU starter Brady Hamilton (3-5) to open the scoring, then Kansas State took advantage of three consecutive walks from reliever Ethan Rogers to plate a trio of runs in the third for a 5-0 lead.

The Shockers (21-13) tried to put a rally together with RBI singles from Jaden Gustafson and Jacob Gutierrez in the bottom of the third to trim the deficit to 5-2, then Nico Rodriguez pulled WSU a run closer in the fourth when he hooked a run-scoring double down the right field line.

A Shea McGahan RBI single and Grant Gallagher sacrifice fly in the fifth restored the Kansas State lead to 7-3, but Anthony Cepeda got the runs right back for Wichita State in the bottom of the inning with a two-out, two-run single.

Cepeda and Jayson Jones each finished with four hits to lead Wichita State offensively. Jones extended his hitting streak to 25 games in the process.

The Wildcats tacked on single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth to build the lead to 10-6. Wichita State had one final chance to make things interesting in the eighth, scoring a run on a Kansas State throwing error and later putting two on with one out, but Kansas State reliever Tazwell Butler retired the next two hitters and then set the Shockers down in the ninth to record his third save.

Kansas State starter Tanner Duke (3-1) earned the win despite allowing 10 hits and five runs in 5.0 innings of work.

Wichita State used eight pitchers on the evening, none for more than two innings.

The Shockers are back in action on Friday night at UAB. First pitch of the series opener is scheduled for 5:00 pm CT.