MANHATTAN, Kan. — After already securing its best road-series result in Big 12 Conference play in five years, Texas Tech had a chance to get its first road sweep since 2004.

But No. 10 Kansas State awoke from its offensive slumber from the past two days to pound 13 hits and avoid the sweep, taking the series finale, 9-5, from the Red Raiders at Tointon Family Stadium.

The loss drops Tech to 23-28 overall — ensuring a second straight season with a losing overall record. But by winning the first two games of the series, the Red Raiders (11-13 in Big 12) assured themselves of their first Big 12 Championship berth since 2006.

Tech, which will go into next week’s Big 12 final series against Oklahoma State with a 11/2 game lead over Baylor, had a chance to pull to within a game of sixth place Kansas with a win over the Wildcats (38-13-1, 13-9-1). But KSU starter Todd Vogel had other ideas.

Vogel held the Red Raiders to just one run over eight innings, leaving after consecutive doubles by Willie Rueda and Michael Reed in the top of the ninth. He scattered six hits and walked none while striking out two, allowing only a Chris Richburg solo home run in the seventh prior to the runs in the ninth.

Richburg then added a three-run blast in the ninth to pull Tech to within 9-5, but Rueda, representing the tying run, lined to center to end the game.

Tech freshman right-hander Louis Head, making just his third start of the season, kept Tech close for his four innings. He allowed a run in each of the first two innings on an RBI double by Justin Bloxom in the first and an RBI sacrifice bunt by Rob Vaughn in the second. Head recovered to retire six of the final seven batters he faced.

But the Wildcats exploded against the Red Raider bullpen. Cory Large allowed three runs on three hits — two of them infield bunt singles — and two sacrifice flies in the fifth to push the lead to 5-0, and after Richburg’s homer, Kansas State added two more off of Robbie Kilcrease in the seventh on three straight two-out hits by Jason King, Drew Biery and Jordan Cruz.

Kansas State then threatened to invoke the Sunday 10-run mercy rule in the eighth when center fielder Dane Yelovich crushed a two-run home run to left off Kellen Monreal to make it 9-1. But Brandon Foster stopped the scoring, and that allowed Tech to mount a small comeback in the top of the ninth.

Rueda and Reed chased KSU reliever Thomas Rooke after just two batters with their consecutive doubles. Joey Kenworthy greeted Evan Marshall with a single up the middle to put runners at the corners, and Richburg followed with his second home run in as many bats, clearing the center field wall for the second time in the game to make it 9-5.

Scott LeJeune followed with a double to left, and after a strikeout by Taylor Ashby, Garrett Totten reached on an infield single. Pinch-hitter Logan Leslie was robbed of a hit by a diving Nick Martini on a sinking liner to left, but Marshall hit Jeremy Mayo to load the bases before getting Rueda on the liner to Yelovich to stop the rally.

Tech will return to action on Friday at 6:30 p.m. to open the three-game series against Oklahoma State.

No. 10 KANSAS STATE 9, TEXAS TECH 5
TEXAS TECH KANSAS STATE
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Rueda 2b 5 1 2 0 Muenster dh 4 2 2 0
Reed lf 4 1 1 1 Jurica 2b 5 1 1 0
Kenworthy ss 4 1 1 0 Martini lf 5 1 2 0
Richburg 1b 4 2 2 4 Bloxom 1b 3 0 1 2
LeJeune dh 4 0 2 0 King 3b 4 1 1 1
Ashby cf 4 0 0 0 Biery ss 4 2 3 2
Totten 3b 4 0 1 0 Cruz rf 4 0 1 1
Fleming rf 2 0 0 0 Vaughn c 2 1 0 1
Whitehead ph 1 0 0 0 Yelovich cf 3 1 2 2
Macnoll rf 0 0 0 0
Leslie ph 1 0 0 0
Mayo c 3 0 1 0

Totals 36 5 10 5 Totals 34 9 13 9
Texas Tech 000 000 104 — 5
Home 110 030 22x — 9
E — Totten (8), Mayo (11), Bloxom (11). DP —Kansas State 1. LOB — Texas Tech 5, Kansas State 8. 2B — Rueda (9), Reed (11), LeJeune (13), Bloxom (13), Biery 3(16). 3B — King (4). HR — Richburg 2(13), Yelovich (1). HBP —Mayo, Yelovich. SH —Vaughn (6). SF — Bloxom (3), King (5). SB — Muenster (19), Martini (18), Yelovich 2(23). CS —Ashby (6).

ip h r er bb so
Texas Tech
Head (L, 1-3) 4 4 2 2 2 3
Large 2/3 3 3 3 0 0
Cloud 11/3 1 0 0 0 1
Kilcrease 1 3 2 2 0 0
Monreal 0 1 2 1 0 0
Foster 1 1 0 0 1 1
Kansas State
Vogel (W, 4-0) 8 6 3 3 0 2
Rooke 0 3 2 2 0 0
Marshall 1 1 0 0 0 1
WP — Head 2(4), Monreal 2(2). U — Johnson, Harrison, Harmon.