A dominant performance by Kansas State pitcher Nate Griep and a slow and methodical 11-0 pounding by the Wildcats’ offense have made things crystal clear for the Kansas University baseball team the rest of the weekend.

Win or else.

Needing a series victory to qualify for next week’s Big 12 tournament, the Jayhawks dropped Game 1 of the do-or-die series against their in-state rivals and now have no room for error.

“I think it starts when we walk through that clubhouse door tomorrow morning,” first baseman Blair Beck of his team’s ability to forget about Friday and move forward. “Our backs are against the wall now. We’ve gotta come out and get ’em both and play like rabid dogs.”

There was very little of that on Friday night and Griep had a ton to do with it. The K-State starter, who improved to 6-2, gave up just five hits and struck out eight Jayhawks in seven innings.

He was still hitting as high as 94 mph on the radar gun during his final inning of work, and back-to-back, seventh-inning strikeouts of two of KU’s better hitters — Connor McKay and Dakota Smith — proved just how in control he was.

He started both with 92 mph fastballs that they could not catch up to and followed the gas with 79 mph precision breaking balls that buckled their knees. That left both hitters off balance for the third pitch and neither put a bat on it. Those two strikeouts came after KU had loaded the bases with no outs and threatened to climb back into the game despite being down 9-0.

“Their guy pitched better than us tonight,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “And he was better than our team.”

Asked why he thought his team, which entered the night ranked fifth in the Big 12 in offense, struggled so much against Griep, Price pointed to the Wildcat’s ability to effectively change speeds.

“When you’re as firm as he is, that’s a hard adjustment to make because you’re sitting fastball out of his hand and then the bottom falls out,” he said. “I will tip my cap to him. He pitched outstanding tonight and was the difference in the game.”

The Wildcats (25-27 overall, 9-13 Big 12) scored one in the second, two in the third and then broke the game open with six in the sixth. The six runs came on five consecutive at-bats, three RBI singles and a couple of defensive miscues by Kansas (22-31, 7-14).

Despite taking a backs-against-the-wall mentality into today’s second game of the series, the Jayhawks remain hopeful that they can get back on track and extend their season.

“We got beat 10-0 last year on Friday night (at K-State) and rallied to win the series Saturday and Sunday,” Price said. “So we just gotta win the first one (Saturday) and worry about Sunday when we get there.”

K-State 012 006 020 — 11 14 0

Kansas 000 000 000 — 0 5 1

W — Nate Griep (6-2), L — Ben Krauth (7-5).

2B: Tyler Moore, KSU; Dakota Smith and Owen Taylor, KU.

KU highlights: Blake Weiman 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB; Hayden Edwards 1 IP 0 H 0 ER 1 K; Dakota Smith 1-for-4, 2B; Michael Tinsley 1-for-1; Matt McLaughlin 2-for-4; Owen Taylor 1-for-4, 2B.