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Oklahoma State Defeats Niagara 19-7, Moves to Winner’s Bracket in Stillwater Regional

The stick-with-it Cowboys scored 10 runs with two outs.

Published

2 years ago

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

BOX SCORE

It wasn’t quite as easy as the scoreboard indicates, but it was easy enough.

Top-seed Oklahoma State defeated Niagara, the 4 seed, 19-7 in Game 2 of the Stillwater Regional. The No. 11 Cowboys move to 41-17 on the season and into the winner’s bracket of their own Regional.

There is no run rule in NCAA postseason baseball, but it seemed like that was news to the Cowboys. They had a 10-run lead by the third inning and then were back up 10 after seven. OSU scored 19 runs on 15 hits, scoring 10 of those 15 RBIs with two outs.

Every Cowboy starter had a hit led by Zach Erhard who went 3-for-3, including a home run that scored OSU’s final two. He reached base six times and scored five runs.

Nolan Schubart (3-for-5) hit the other homer of the evening, another two-run moonshot. It was his 21st of the season, which leads the Big 12.

The Cowboys built an 11-1 lead by the end of the third, but the Purple Eagles made things interesting with a four-run fourth inning to pull within 11-5. Then the Cowboys poured in three runs each in the fifth and sixth to give them the breathing room they needed.

The Pokes Stuck with It

The Cowboys did a lot of their damage with two outs. Aidan Meola was the embodiment of stickwithitness (not a word but should be). With two outs, he kept his at-bat alive for 13 pitches. Lucky 13 was an RBI single over the right side. It also set the stage for Ian Daughtery’s following RBI and kept the Pokes in control early.

Pitching Was Good Enough

Sam Garcia got the start and pitched well in the first three innings, striking out five and giving up a single run, before he got into a jam in the fourth, giving up those four runs. Ryan Bogusz came in to spell Garcia for the last out and got it with a fast glove. He allowed two runs in one 1/3 inning.

But Evan O’Toole looked nice closing things out. In the final four innings, he kept the scoreboard clean and tied his season-high with four Ks, including consecutive strikeouts to seal the win.

Plays of the Game

In the bottom of the fifth, the Purple Eagles were hanging around down 11-6, and Niagara pitcher Noah Richardson started the inning off with two quick outs before walking three consecutive Cowboys to load the bases.

Colin Brueggemann, who leads the Cowboys in strikeouts (by a mile) stepped to the plate and fell behind 1-2 in the count before extending his at-bat long enough to pay it off with this three-run double to push the Pokes’ lead to 14-6. It gave the Cowboys breathing when the Purple Eagles were starting to believe.

For all the offensive fireworks, the Cowboys’ defense made plenty of plays of its own. This double play in the seventh kept Niagara at bay.

Next Up

With the win, the Cowboys move on to face the 3 seed Florida at 6 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game will punch their ticket to the Regional final on Sunday. Niagara will face 2 seed Nebraska in an elimination game Saturday at 1 p.m.

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