OSU Baseball: Cowboys Blank ORU 9-0

The last time Oral Roberts visited O’Brate Stadium, the Golden Eagles won an NCAA regional title before making a run to the Men’s College World Series last season — and the team they beat wasn’t even Oklahoma State. It’s a different season of different outcomes, though.

Oklahoma State shut down ORU 9-0 in a mid-week game Tuesday night in Stillwater. The Cowboys already had a comfortable lead before adding four in the eight inning. However, one run is ultimately all the Pokes would need as six pitchers combined to shut out ORU.

Janzen Keisel started on the bump for the Cowboys, coming up an inning short of recording the win despite giving up only one hit and four walks in four innings while striking out four. He threw 71 pitches before exiting the game after walking three batters in the fourth inning with OSU holding onto a 2-0 lead.

Zach Ehrhard was the one who gave OSU its early 2-0 lead with a two-run shot over the right-field wall in the first inning. Neither team scored again until the fifth, when Jaxson Crull scored from third on a wild pitch. Crull got on base with a double before Ehrhard moved him over with a fly ball to right.

The Cowboys loaded the bases in the seventh before Avery Ortiz was hit by a pitch to score Ehrhard. Carson Benge then scored on a wild pitch, giving OSU a pair of runs in the inning without an RBI hit.

Ehrhard was a productive 1-for-3 on the night, tallying three runs and two RBIs despite the lone base hit.

OSU padded the lead with four runs the next inning. First, a Cowboy again scored on a wild pitch as Kollin Ritchie crossed the plate from third. The rest of the runs came from one swing of the bat as Benge scored three with a homer to left-center.

HAVE A DAY, @Carsonbenge3 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/F01Dj1q0TP

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) April 3, 2024

Benge finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a pair of runs, bolstering his season average to .313. He also got an inning on the mound, finishing the game with a perfect inning and improving his season ERA to 1.00 as a two-way star.

The Cowboys, improving to 19-10, will return to Big 12 action this weekend with the final conference Bedlam series. Bedlam will start at 6 p.m. Friday at O’Brate. OSU run-ruled OU 14-5 just a few weeks ago in Norman.