OSU Baseball: Cowboys Clobber ‘Cats, Take Over Second Place in Big 12

BOX SCORE

STILLWATER — The Cowboys are in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 with a weekend of regular season play to go.

Oklahoma State throttled Kansas State 12-2 on Sunday, winning the series between two teams that entered the weekend tied in second. At 13-8, the Cowboys are two games back of West Virginia heading into the league’s final weekend.

“It’s always fun to play games that are meaningful,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “It’s always something we take tremendous pride in is how we put this uniform on and represent this program and the people that love it. We want to play great, and we want to try to be the best. That’s what the goal is from Day 1.

“The key, though, establish a way in which you go about your business from Day 1 that allows you to be comfortable playing this time of year and not play with a certain mindset or perspective early and then all of a sudden feel like you have to change that. I think that’s the key.”

OSU’s offense has been en fuego in recent weeks. Over the past two weekends, the Cowboys have averaged 14 runs a game, and two of those games lasted only seven innings.

OSU put up three first-inning runs Sunday, but it was the Pokes’ seven-run third inning that did the Wildcats in.

The inning saw a pair of Wildcat errors, the first of which came on the first scoring play. Roc Riggio singled through the right side, but right fielder Cash Rugely was looking up while trying to field the ball and he whiffed on it. That allowed Zach Ehrard to score all the way from first base.

Chase Adkison brought Riggio in with a single before Nolan Schubart doubled. Tyler Wulfert then singled to score a Adkison before David Mendham doubled to score two more.

Nolan McLean walked before an errant pickoff attempt put Mendham on third. Mendham scored on a Marcus Brown single and McLean scored on Ehrhard’s second single of the inning. The inning mercifully ended when Riggio grounded into a double play, but it was 10-1.

Five Cowboys had multiple hits Sunday. Schubart led the team with three RBIs all coming off a Mother’s Day present he nearly got all the way back to Michigan in the first inning, a monstrous home run to center that went 461 feet. It was the 14th home run of Schubart’s freshman season. He is hitting .347 on the year.

It was another outstanding day for Adkison, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He is hitting .478 since April 15. And he is equally as valuable behind the plate, throwing out another attempted steal Sunday.

Brown had the Cowboys’ other home run, a solo shot in the sixth that concluded with an elite bat flip. He went 2-for-3 on the day with a run scored and two RBIs.

After starting in right field Friday and Saturday, Carson Benge started on the mound Sunday (while batting third in the Cowboys’ lineup). He threw five innings, allowing two runs off three hits while walking three and striking out four.

Isaac Stebens came in and threw the final two innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three.

How OSU Wins the Big 12

So, at 13-8 the Cowboys still need some help to take home some hardware next weekend.

OSU will play Oklahoma in Norman while West Virginia plays Texas in Austin.

West Virginia is 15-8 in conference play and would need to at least drop two of three in Austin next weekend. All the Cowboys need is a tie in the standings to split the Big 12, despite West Virginia winning the regular season series against OSU. If the teams did tie, West Virginia would get the 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament but both teams would get a conference trophy.

So, let’s look at the scenarios:

OSU wins the Big 12 outright if:
The Cowboys sweep OU; Texas sweeps WVU

OSU shares the Big 12 if:
OSU sweeps OU; Texas wins two of three against WVU
OSU wins two of three against OU; Texas sweeps WVU

Josh Holliday’s Postgame News Conference