OSU Baseball: Cowboys Earn First Big 12 Win, Defeat UCF 16-10

The Cowboys may not have won the war, but they came out on top in its final battle.

Oklahoma State defeated UCF 16-10 on Sunday, capping the Pokes’ first Big 12 series with a much-needed win. The Cowboys lost the weekend series falling to the Knights 13-2 on Friday before coughing up a late lead Saturday to fall 4-3. Sunday’s result results in their first conference win of the season.

After giving up a two-run ninth inning to UCF that resulted in a walk-off in the Knights’ Saturday win, the Cowboys seemed bent on ballooning the lead and avoiding such a dramatic finish on Sunday.

Six Cowboys had multiple hits. Aidan Meola (2-for-4) had five RBIs and a homer, Colin Bruggemann went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a homer and Jaxson Crull went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a homer.

OSU scored seven runs in the second inning thanks to a two-RBI shot each from Brueggemann and Lane Forsythe followed by a two-run homer by Jaxson Crull. Adian Meola capped the big inning with a solo bomb of his own.

Gap Band travels #GoPokes | @JaxsonCrull @aidanmeola1 pic.twitter.com/KkHuchN0BZ

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) March 17, 2024

The Knights answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the second, but the Cowboys blew it back up with six runs in the fourth. Zach Ehrhard, Meola and Tyler Wulfert each accounted for RBIs before Brueggemann hit a home run of his own over the left-field fence.

Bruegge 💣#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/86jLe7zvUb

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) March 17, 2024

Not to be left in the dust, UCF added another four-run inning, this time in the seventh. The Cowboys scored on a Bruggemann double in the eighth but were handed two more runs in the bottom of the eighth from the Knights to cut their lead to 14-10.

But this time, it was the Cowboys that went 2-0 in the ninth. Avery Ortiz extended OSU’s lead with a single RBI before a UCF fielding error sent Carson Benge across the plate to make it 16-10.

It took eight Cowboy pitchers to get the win, with Tommy Molsky moving to 2-0 thanks to his efforts in the second and third innings. Overall, OSU allowed 11 hits and 10 walks on those 10 runs, while striking out seven Knights. It wasn’t always pretty, but a W is a W, and the Pokes will just be happy to get back home.

Next Up

The Cowboys, now 12-8 and 1-2 in Big 12 play, will return to O’Brate Stadium for a midweek matchup with Missouri State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.