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OSU Baseball: Cowboys Stave Off Elimination with 13-5 Win over Binghamton in Athens Regional

The Cowboys drilled a season-high seven home runs and only struck out once.

Published

11 months ago

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

BOXSCORE

Following a regional opening loss to Duke on Friday, Oklahoma State came into Saturday needing to win four straight games to make it past the Athens Regional. They got one.

Oklahoma State, the 3 seed, defeated 4 seed Binghamton 13-5 in a loser-goes-home elimination. Both teams took advantage of a park that plays small, but the Cowboys’ bats proved the hottest.

No regional had produced more home runs this postseason and that continued on Saturday. But first, the Cowboys broke the seal with some automatic doubles.

The Cowboys got on the board with three consecutive ground-rule doubles by Brayden Smith, Avery Ortiz and Kollin Ritchie which made it 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Nolan Schubart did strike out in the first. That would be the Pokes’ only K of the game.

Foley Field is one of the most homer friendly fields in the country, especially this postseason. And the Cowboys took advantage.

The Cowboys pushed their lead to 4-1 after back-to-back-to-back solo home runs from Ritchie, Colin Brueggemann and Ian Daugherty.

Binghamton put some pressure on Hunter Watkins in the fourth.

The Bearcats loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth after a hit-by-pitch. Watkins started off with a ball before striking out Binghamton’s Todd Abraham , the tying run, and leaving three Bearcats stranded.


That out would prove to be huge and set up the windfall that would put OSU in the driver’s seat.

The Cowboys piled it on with consecutive homers in the fourth.

Avery Ortiz drilled a two-run homer past the wall and over the trees to make it 7-1.

Then Schubart saw that no-doubter and raised Ortiz one. Clear the trees? I’ll clear the scoreboard.


Binghamton’s bats did come alive in the top of the fifth.

The Bearcats went home run, double, home run by Devan Bade, Evin Sullivan and then Freddy Forgione to pull within 8-4 and send Watkins to the dugout.

Alex Conover decided to join the HR party in the fifth, smashing a solo homer over the rightfield wall before Bray Smith added an RBI double. Pokes up 10-4 after five.

And the Cowboys left some runs on field. OSU had bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the seventh when Avery Ortiz stepped to the plate having already a homer and three runs batted in on the day, but Binghamton stranded them with a double-play.


Ritchie nailed the coffin shut with a two-run bomb, his second homer of the day and his third of the weekend to make it 12-5.

Beau Sylvester reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Daugherty on a thrower’s error to make it 13-5 after eight.

Based on how they started Saturday, and long road out of Athens still before them, the Cowboys were able to save some of their arms. Watkins lasted those four 2/3 innings, striking out four and allowing those four runs. Stormy Rhodes earned the win, spelling him for two 1/3, allowing a run and three hits.

Ethan Lund, who hadn’t pitched since April 1, came in for the final two innings. He had a 1-2-3 eighth inning but the Bearcats weren’t going to go without a fight in the ninth.

After allowing Binghamton to load the bases with just one out, Lund’s defense came up big, sealing the game on 3-6-3 double-play.

The Cowboys’ seven home runs were a season high and the combined 10 round-trippers were the second most in the postseason in the last three years. Coming in, 15% of fly balls in this ballpark had ended up as home runs. Numbers 2-7 of OSU’s order all went yard and everyone got a hit. Eight of nine had a multi-hit game.

Beyond the bombs, the Cowboys went 18-41 (.439) in the elimination game, were .368 with runners on and succumbed to that single strikeout in the first.

With the win, the Cowboys stave off elimination. They’ll face Georgia at 11 a.m. Juna 1.

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