OSU Baseball: Cowboys Survive Rollercoaster Game against Alabama State

The Cowboys flirted with disaster on Saturday, but they’re still alive.

Oklahoma State beat Alabama State 8-7 in 11 innings in the Tuscaloosa Regional’s 0-1 game.

The Cowboys’ season was 90 feet from being over in the bottom of the 10th. The bases were loaded with two outs after Mario Pesca walked in a game-tying run. It was one of four walks (one intentional) Pesca issued in the inning. That was the scene before Pesca struck out Devin Chandler looking to extend the game.

That’s when the Cowboys’ star put his fingerprints on the regional. Kollin Ritchie crushed the second pitch to the inning over the fence in left. It was his first hit in Tuscaloosa and came when OSU needed it most.

It was also his 30th home run of the season, which ties him with Lamont Evans (1999) and Monty Fariss (1988) for second in a season in program history.

Clutch Ritchie 🚀#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/4RfD4TqANH

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

That was the Cowboys’ fifth and final hit of the game, a contest they somehow won despite being outhit 11-5.

OSU still needed to get through the bottom of the inning, which wasn’t without its own challenges. Pesca stayed in, as the Cowboys need to use as few arms as possible should they want to continue to advance this weekend. Pesca plunked the first batter he faced in the frame, putting a runner on.

He then forced two straight ground balls, but neither could elicit a double-play, with the runner legging it out at first each time. That’s when Trey Callaway extended the game with a single to left before Pesca ended the game with a full-count strike out.

Sealed it with a K#GoPokes | @mariopesca_ pic.twitter.com/CLbadjW7dv

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

The game was crazy to even get to that extra-innings rollercoaster.

The Cowboys were up 6-0 in the top of the sixth after plating four in the fourth off a Colin Brueggemann grand slam.

Bruegge with the no doubter

Pokes on top#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/8Vs3AWdSeq

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

Then the top of the sixth saw Brueggemann score on an error.

The Hornets clawed two back in the sixth with a Niguel Jenkins homer. Then they added another with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and three more with an RBI single and a two-run home run in the eighth to tie it. It was madness.

Brennan Phillips got the start on the bump, going 5 2/3 innings where he allowed the first two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out seven.

Kai Fyke and Noah Wech combined to throw 1 2/3 innings with 23 combined pitches, with Wech being responsible for the next two runs.

Pesca had the extended work. He entered in the eighth, where he gave up that two-run homer to his first batter, before closing the game out.

OSU advances to play the loser of Alabama and USC-Upstate (two teams that play Saturday evening) at 2 p.m. (Central) Sunday. Should the Cowboys win that game, they’d play again at 7 p.m. Sunday.