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OSU Baseball: Kollin Ritchie Makes History, Hits Walk-Off Home Run Against TCU

What a night for the Wampus Cat.

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

STILLWATER — Having already hit two home runs on the night, Kollin Ritchie stepped to the plate in the scenario everyone puts themselves in when they’re a kid using their imagination in the back yard: tie ball game in the bottom of the ninth.

Having already sent two out of the ballpark, Ritchie said he wasn’t sure he was he was going to get a pitch to hit. But the Horned Frogs still went at him. Ritchie belted the second pitch he saw into the Stillwater’s neon black skies, giving the Cowboys a 7-6 win in their series opener against TCU.

“He’s uniquely strong — that’s real strong,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “He was like that when he got here. He got like that his senior year of high school. He became a man two years before most kids. A lot of guys, by the time they’re sophomores, they start to get man strength. His senior year (of high school), he was man strong. …

“As time has gone on, he has gained a greater working knowledge of the art of hitting. He’s now become a two-sided hitter. He can hit both to the left and right, you saw that on display tonight. He’s also become a multispeed hitter. He can now hit both hard and soft pitches, and he’s learned how to be a focal point, meaning people are really trying to keep him from beating them and yet he’s still finding ways to not miss the pitch he gets. And he might only get one an at-bat. So, it’s a lot of things — it’s all of those things together.”

From Atoka, Ritchie went 4-for-4 Friday night with the three round-trippers and a double. They were home runs No. 23, 24 and 25 of the season for him. The 23rd tied Nolan Schubert for the most in an OSU season since 2000. Then 24 broke that record, and 25 put some distance between him in the field.

It would take some doing for Ritchie to get to Pete Incaviglia’s season record of 48, but with seven regular season games to go along with the postseason, just about anything else is within reach. Lamont Matthews (1999) and Monty Fariss (1988) are tied with the second-most home runs in an OSU season with 30. If Ritchie hits one more home run, he’ll tie Robin Ventura’s best home-run hitting season as a Cowboy, for further reference.

“When you play baseball at OSU, to do anything that’s the most of anything, you gotta be pretty good because the dudes before us set a standard I’m not sure anyone will ever touch,” Holliday said. “Whether it’s what Pete did, or what Robin did, or what the guys on this wall did, or what many, many others did, that’s our history. We cherish it. So, we celebrate when somebody does something special.”

It was a back and forth game to get to that point.

Ethan Lund got the start on the bump and got himself in and out of a sticky situation right off the rip.

He walked TCU leadoff man Jack Arthur before Arthur stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw. Then Lund walked two-hole hitter Cole Cramer, putting runners on the corners with no outs just minutes into the game.

But then Lund answered with two straight strikeouts before Cramer took off for second and momentarily got caught in a run down before OSU shortstop Brock Thompson fired home, throwing out Arthur at the plate to get the Cowboys out of the frame.

Lund gave up a two-run shot early in the fourth and then got in further trouble in the sixth, giving up a three-run home run that saw TCU take it’s first lead of the game at 5-3.

Lund went 4 2/3 innings in the Friday start, giving up five runs on five hits while walking five and striking out 10. He hit 100 strikeouts on the season Friday, becoming the 20th Cowboy to hit the mark in a season.

Noah Wech would come on with two outs in the fifth and give up a solo shot on his first pitch, giving TCU a 6-3 lead. He gave up a hit in the sixth, but kept the Horned Frogs off the plate.

Behind Wech, Drew Blake, Kai Fyke and Hudson Barrett combined to through three really good innings, as that trio didn’t allow a hit, walked one and struck out six.

The Cowboys ended up plating the game’s first three runs.

Aidan Meola started the game’s scoring in the bottom of the first. With Brock Thompson and Ritchie is scoring position, Meola roped a ball to right-center that was initially ruled a three-run home run. TCU challenged, though, and it was determined the ball didn’t go out, sending Meola back to second while the two runners scored.

Ritchie would add to the lead in the third, hitting his 23rd home run of the season. This one was also a solo shot to right field.

After the Horned Frogs scored six unanswered to take a 6-3 lead, freshman outfielder Danny Wallace homered to right-center in the fifth. The solo shot was his third career home run.

After drawing a walk, Ritchie would score in the fifth, as well, going from first to home after a throwing error from the pitcher on a Meola single, cutting TCU’s lead to 6-5.

Ritchie tied it in the seventh with his second home run of the night. He sent this one the other way to left-center.

The Cowboys squandered a golden opportunity for a go-ahead run in the eighth. They had the bases loaded with one out before back-to-back strikeouts got TCU out of the jam. But luckily for the Cowboys, Ritchie didn’t let that missed opportunity linger with his ninth-inning heroics.

OSU-TCU Game 2

When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: O’Brate Stadium
Watch: ESPN+

Josh Holliday’s Postgame News Conference

Kollin Ritchie’s Postgame News Conference

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