Oklahoma State Loses the Song but Keeps the Bombs to Beat Missouri State
STILLWATER – Earlier in the day as Arkansas downed Grand Canyon 7-1 in the first game of the NCAA Stillwater Regional there were two home runs hit, The Hogs Cayden Wallace added to his season total in the first inning with a solo shot to bridge in left-center field. Later Grand Canyon’s Tayler Aguilar led to his Lopes leading total with his 21st home run. The significance, well we’re getting to that. It seems the NCAA Stillwater Regional was fifth of the 16 sites with most home runs by the participating teams with 333 bombs hit. Arkansas and Grand Canyon got the event off to a decent start, but even with The Gap Band out of commission for the Regional. The Cowboys paced by Nolan McLean kicked the home run count into high gear as Oklahoma State earned their way into the Saturday winner’s game with the Razorbacks by beating Missouri State 10-5.
Missouri State started Forrest Barnes, who came in with a 6-5 record and a 5.03 ERA, but Bears head coach Keith Guttin may have made a mistake because Barnes came in allowing more home runs this season (9) than any other Missouri State pitcher and now that number is 12.
“We threw some balls that were able to be batted, and they have some really big guys that can hit the ball hard and that’s what happened,” Missouri State coach Keith Guttin said after the game.
Nolan McLean starter the barrage in the second inning when he took a 1-1 Barnes delivery and sent it up to the grilling corral at the top of the rightfield bleachers.
“I did not notice that the Gap Band wasn’t playing,” McLean said. “i don’t really hear much of what is going on out there during the game. I think that is a good thing really.”
Freshman second baseman Roc Riggio, who changed hair colors for the regional becoming a blond, still has his power and in the third he swung at the first pitch and put in ball into the Missouri State bullpen in right and it was 2-0 Cowboys.
Then in the fourth inning, McLean did his best to send Barnes to the showers with his second home run. This was one of those tape measure jobs that O’Brate Stadium has yielded this season. The mammoth blast cleared the bridge in left-center field and bounced about 20-yards deep into the parking lot and may still be rolling. Oklahoma State led 3-0.
“It felt good,” McLean said of his longer bomb. “i got out in front of it a little bit, but it carried. I got the sweet spot.”
The Pokes weren’t through scoring, just with hitting home runs for the inning. Marcus Brown singled up the middle and after Jaxson Crull bunt sacrificed him to second, he scored on catcher Ian Dougherty’s double down the left-field line. Dougherty greeted the new pitcher for Missouri State in Tyler Ziegenbein.
Ziegenbein was already known to fans on social media and especially Twitter as it was his posts that alerted the world to the rough conditions Missouri State had at their hotel ranging from bed bugs to leftover women’s undergarments, used baby bottles, and bloody mattress stains. No joke, if those were present then Missouri State deserves an apology, but they weren’t going to get it from the Cowboys bats.
It turns out that the Bears coming in with a healthy season total of 99 home runs were itching to get into the act as Cowboys starter Victor Mederos, who pitched a near perfect first five innings, gave up a few in the top of the sixth. With Drake Baldwin on after a walk, first baseman Mason Greer found his teammates in the bullpen with a two-run homer. The table was set again when designated hitter Cam Cratic singled and the Bears leading home run hitter Dakota Katowski launched his 24th of the season copying McLean by launching it over the left-center field bridge. A pair of two-run homers and the lead was shrunk to 6-4.
Oklahoma State reloaded their lead without any home runs, but some very sharply hit balls in the bottom of the sixth as they matched the four that the Bears put up in the top half of the inning. After Dougherty singled with one out then Trenkle singled down the right field line and Roc Riggio went from 0-2 to draw a walk to load the bases. Jake Thompson ripped the ball to right field and then thanks to an error on the throw from Kotowski and two runs scored.
The next two runs scored as Doersching scorched the ball straight down the line in left about 12 feet inside the chalk and it was screaming all the way to the wall as Doersching jogged into second after Riggio and Thompson scored easily to make it 10-4 Cowboys.
“Honestly, not really. There are a few that I do,” Doersching said when asked it he remembers big hits. “That one (double) felt good. Hitters will tell you when you really get a hold of one sometimes you don’t feel it. That one I hit really good and I really didn’t feel it.”
“I think our response after their four spot was the story when we turned around and scored four of our own,” Josh Holliday said of the bottom of the sixth inning and taking control again. “That is hard to come back from when you think you’re in control and the other team comes back. That was big and the bullpen was good behind it.”
Missouri State added a run in the top of the seventh, but the game was pretty mundane from that point on except for the diving grab made by second baseman Riggio for the second to last out of the ballgame. That was special.
“He is one of the best defensive players that I have ever seen in my life,” Doersching said of Riggio. “he is always trying to get better too,”
The Cowboys got their 10 runs on 14 hits and no errors. Missouri State had the five runs on 10 hits and the one error. Victor Mederos got eh win to go to 4-4 on the season.
“Victor did a nice job of handling the first game of a regional and was in control of his emotions,” Holliday said in the postgame adding that the Cowboys pitching is in good shape. That one inning he walked a batter and then they got a couple of hits and it started foing too fast. If you had told me that we would get six good innings out of Victor and come out with the league I would tell you I was happy.”
Oklahoma State 40-20 plays Arkansas 39-18 at 6 p.m. while Grand Canyon and Missouri State play at 1 p.m. to see who sticks around. Oklahoma State will have ace and All-American Justin Campbell on the mound for the winner’s game.