STILLWATER – Oklahoma State came up clutch in the top half of the ninth inning, then again in the top of the 10, rallying to beat Arkansas 14-10 and force the if-necessary game Monday evening.
The third game between the two teams begin on Monday evening at 6 CT.
Nolan McLean was credited with the win, as he went two innings, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out two.
On the offensive side of the things, McLean finished the day going 2-for-3 from the plate, drawing three walks, scoring two RBIs on one home run.
Roc Riggio also continued his great play from the plate as he went 3-for-6 with three RBIs and another home run.
After giving up three runs in the bottom of the eight to give Arkansas its first lead since the first inning, both Jake Thompson and Griffin Doersching drew walks in the top of the ninth. That’s when David Mendham came up clutch as he drove a pitch into left field, which was misplayed and went all the way to the wall, scoring both pinch runners, Crull and Morrill, to put the Pokes back on top, 9-8, with one out.
A lined single to center field by Nolan McLean advanced Mendham over to second, which prompted another pitching change by the Razorback coaching staff.
The first pitch of Marcus Brown’s at-bat was a sharply hit ball to the right field wall to bring Mendham into score, giving the Pokes a 10-8 lead.
Nolan McLean came in in the bottom half of the ninth to try and close things out with a two-run lead. He started with a swinging strikeout of Jalen Battles and would’ve had the second out with a grounder to short, but another throwing error put a runner on and the tying run at the plate.
Stovall hit a liner up the middle to put runners on first and second, bringing Webb to the plate with a chance to walk it off. Webb hit a soft dribbler to third, which was fielded cleanly by Meola, who recorded the out at first. With runners on second and third with two outs, Slavens hit a ball into left field to score two runs and tie the game at 10.
Roc Riggio started the top of the 10th off with a ground rule double and was advanced over to third on a bloop hit to right field by Ehrhard.
In his first at-bat of the night, Aidan Meola hits a grounder up the middle, which careens off the mound and into shallow center field, scoring both Riggo and Erhard, putting OSU back up by two, 12-10.
However, that wasn’t even the biggest hit of the inning. Next up, McLean launched a two-run homer to put the Pokes back up four, 14-10, giving him a few more insurance runs.
McLean came out in the bottom of the 10th inning and recorded one walk and three fly balls to get out of the inning and force the if necessary game on Monday evening.
David Mendham hit a monster blast off the video board in left to put the Pokes on the board to knot the game up at one. Nolan McLean drew a walk and was advanced by a single up the middle by Marcus Brown.
A one out sac fly from Caeden Trenkle advanced McLean over to third base
In a hit and run situation, Chase Adkison hits a grounder into left field, which scored McLean from third to put the Pokes up 2-1.
Roc Riggio’s great day at the plate continued against Arkansas as he drove an RBI single into right field to score Brown from third to put the Pokes up 3-1 with just one out.
A grounder to second and Riggio records the second out of the inning at first, but not before Arkansas plates a run to cut the Pokes’ lead to 1, 3-2.
As if on cue, Riggio comes to the plate with a runner on in the top of the fourth and proceeds to hit a homer to dead center to put the Pokes up 5-2 with just one out, while sprinting all the way around the bases and into the dugout.
Doersching blasted a solo shot in the top half of the fifth, a laser line drive out to left field to put the Pokes up 6-2.
Stone gave up a solo shot the start the bottom of the fifth but followed it up with two-straight strikeouts and a fly ball to center field.
Stone got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth as he loaded the bases on a single and two walks, then gave up a two-out two RBI single into left field to make it a one-run game, 6-5. Stone was able to limit the damage as he struck Turner out looking to end the inning.
Stone came back into the game to start the seventh inning and recorded a strikeout before giving up a single to end his day. Stone left the field to thunderous applause from Cowboy fans.
Roman Phansalkar entered the game in relief and was able to get out of a bases loaded jam without giving up any runs.
A couple of throwing errors by Arkansas pitcher Evan Taylor advanced runners to second and third. Then, a deep fly ball from Chase Adkison brought McLean home to extend the Pokes’ lead by one, 7-5. Riggio had a chance to extend it a bit more but struck out swinging.
With runners on first and second, Phansalkar threw a ground ball to short stop, but a wild throw by Riggio to first allowed a run to score, bringing the score back within one with the Pokes on top, 7-6.
After the throwing error, Phansalkar walked Slavens, then proceeded to give up a two-run blast to Michael Turner to put Arkansas on top, 8-7, in the bottom of the eighth.
