Cowboy Baseball Sweeps Kansas To Extend Streak
(Pokes Report contributed to this article)
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State completed a series sweep of Kansas Sunday at O'Brate Stadium with a 7-2 victory as the No. 4 Cowboys extended their winning streak to 11 games.
With the win, the Pokes moved to 18-6 and 3-0 in Big 12 play. The 11-game winning streak is OSU's third longest under head coach Josh Holliday, who is in his 10th season leading his alma mater. The Cowboys had a 14-game winning streak from 2020-21 and won 12 games in a row in 2014.
"I thought it was one of the better games we've played all year, just in the way the team competed and played each pitch across the board,” head coach Josh Holliday said. “Got a solid start out of Bryce, good relief pitching from Bayden. Nolan was overpowering those final 2 innings, and we were extremely competitive on offense all day long."
Four Cowboys collected two hits in the finale, with Zach Ehrhard also driving in a pair of runs to lead the offense.
Bryce Osmond picked up his first win of the season on the mound to improve to 1-1. The right-hander worked five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and posting seven strikeouts.
"I felt good,” said Bryce Osmond. “Rob [Walton] and I made some adjustments in the dugout in between innings. I was getting around my slider a bit, it was more sweep than I wanted."
Bayden Root and Nolan McLean held the Jayhawks to only one hit and kept them off the scoreboard over the final four innings to secure the win. McLean tallied a career-high five strikeouts over the final two frames.
"You've gotta have good starting pitching, which we've had,” said Holliday. “You've gotta have guys that come out of the bullpen and protect the lead, which we've had. You've gotta have someone that can get the last out, which we've had. Then you need to play good defense to put yourself in every single game, which we've done. From there it's about creating situational offense."
Kansas (8-14, 0-3) took an early lead for the third time in as many games. A single and a wild pitch put a runner on second with two outs in the fourth inning, and Caleb Upshaw doubled to left-center field to make it 1-0 Jayhawks.
David Mendham wasted no time providing an answer for the Cowboys. On a 2-1 pitch in a leadoff at-bat in the fourth, he sent an opposite-field solo shot just inside the foul pole into the OSU bullpen to tie the game at 1-1. McLean was then hit by a pitch and advanced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt before Chase Adkison provided a sacrifice fly with one out to bring in McLean and give the Cowboys the lead.
OSU would add a run to its lead in the fifth. Hueston Morrill led off the inning with a single before advancing to second on a groundout. Jake Thompson then blooped a double to shallow left field, allowing Morrill to score from second and make it 3-1.
The Jayhawks got a run back in the sixth after a double and RBI single to lead off the inning, but Root came out of the bullpen and got the Cowboys out of the inning still up by a run.
OSU put together its biggest inning in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. The Cowboys rallied for four runs, getting an RBI single from Jaxson Crull and two more via an Ehrhard base hit, with the big inning putting the Pokes up 7-2.
The Cowboys return to action with a Tuesday non-conference showdown against Bedlam-rival Oklahoma at Tulsa's ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.