Cowboys Win Game One at KSU, Stay Perfect in Big 12
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Oklahoma State remained unbeaten in conference play with a 12-9 win over Kansas State Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium. With the win, the No. 2 Cowboys improved to 19-7 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12, while K-State is now 13-12 and 0-4 in league play.
The Cowboys took advantage of 10 walks and three errors by K-State to build a big lead in the middle innings and held on late for the victory. Caeden Trenkle homered and drove in four runs to lead OSU, while Jake Thompson, Hueston Morrill and Chase Adkison also collected two RBIs. Justin Campbell earned the win on the mound to improve to 4-1. He struck out eight while allowing six runs on six hits.
Roman Phansalkar was superb out of the bullpen, tossing two shutout innings to squash the K-State comeback attempt, and Trevor Martin returned to form with a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.
The Cowboys jumped out to an early lead when Thompson blasted his fourth home run of the season in the first inning. The two-run bomb carried over the wall in left field to put OSU on top, 2-0.
K-State trimmed the Pokes' lead in half in the second. Following a leadoff double and a single, a fielder's choice on a ground ball off the bat of Josh Nicoloff brought home a run for the Wildcats.
The home team tied things up with a round tripper of their own in the fourth, this one a solo shot to left field by Dylan Phillips to make the score 2-2.
OSU regained control of the scoreboard in the fifth, taking advantage of shaky defense and pitching by the home team. K-State committed a pair of errors in the inning, while the Cowboys drew four walks, with Morrill, Adkison and Trenkle each collecting RBIs via a free pass. The Pokes plated four runs in the frame to take a 6-2 lead.
The Cowboys erupted for another big inning in the sixth, batting around for the second-straight frame and rallying for six runs. OSU once again took advantage of walks and also got a big swing of the bat from Trenkle, who delivered a three-run homer to left-center field to extend the lead 12-2.
K-State used a power surge to get back into the game in the bottom of the inning, smacking a pair of two-run homers to cut its deficit to 12-6, and the Wildcats added three more runs in the seventh to make the score 12-9.
But that was as close as the home team would get as Phansalkar and Martin held the Wildcats to only two hits over the final three innings.
The two teams return to action Saturday at 4 p.m.