MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oklahoma State is back atop the Big 12 standings after run-ruling 24th-ranked West Virginia, 13-3, in eight innings Sunday at Monongalia County Ballpark. With the win, the No. 3 Cowboys improved to 26-10 overall and 9-3 in conference play, while WVU fell to 22-12 and 6-3 in the league.
Bryce Osmond racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as he earned the win to move to 3-1 on the season. The right-hander allowed three runs on three hits and issued two walks.
The Cowboys mashed three home runs in the first inning to propel them to victory as David Mendham, Marcus Brown and Griffin Doersching all went deep. Mendham finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Jake Thompson added three RBIs and Doersching drove in two. Doersching’s home run went over the wall in left, the bullpen behind it, the rest of the property of Monongalia County Ballpark over University Towne Centre Drive and into the front yard of Star Furniture and Mattress Store. It was a monster shot similar to the home run he hit at O’Brate last Tuesday against Wichita State.
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Brown had one of the home runs on Sunday.
OSU jumped out to a quick lead with the power surge in the first inning. Jaxson Crull led off the game with a four-pitch walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Thompson. Mendham then put the Pokes up 3-0 with a two-run, opposite-field home run.
The Cowboys weren’t done as with two outs, Brown smoked his second homer of the season, a solo bomb into the bullpen in right field. Not to be outdone, Doersching stepped to the plate next and blasted a pitch out of the stadium to make the score 5-0.
OSU added to its lead in the fourth, this time on a two-out, two-RBI double by Thompson as they took a 7-0 advantage.
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Two weeks in a row of strong Sunday starts for Osmond.
Osmond cruised through the first 4 1/3 innings, holding the Mountaineers without a hit and striking out eight, before Nathan Blasick broke up the no-no and the shutout with a solo home run just inside the foul pole in right field to make the score 8-1.
The Pokes went up 9-1 on an RBI groundout by Nolan McLean in the sixth before the home team struck for a pair of runs on two hits in the seventh to cut its deficit to six.
OSU rallied for four runs in the eighth to position itself for the run rule. Doersching drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly before the next two runs came home on wild pitches. Cayden Brumbaugh, who was 3-for-5 in the contest, plated the final run with a single to center field.
The Cowboys return to action Tuesday when they host Oral Roberts at O’Brate Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
