Oklahoma State Clubs Kansas in Big 12 Baseball Series Opener

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Oklahoma State won its third-straight game Friday night as the 24th-ranked Cowboys bested Kansas, 15-10, at Hoglund Ballpark. With the win, OSU improved to 26-13 overall and 9-7 in Big 12 play, while the Jayhawks fell to 19-19 and 5-8 in the league.

OSU smashed three home runs in the victory, and the bottom half of the order did the majority of the damage. Colin Brueggemann tied a career-high with four RBIs as he homered and doubled, while David Mendham also had a double and home run and drove in four runs.

Brueggemann and Mendham were two of five Cowboys to collect two hits in the contest, with Carson Benge, Tyler Wulfert and Chase Adkison also on that list. 

Evan O’Toole picked up his second win in as many games as the right-hander improved to 5-1 by tossing two shutout innings and allowing only one hit in relief of starter Juaron Watts-Brown. Watts-Brown worked just three innings, allowing four runs, three of those earned, on three hits while walking five.

KU took the game’s initial lead, taking advantage of an error and two walks that loaded the bases with no outs before a sacrifice fly made the score 1-0.

The Cowboys were not down long, however. In the second, they also took advantage of an error when Brueggemann stepped to the plate with two outs and smashed a two-run homer to center field to put OSU up 2-1.

A long ball extended that lead in the next inning. This time it was Benge going deep, driving a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center field for his seventh homer of the season and a 3-1 lead for the Pokes.

KU used a power surge of its own in the bottom of the third to retake the lead. A leadoff homer by Chase Jans cut the deficit to one before a walk and a two-run blast by Cole Elvis put the Jayhawks up, 4-3.

The back-and-forth affair continued in the fourth. Mendham walked to lead off the inning, and Wulfert followed with a double to put two OSU runners in scoring position. And Brueggemann would deliver again, bouncing a double down the left-field line to bring home the tying and go-ahead runs.

OSU added two more runs to its lead in the fifth, getting a sacrifice fly from Wulfert and scoring on a throwing error that made the score 7-4. Cowboys continued to add to their lead in the sixth, rallying for four runs as consecutive RBI hits from Adkison, Mendham and Wulfert pushed the score to 11-4.

Both teams would plate four runs over the final three frames, with the Jayhawks never drawing closer than within five of the OSU lead.

The two teams return to action Saturday at 2 p.m.