Mother's Day, Orange Crush, Alone in Second Place for OSU Baseball
(Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen contributed to this story that originated with Oklahoma State University athletic media relations.)
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State took down Kansas State 12-2 in seven innings in its final regular season home game Sunday at O’Brate Stadium. The victory marked the 13th-ranked Cowboys’ seventh run-rule win of the season as they advanced to 35-15 overall and 13-8 in the Big 12. The loss moved the No. 15 Wildcats to 32-20 and 12-9 in the league.
Oklahoma State celebrated Mother’s Day with 12 runs that took the team to 40 runs, the second straight weekend series with 40 or more runs scored by the Pokes. They are alone in second-place a game ahead of Kansas State. They are two games behind regular season standing leader West Virginia and keep an opportunity to pass the Mountaineers next week.
On Thursday in the final Big 12 series; Oklahoma State starts a three-game set with Bedlam rival Oklahoma in Norman; West Virginia is at Texas; and Kansas State hosts TCU im Manhattan.
In the rubber game of the series with the Wildcats, Carson Benge moved to 2-1 with his win on the mound as the right-hander worked five innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four.
Chase Adkison and David Mendham made strong closing remarks on their senior day, with both players collecting two RBIs, while Nolan Schubart and Marcus Brown also drove in multiple runs.
Schubart smashed a three-run homer to center field in the first inning to give OSU a lead it never surrendered. It marked the 14th round-tripper of the season for the freshman, who finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
After the Wildcats pushed across their first run in the third, OSU unleashed a monster rally in the bottom of the inning, plating seven runs across eight hits, to take control of the scoreboard.
In that stretch, the Pokes scored their first run on an error before Adkison brought home a run with a single. Two batters later, Tyler Wulfert recorded an RBI single of his own, and up next, Mendham doubled to left-center to plate two more and make the score 8-1.
The Cowboys weren’t done as back-to-back RBI hits by Brown and Zach Ehrhard saw the home team reach double digits
Following a fourth-inning run for the Wildcats, OSU got the necessary runs to secure the run-rule in the sixth. Brown led off the frame with his eighth homer of the season, and a two-out RBI single by Adkison pushed the lead to 12-2.
Isaac Stebens kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard over the final two innings, striking out three and allowing just one hit, to help secure the win.
Again, Oklahoma State will conclude regular season play with the Bedlam Series against Oklahoma in Norman. The series opens Thursday at 6:30 p.m., with Friday’s game also at 6:30 before a 4 p.m. finale on Saturday.