Mendham Has the Big Blow and Abram Throws Well as OSU Beats OU to Make Big 12 Semifinals

ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma State knocked off Oklahoma by an 8-3 score Friday night at Globe Life Field as the second-seeded Cowboys advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Baseball Championship. With the win, the 12th-ranked Cowboys improved to 39-17 and will need to defeat Texas Tech twice on Saturday to advance to the tourney’s title game on Sunday. OSU will take on the Red Raiders at 12:30 p.m.; should the Pokes win that game, they would play again at either 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

The other sidebar to the win over Oklahoma is it gives the Cowboys four wins to two wins for OU in the series this season. It also puts Oklahoma State in a good position to be the only Big 12 team with a host role next week for the NCAA Regionals. Those hosts assignments will be announced on Saturday night.

Friday’s win over OU moved OSU to 4-2 against its Bedlam rivals this season, while head coach Josh Holliday is now 33-13 against the Sooners in his 11 seasons at the helm.

Ben Abram picked up a win against his former team for the second time this season as the right-hander allowed just one run in six innings and struck out three. He improved to 8-2 on the year, with his eight wins leading the team.

David Mendham sparked the Cowboys at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a home run and tying a career high with five RBIs, while Roc Riggio also drove in a pair of runs.

OSU Cowboys baseball Twitter

Mendham was fired up on Friday night.

OSU took control of the scoreboard in the second. With two runners on following a walk and a single, Mendham smacked an opposite-field home run to left to get the scoring started. The blast was Mendham’s 14th homer of the season.

The Pokes weren’t done. Following a hit by pitch and a walk, Riggio stepped to the plate and ripped an RBI single into center field, and up next, Carson Benge made the score 5-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Abram kept the Sooners off the board until the fifth, getting some stellar defense along the way that included Benge making a leaping catch against the wall in right field to rob an extra-base hit and save a run.

In the fifth, the Sooners loaded the bases before a hit by pitch cut the OSU lead to 5-1. But Abram escaped further damage when he started a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play to keep the four-run advantage intact. That play was a glove gem for the Cowboys graduate pitcher.

OSU Cowboys baseball Twitter

Ben Abram goes 2-0 this season against his former team in OU.

OSU pushed its lead back to five on a sacrifice fly by Riggio in the sixth. But the Sooners answered in their next at bat with two runs to cut their deficit in half before Bayden Root struck out two OU batters to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.

The Cowboys added to their lead in the bottom of the inning, and once again, it was Mendham with the big hit as he slapped a two-out, two-RBI single to center field to make the score 8-3.

Gabe Davis tossed two shutout innings to seal the win for the Cowboys.