Cowboy Baseball Opens with 3-1 Win in Wichita
WICHITA, Kan. – Oklahoma State produced all the offense it needed in the first inning and got strong pitching throughout as the 17th-ranked Cowboys opened the season with a 3-1 triumph over Wichita State Sunday at Eck Stadium.
Parker Scott earned the win on the mound, striking out six over five innings and allowing just one run on five hits, and Brett Standlee collected the save with a perfect ninth to seal the victory. Kale Davis and Justin Wrobleski also came out of the bullpen for the Cowboys.
Offensively, Alix Garcia produced three of OSU's seven hits in the contest and drove in a pair of runs. Max Hewitt also picked up an RBI for the Pokes.
OSU wasted no time taking control of the scoreboard in its first at bat. Following back-to-back singles by Jake Thompson and Justin Campbell to load the bases, Hewitt sent a ball into shallow left field that a diving Shocker failed to come up with, resulting in a 1-0 lead for the Pokes and a fielder's choice RBI for Hewitt as Caeden Trenkle was thrown out at third.
Up next, Garcia ripped a two-out, two-RBI double into the gap in right-center field to extend the Cowboys' lead to 3-0. It was one of two doubles for the senior in the contest.
Scott kept the WSU hitters at bay over the first two frames before the Shockers threatened in the third, putting runners on the corners with one out after consecutive singles. But Scott struck out the next two hitters to end the threat and keep the three-run lead intact.
WSU would get on the scoreboard in the fourth. Garrett Kocis opened the inning with a double, and two batters later, an RBI single by Corrigan Bartlett trimmed the Cowboys' lead to 3-1.
Scott came up big in the fifth to help OSU maintain its lead as he struck out Kocis with runners on the corners to send the Cowboys to the sixth still with the two-run advantage.
The Shockers did not go quietly. In the eighth, the home team led off the inning against Wrobleski with back-to-back singles before an error loaded the bases with no outs.
But Wrobleski would get out of the jam unscathed as the southpaw picked up a strikeout, a force out at the plate and another punchout to preserve the 3-1 lead.
Standlee slammed the door on the Shockers in the ninth, striking out all three batters he faced on 14 pitches to earn his third career save.
The two teams conclude their series Monday with the finale scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch.