Oklahoma State Baseball Secures Series Win Over Cincinnati
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State clinched its fourth-straight Big 12 series win with a 12-5 victory over Cincinnati Saturday night at O’Brate Stadium.
With the win, the 20th-ranked Cowboys improved to 24-11 and 9-5 in conference play, while Cincinnati fell to 20-15 and 7-7 in the league.
Offensively, Carson Benge led the way for the Pokes, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Aidan Meola had two hits and tied his career-high with five RBIs.
Brian Holiday picked up the win on the mound, improving to 3-2. The junior right-hander worked six innings, striking out four and allowing three runs on eight hits.
Evan O’Toole recorded his first-career save as he pitched the final three innings and struck out four while giving up a pair of runs.
The Bearcats took the game’s initial lead on an RBI single from Tommy O’Connor in the first inning, but the Cowboys responded quickly in the bottom of the frame.
Jaxson Crull touched base with a leadoff walk, and Zach Ehrhard followed with a fielder’s choice, with Crull reaching second on an error. Up next, Benge drew a walk, and two batters later, Meola smashed a grand slam to left field, his fourth home run of the season, to create a 4-1 lead.
That advantage grew again with a Colin Brueggemann leadoff home run in the fourth, which marked his team-high eighth homer of the season.
Cincinnati cut its deficit to 5-2 in the fifth, but the Cowboys’ offense erupted in the bottom of the inning with seven runs on seven hits to take control of the scoreboard.
Benge struck first with a leadoff double, and Nolan Schubart followed with a single to set up Meola’s fifth RBI of the game, which came on a single.
Next up, Brueggemann tallied a base hit on a full count to create a 7-2 advantage, and Lane Forsythe continued his momentum after his heroics in the series opener with an RBI shot up the middle to add one more. The Pokes weren’t finished as Ehrhard delivered a two-RBI single before Benge recorded his third hit of the day with a bases clearing triple to cap the frame.
Cincinnati tallied two more runs in the seventh, making the score 12-5, but O’Toole kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard over the final two frames to secure the series for the Pokes.
OSU will look for the sweep in Sunday’s finale, with first pitch scheduled for noon.