Oklahoma State Homers and Pitches to a Midweek Win Over NDSU
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State picked up a win in the first contest of a two-game midweek series with North Dakota State Tuesday night as the Cowboys topped the Bison, 9-1, at O'Brate Stadium.
With the win, the Pokes improved to 10-8, while the Bison are 4-15. OSU will go for the series sweep Wednesday, with first pitch for the finale rescheduled for 2 p.m.
OSU used six pitchers against NDSU, with that group combining to rack up 17 strikeouts while allowing only three hits.
Southpaw Ryan Ure started on the mound and tallied a career-high seven strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings, and Mario Pesca was first out of the bullpen and picked up his first win in an OSU uniform as he struck out all four batters he faced.
Offensively, the Cowboys scored in each of the first six innings and slugged four home runs, and Brayden Smith went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and finished a double shy of the cycle.
OSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on an RBI double by Jayson Jones and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kollin Ritchie in the first inning, then went up by three on Smith's first RBI, which came on a single.
The Pokes doubled their lead in the third. Nolan Schubart led off the inning with his fourth homer of the season, an epic 517-foot bomb to left-center field. Later in the inning, Ian Daugherty blasted a two-run shot to make the score 6-0.
OSU tallied single runs in each of the next three innings while its pitchers continued to put up zeroes; the Cowboys did not allow an earned run in the contest.
