Cowboys Pound K-State Pitching Early and Late in 14-5 Big 12 Win
(Oklahoma State athletic media relations Wade McWhorter contributed to this story.)
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State earned its first-ever Big 12 Conference win at O'Brate Stadium Friday night as the 13th-ranked Cowboys posted a 14-5 victory in the series opener against
Kansas State. Parker Scott, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week outdueled Kansas State ace Jordan Wicks as he turned in another strong outing on the mound working a career-high eight innings in improving to 5-1. The southpaw struck out eight and walked only one, while just three of the five runs he allowed were earned.
Oklahoma State jumped on Wicks with three runs in the bottom of the first inning as Nolan McLean got things started with a solo homer to right field, the freshman's sixth of the season, and later in the frame, Max Hewitt delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to make the score 3-0. The Cowboys handed the Wildcats' ace his first loss of the season, dropping the lefty to 4-1.
The Wildcats (13-8, 0-1) cut their deficit to one on a two-run home run off the bat of Chris Ceballos in the fourth, and OSU's lead remained 3-2 until the sixth.
In the bottom of that inning, a two-run homer by Mathis extended the Pokes' lead to 5-2, with the round tripper marking Mathis' sixth of the season.
Overall offensively, Hewitt led the way as he went 3-for-4 and tied a career best with four RBIs. The Cowboys also got home runs from McLean, Brock Mathis and Christian Encarnacion-Strand and used a seven-run seventh inning to put the game away.
OSU sent 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on four hits while also taking advantage of a pair of K-State errors.
McLean got the scoring started with an RBI single, and Hewitt would add his second two-RBI single of the game to make the score 9-2. Later in the inning, Caeden Trenkle drove in a run before a two-out, two-RBI single off the bat of Alix Garcia capped the scoring.
After K-State scored three runs in the eighth, the Cowboys would plate their final two runs in the bottom of the inning on Encarnacion-Strand's team leading seventh homer of the season, a two-run job that cleared the scoreboard in left field.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pokes, who improved to 13-6-1 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play.
The two teams return to action Saturday at 6 p.m.
OSU sent 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on four hits while also taking advantage of a pair of K-State errors.
McLean got the scoring started with an RBI single, and Hewitt would add his second two-RBI single of the game to make the score 9-2. Later in the inning, Caeden Trenkle drove in a run before a two-out, two-RBI single off the bat of Alix Garcia capped the scoring.
After K-State scored three runs in the eighth, the Cowboys would plate their final two runs in the bottom of the inning on Encarnacion-Strand's team leading seventh homer of the season, a two-run job that cleared the scoreboard in left field.
The two teams return to action Saturday at 6 p.m.