STILLWATER – Campbell Smithwick launched a solo home run in the 10th inning to lift Oklahoma State to a 6-5 walk-off win over Dallas Baptist Tuesday night at O'Brate Stadium.
The win was the third straight for the Cowboys, who improved to 12-4, while DBU fell to 9-8.
Smithwick's homer was his first in an OSU uniform and came with one out in the 10th. The catcher was one of four Pokes who homered in the contest along with Brock Thompson, Colin Brueggemann and TP Wentworth.
Noah Wech earned the win on the mound, tossing three shutout innings and striking out a pair to improve to 2-0 on the season.
OSU starter Kai Fyke faced early trouble in the first inning, with runners at first and third with two outs, but Kollin Ritchie came running into shallow center field and made a sliding grab to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, Alex Conover led off with a single, and Thompson provided early damage with a two-run, opposite field home run to get the Cowboys out in front early. The blast was Thompson's third homer of the year.
The Patriots got on the board in the second on an RBI single from Cooper Neville and took a 4-2 lead in the third inning on a home run off the bat off Ryan Martin.
Stormy Rhodes replaced Fyke in the fourth, but DBU added another run in the frame to push its lead to three.
Down 5-2 in the sixth, Aidan Meola got the inning started with a hit-by-pitch, and Brueggemann lifted a ball over the right field wall, cutting the deficit to one on his fourth home run of the season.
On the next pitch, TP Wentworth smoked a ball just inside the foul pole in left field for an opposite field home run to tie the game at 5-5. The two lefties joined Ritchie and Meola who went back-to-back earlier this season at Grand Canyon.
The game went into an hour and half weather delay with two outs in the top of the seventh. After resuming the contest, Brennan Phillips entered the game and struck out the lone batter he faced to end the inning.
Wech took the bump for the eighth inning and worked around a single to keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the inning. The Pokes threatened in that frame but couldn't capitalize with a pair of runners on base.
Wech returned for the ninth and got into trouble by allowing a pair of runners to reach before recording an out. He then induced a 6-4-3 double play that was capped by a great scoop at first by Brueggemann. With two outs and a runner on third, Wech got another ground out to escape the jam.
Wech worked his third scoreless inning in the 10th, lowering his season ERA to 0.63 across 14 1/3 innings, to set the stage for Smithwick's heroics.
Up next, the Cowboys travel to UCF to open Big 12 Conference play, with Friday's series opener slated for a 5 p.m. (CDT) start.
