Cowboys Win by Run Rule Second Night in a Row Over UAPB
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State finished off its midweek series against UAPB with another run-rule win in seven innings Wednesday as the 19th-ranked Cowboys picked up a 12-2 win at O'Brate Stadium. With the win, the Cowboys improved to 23-10-1, which includes an 18-4-1 mark on their home field.
Five different OSU pitchers – Eric Walker, John Kelly, Tucker Elliott, Zach Cable and Colton Bowman – combined to throw the 40th one-hit game in program history as the Golden Lions' lone hit came on a two-out double in the seventh inning.
The effort marked OSU's first one-hit performance since C.J. Varela held Little Rock to one hit on Feb. 26, 2020, and it was the 15th combined one-hitter in Cowboys' history.
Cable picked up the first win of his OSU career as he worked shutout two innings in relief and struck out three.
Offensively, Christian Encarnacion-Strand turned in another memorable performance as he went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle, becoming the first Cowboy to achieve that feat since Garrett Benge did it against Missouri State in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional in 2017.
In extending his hitting streak to 18 games, Encarnacion-Strand hit a pair of home runs and collected four RBIs, and he delivered a triple in his last at-bat in the seventh inning to reach the cycle.
OSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first inning of play as the Pokes got a three-run homer from Encarnacion-Strand to get the scoring started. Nolan McLean, Brock Mathis, Alix Garcia and Caeden Trenkle also had RBIs in the inning.
McLean and Max Hewitt also had multiple-hit efforts for the Cowboys as each had two apiece, while McCusker, McLean and Mathis all drove in two runs.
The Cowboys return to Big 12 Conference play Friday when they open a weekend series against No. 3 Texas at O'Brate Stadium. Friday's opener is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch.