Pokes Circle the Bases a Bunch in Eliminating SC Upstate and Making Regional Final
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Oklahoma State hit six home runs en route to a 12-1 win over USC Upstate in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Sunday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
With the win, the second-seeded and 19th-ranked Cowboys improved to 39-21 and advance to the Regional final to take on top-seeded and 13th-ranked Alabama. OSU needs a win tonight against the Crimson Tide to force a winner-take-all game on Monday.
Campbell Smithwick and Remo Indomenico each homered twice for the Pokes against Upstate (34-30), while Avery Ortiz and Terrance Bowen also went deep.
Hudson Barrett turned in a masterful performance on the mound, tossing seven shutout innings to improve to 6-1. The southpaw tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed only two hits.
OSU jumped out to an early lead thanks to Smithwick, who crushed a two-run home run to right field in the second inning. The blast was Smithwick's ninth of the season and put the Pokes up 2-0.
The third inning saw the Cowboys send 11 batters to the plate and erupt for seven runs to take control of the game. OSU tallied six hits in the frame, including a pair of homers.
After back-to-back singles by Brock Thompson and Kollin Ritchie with one out, Ortiz smashed a home run to left field to give the Cowboys a 5-0 advantage. Following a Smithwick single, Colin Brueggemann brought him home with a double.
OSU wasn't done as Indomenico stepped to the plate with two runners on and homered to left-center field to cap the scoring and make the score 9-0.
The Pokes reached double digits in the fourth, and once again it was Smithwick going deep as he sent an opposite field shot over the wall in left field to extend the lead to 10-0. With the homer, Smithwick became the seventh Cowboy this season to reach double figures, tying the 1997 club for the second most in program history; OSU's 1987 squad had a record eight players hit double digit homers.
The home run derby continued in the seventh as Indomenico and Bowen smacked back-to-back solo shots. The blasts gave Indomenico the first multi-homer game of his career, while Bowen's blast was the first of his career.
