Cowboy Baseball Wins On Night Of Stadium Dedication And Celebration

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State celebrated the official dedication of O'Brate Stadium with a 9-6 win over New Orleans Thursday night in front of a record OSU baseball crowd of 6,362.
 
Prior to the game, the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, threw out a ceremonial first pitch, along with Cecil O'Brate, the entrepreneur and major benefactor for the stadium.
 
Carson McCusker had a big night at the plate and defensively in left field to help the Cowboys to the win as they improved to 31-16-1 on the season. The senior was 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run, double and four RBIs.
 
Noah Sifrit earned the win on the mound in relief to improve to 2-0, while Trevor Martin struck out four in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his first-career save.
 
The Privateers (28-25) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at bat and built that lead to 5-1 after four innings.
 
In the fifth, McCusker helped close the gap with one swing of the bat as he smashed a two-run homer to center field, with his sixth round tripper of the season cutting the UNO lead to 5-3.
 
The pivotal inning came in the seventh as the Cowboys rallied for five runs on three hits to take the lead.
 
Caeden Trenkle got things started with a walk, and Max Hewitt was hit by a pitch. Up next, Christian Encarnacion-Strand delivered an RBI single down the right-field line to pull the Pokes to within 6-4.
 
Another hit by pitch loaded the bases, setting the table for McCusker, who delivered with a double off the wall in right-center field to tie the score.
 
The Cowboys would take the lead when Cade Cabbiness collected a sacrifice fly, and Justin Campbell followed with an RBI single to increase the OSU lead to 8-6.
 
OSU added an insurance run in the eighth on another RBI single by Encarnacion-Strand, and Martin struck out four of the five batters he faced over the final two frames to seal the win.
 
The two teams return to action Friday at 6 p.m.