Oklahoma State Destroys Kansas State In Saturday Game

Going four-for-four and being a triple away from a cycle isn't the only thing left fielder Ryan Sluder had never done before.

With nearly every player in hitting his stride, the Cowboys were able to dismantle the Kansas State Wildcats 12-3 in a Saturday afternoon game at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

It looked as if the Cowboys were going to go down quickly in the first inning after a Gage Green strike out made it a two-out situation with Donnie Walton on second.

But then Wildcat pitcher Kyle Halbohn began to break down, allowing seven of the next eight Cowboy batters to reach base on six hits, giving the Cowboys a comfortable 6-0 lead.

"A number of guys doing a good job up and down that first inning," coach Josh Holliday said. "To bat through the order like that tells you the kids came out with a pretty sharp mindset from pitch number one on."

The Cowboys held onto its lead for the rest of the game thanks to solid hitting, specifically from Sluder and Connor Costello.

With Sluders' four-hits he was not only able to break his record of hits in a game but also picked up the first home run of his career in the third inning.

Sluder spoke with the media after the game, admitting it was also his first time to speak with the media after a game.

"It was good," Sluder said. "It felt good, Corey (Hassel) helped me out by getting on base and the infield was in so it took a little pressure off me. All around just good team play and it was exciting, to finally get that out of the way, definitely."

Costello added two runs to the Cowboys lead in the sixth inning off a home run, his second in as many games, making it 10-3.

"Connor (Costello) is starting to settle in and he's a strong enough player, you see it, when he touches it, it goes," Holliday said. "You get a big, strong guy like that in the middle of the batting order starting to get his grip in the box and get his confidence, I think you've got a chance to have a real impact player."

Not to go unnoticed in the offensive explosion the Cowboys put on was Tyler Buffett, who put on an outstanding effort on the mound.

Buffett, normally the Saturday starter, was brought in to start the fourth inning in relief for Blake Battenfield.

Although Buffett was not able to continuously retire Wildcat (12-13 overall, 1-4 in Big 12) batters, he got out of numerous jams and allowed only one run in five innings.

"Slider felt pretty good, curveball, both breaking balls were working for me and fastball just try to drive it through the catcher," Buffett said. "Worked out pretty good today."

Buffett said having one of the best teams in the country batting for him makes it fun.

"The added no pressure on the mound," Buffett said. "You get to go out, really just work on attacking the zone and try to get some quick outs."

The Cowboys (18-8, 3-2) added two more runs in the eighth off a double first baseman Dustin Williams hit, which brought in catcher Gage Green and short stop Donnie Walton.

The Cowboys play the Wildcats on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a rubber-match game to decide the series winner.