Oklahoma State Sweeps Kansas to Kick-Off Big 12 Play

Oklahoma State has its third-longest winning streak under coach Josh Holliday after a weekend series sweep of the Kansas Jayhawks at O’Brate Stadium.

The Cowboys capped off the series with a 7-2 win over Kansas on Sunday afternoon to improve to 18-6 on the season and 3-0 in Big 12 Conference play. The winning streak came at an ideal time for Oklahoma State after the Cowboys stumbled to a 5-5 record after taking two of three from Vanderbilt to open the season.

Game One: Oklahoma State- 4 Kansas- 2

Kansas scored the first runs of the series on Friday night in the second inning when Caleb Upshaw homered to center field, scoring Jack Hammond. Justin Campbell walked Hammond and gave up the home run to Upshaw with two outs in the inning.

Campbell settled down after the second inning and pitched a complete game, giving up just two runs on three hits. He struck out nine batters and walked just one. Oklahoma State didn’t have to wait long to regain the lead. Brett Brown drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the second inning and David Mendham singled to put two runners on with nobody out. Chase Adkison cleared the bases with a home run to give the Cowboys a 3-2 lead in the second inning.

Oklahoma State scored again in the fifth inning after Jake Thompson drew a walk and Nolan McLean doubled to score Thompson and give OSU a 4-2 lead. Daniel Hegarty took the loss for Kansas, giving up all four runs in 5.2 innings pitched.

Game Two: Oklahoma State- 4 Kansas- 3

Kansas jumped out to an early lead again on Saturday afternoon after Tavian Josenberger doubled to lead off the game and Maui Ahuna singled two batters later to score Josenberger. Ahuna did more damage in the third inning with another single to score Josenberger and give Kansas a 2-0 lead. Oklahoma State responded in the third inning as McLean singled to score Zach Ehrhard to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Cowboy bats got going in the sixth inning as Ehrhard singled and Thompson walked before Mendham doubled to score Ehrhard with just one out in the inning. A wild pitch scored Thompson and another wild pitch scored Mendham to give Oklahoma State a 4-2 lead. The Jayhawks' starting pitched, Cole Larsen, was pulled after giving up four runs over the course of 6.1 innings. Stone Hewlett got the final two outs of the inning and closed the game for Kansas.

Tom Lichty grounded out but scored Hammond in the seventh inning to cut the OSU lead to 4-3 but couldn’t score the tying run. Victor Mederos was the winning pitcher for Oklahoma State, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. Mederos struck out nine batters and walked two and only allowed five hits. Roman Phansalkar pitched the seventh and eighth innings, giving up just one hit.

Trevor Martin was brought in to close out the game and immediately gave up three singles to load the bases full of Jayhawks with no outs. Martin finished the inning strong, getting the first out on a popup and striking out the last two batters to clinch the series for OSU.

Game Three: Oklahoma State- 7 Kansas- 2

Sunday afternoon’s series finale was more of a slow burn than the first two games. The two teams made it through three innings without scoring a run. Kansas scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning as Upshaw doubled to score Hammond. Once again, OSU answered in the same inning as Mendham homered down the left-field line to tie the game. Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly from Adkison would score McLean to give OSU a 2-1 lead.

The Pokes kept the party going in the fifth inning when Thompson doubled to left field to score Hueston Morrill and give OSU a 3-1 advantage. Kansas catcher Jake English picked up his first RBI of the series in the sixth inning with a single to score Ahuna and cut the OSU lead to 3-2.

Oklahoma State put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jaxson Crull picked up an RBI single before Adkison scored on a passed ball. Ehrhard then singled to score Roc Riggio and Crull. That gave Oklahoma State a 7-2 lead and an 11th straight win.

Bryce Osmond picked up his first win of the season, giving up two runs over five innings pitched. Osmond allowed seven hits and struck out seven batters, walking just one. Bayden Root and Nolan McLean each pitched two innings and gave up just one hit combined over the last four innings.

Next Up

Oklahoma State faces Oklahoma at ONEOK Field in Tulsa on Tuesday night at 7:00. The Cowboys will then travel to Manhattan, KS for a road series with the Kansas State Wildcats. The next weekend series at O’Brate Stadium will be April 8-10 against the Oklahoma Sooners.