Cowboy baseball completes sweep of TCU

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State erased a seven-run deficit to complete a series sweep of TCU in baseball with an 11-10 win Sunday afternoon at O’Brate Stadium.

With the victory, the Cowboys improved to 31-17 overall and 14-10 in Big 12 play, while TCU fell to 29-18 and 13-11 in the league.

Kollin Ritchie of Atoka and Aidan Meola led the way offensively for the Pokes as that duo combined for six hits and seven RBIs. Ritchie was 3-for-4 and smacked his 26^th home run of the season, while Meola homered twice and drove in four runs.

Zane Burns was the winning pitcher in relief, working three shutout innings while striking out three and not allowing a hit to improve to 3-1.

Noah Wech earned a two-inning save, holding the Horned Frogs to one unearned run and striking out a pair; the save was his sixth of the season.

OSU starter Brennan Phillips worked through the first inning with two strikeouts, and Alex Conover jumpstarted the offense with a leadoff home run to left-center field to give the Cowboys an early lead.

The Pokes threatened for more as Brock Thompson and Ritchie both reached base before an out was recorded but came away empty. Ritchie’s walk extended his reached base safely streak to 11 consecutive plate appearances, while Thompson has now reached base safely in 41-straight games.

TCU came out swinging in the second inning, scoring seven runs off Phillips and knocking the left-hander out of the game. Rob Liddington Jr., Brady Dallimore and Chase Brunson all homered before Kai Fyke entered to end the frame.

Arthur Jack hit the Horned Frogs’ fourth home run of the game in the third inning to extend their lead to 8-1.

OSU got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run off the bat of Meola before TCU scored another in the top of the fourth.

The Cowboys responded with a three-run inning of their own in the fourth as five straight Cowboys reached base with two outs. Danny Wallace started the rally with a single, followed by a walk to Conover. From there, Thompson sparked a stretch of three consecutive RBI singles, joined by Ritchie and Meola, to make it a 9-6 game.

Burns worked his third scoreless inning in the sixth to set up a four-run onslaught in the bottom half. Conover started it off with a walk before Ritchie unloaded on his fourth home run of the series. Meola tied the game with his second home run before Smithwick followed with an opposite-field blast, giving the Cowboys a 10-9 lead.

The back-to-back-to-back home runs from Ritchie, Meola and Smithwick marked the first time since last May that the Pokes accomplished the feat when they did it against Binghamton in the NCAA Athens Regional.

Jake Kennedy took the mound for OSU to begin the seventh inning and recorded two strikeouts before exiting with a pair of runners on base. Drew Blake entered for a lefty-on-lefty matchup and, after falling behind in the count 3-0, battled back to strike out the batter and end the threat; Blake’s appearance marked the 93^rd of his career, the most of any pitcher in program history.

Wech entered in the eighth and was greeted by a pair of hard-hit balls, putting runners on second and third with no outs. From there, he settled in, inducing a lineout before striking out the final two batters of the inning to preserve the lead.

Wech stayed on for the ninth, and after the leadoff hitter reached via an error, he retired the next two hitters before issuing a two-out walk. Liddington then smacked an RBI double to put the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position, but on a full count, Wech retired Dallimore with a fly out to right field to secure the sweep.

The Cowboys return to action Friday when they open a series at Arizona State.

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