Monday, April 11, 2022
Branson Evans
Offense powers Cowboys to series win against OU
Bryce Osmond pitched six scoreless innings against the Oklahoma Sooners.
OSU coach Josh Holliday raved about the performance of Osmond and how his performance this year was a major contrast from last year’s outing against the Sooners. “I thought that was Bryce’s best outing in a Cowboy uniform,” Holliday Rowdy Baribeau said. “Sometimes you never know if an Staff Reporter athlete’s harboring those feelings from the previous outing, and I want to say today was a big step forward for him.” Bryce Osmond set the tone. The Cowboys carried over SatOsmond, OSU’s starting pitcher, urday’s momentum into Sunday. It was pitched six scoreless innings and alevident the Cowboys were playing a lowed five hits. different game than they had Friday and On a night where OSU collected the first seven innings on Saturday. 15 hits, and the majority of the offensive Holliday noted two key moments. production came after Osmond left, the Nolan McLean’s solo home run that was Cowboys defeated Oklahoma 9-4 on the catalyst for Roc Riggio’s two-run Sunday afternoon at O’Brate Stadium. shot to tie Saturday’s ballgame. On SunAfter losing to OU on Friday and day, their momentum carried over and it tying the series Saturday, the Cowboys was enough for them to keep Oklahoma claimed the series win after Sunday’s from making a significant impact on the victory. game.
OSU started Sunday with three runs in the second inning thanks to a three-run homer by McLean. He was arguably the most consistent hitter on the field, batting 2 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs. Consistency is something McLean is struggling with, but late Saturday and Sunday showed that he is finding his rhythm again. “I’m just trying to control what I can,” McLean said. “Swing at the right pitches and take the ones I can’t do a whole lot of damage to. If I keep swinging at the right pitches, I think everything will work itself out.” After the strong second inning by the Cowboys, they wore down the Sooners by controlled pitching and squaring up with the Oklahoma bullpen. The Cowboys went scoreless in the third, but proceeded to use strong hitting in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and added five runs. Oklahoma had a strong seventh
inning in which they tacked on three runs on, one off pitcher Dillon Marsh, and two off pitcher Kale Davis. Roman Phansalkar played as the “closer” to end the game as he struck out two and gave up a solo home run in the ninth. Holliday attributed the weekend success to a video shown earlier in the week of the 2014 OSU baseball team in the Big 12 Championship. The significance of the video? It exemplified what it means to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy baseball player: selfless. “I showed the celebration because they were consumed by Oklahoma State’s victory, not by anything they did themselves,” Holliday said. “And I want our players to seek moments they can share together, not moments that are about them. So, that’s why I showed the clip and hopefully that inspired them to play inspired on behalf of one another, not for their own gratification.” sports.ed@ocolly.com
More photos from the Cowboys Bedlam win against the Sooners.
Karisa Sheely
Branson Evans
Branson Evans
Karisa Sheely