Oklahoma State turned a season-high offensive performance into a 13-1 run-rule victory over Arizona on Friday night at O'Brate Stadium, closing out the game after seven innings and knotting the series at one game apiece. The 21st-ranked Cowboys plated 13 runs on 17 hits, with five players finishing with multiple hits and three players — Alex Conover, Colin Brueggemann and Garrett Shull — each homering as part of an assault that overwhelmed the Wildcats.
Oklahoma State batter (No. 12) follows through on a swing at the plate during the Cowboys' 13-1 win over Arizona in Stillwater.
The scoring began in emphatic fashion. After Ethan Lund retired the Arizona side in order in the top of the first and fanned two batters, the Cowboys answered with a five-run bottom of the frame. Leadoff hitter Alex Conover opened the scoring with an opposite-field home run, and later in the inning Colin Brueggemann launched a three-run shot that pushed Oklahoma State out to a 4-0 advantage. Brueggemann's blast drove in two baserunners — Kollin Ritchie, who had worked a walk, and Campbell Smithwick, who reached on a two-out single — and the frame was capped when Avery Ortiz raced home from second on a Wildcats error.
Arizona managed to cut into the deficit in the second inning when Carson McEntire connected on a two-out solo homer, but the Pokes responded immediately. Kollin Ritchie answered with his 29th homer of the season to restore a comfortable margin, and momentum continued to favor Oklahoma State as Brueggemann produced another RBI, this time bringing home Aidan Meola. Remo Indomenico later tacked on an additional run after drawing a bases-loaded walk, making it 8-1 and swinging the game decisively toward the Cowboys.
Lund, a left-hander, kept the Wildcats largely helpless while his offense piled on. He worked seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 13, earning the first complete game of his collegiate career and improving his record to 5-1 on the season. Lund finished with 119 strikeouts on the year, a total that ranks among the higher single-season marks in program history, and he closed out the seventh by fanning three batters to secure the run-rule victory.
The Pokes added another five-spot in the fourth inning, taking advantage of several timely hits and continued pressure on Arizona pitching. Campbell Smithwick collected his third hit of the night and was driven in on a Brueggemann RBI; Garrett Shull followed with a blast that hit the scoreboard for his 14th homer of the year. After Indomenico tripled and Conover was hit by a pitch, Brock Thompson and Aidan Meola each delivered RBI hits to push the lead to 13-1.
Cowboy players embrace in the dugout celebrating a scoring rally that helped even the series with Arizona.
By the end of the night five Cowboys had recorded multi-hit games, and the lineup's depth was on full display as the team collected eight hits and three homers from the trio of Conover, Brueggemann and Shull. Brueggemann's two-homer night included his 15th of the season and a milestone homer that marked the 50th of his collegiate career, making him the 11th player in program history to reach that plateau. Overall, Oklahoma State finished with no errors and a broad distribution of run producers in the box score.
When the dust settled, the victory elevated Oklahoma State to 35-19 overall and 17-12 in Big 12 play, while Arizona dropped to 19-33 and 9-20 in the league. The teams were scheduled to meet again Saturday for the regular-season finale at noon, with the Cowboys carrying momentum from a performance that combined clutch hitting and dominant pitching. The win saw OSU's bullpen spared late work thanks to Lund's complete-game outing and a lineup that capitalized on early scoring chances, delivering a lopsided result before the seventh-inning cut-off brought the game to an early end.