Cowboys collect 3rd straight win

WICHITA, Kan. — The Oklahoma State baseball team posted its second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Wichita State on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium.

With their third consecutive victory, the Cowboys improved to 16-9, while the Shockers fell to 15-9.

In his first appearance since June 4, 2022, Ryan Ure picked up the win on the mound. The southpaw, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, struck out two in his lone inning out of the bullpen.

Robert Cranz earned his first save as he kept his former team off the scoreboard over the final 1.2 innings.

OSU starter Janzen Keisel lasted five innings and tied a season high with six strikeouts, while Evan O’Toole struck out four in 1.1 innings of work.

Offensively, the Pokes tallied just four hits, with Nolan Schubart going 2-for-4, and freshmen Avery Ortiz and Kollin Ritchie collecting RBI singles.

After being held hitless over the first six innings, the Cowboys got going in the seventh. Carson Benge opened the frame with a walk and Schubart followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

Up next, Colin Brueggemann brought home the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly, and, three batters later, Ortiz ripped a two-out RBI single to left field to make the score 2-0.

WSU’s biggest threat came in the eighth as the Shockers loaded the bases with one out following a walk, single and hit by pitch. That brought Cranz out of the bullpen, and the righty came up huge, getting out of the inning unscathed with a strikeout and a fly out to keep OSU’s lead intact.

OSU added an insurance run in the ninth as Schubart led off the inning with a double off the left-field wall, and a single by Ritchie plated pinch runner Addison Smith.

The Shockers rallied in the ninth as a pair of singles put runners on the corners with one out, but Cranz induced a foul out and game-ending groundout to seal the win.

The Cowboys return to Big 12 Conference action tonight when they open a series at West Virginia.