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Contributed by Lance Fleming, ACU Associate Director of Athletics for Media Relations
STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State hit two home runs Friday afternoon as the No. 22 Cowboys opened their three-game series with the ACU Wildcats with an 8-2 win at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 8-5 on the season, while the Cowboys improve to 8-6. The two teams will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the non-conference series Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both teams were held off the scoreboard for the first three innings by starting pitchers Kyle Carroll (ACU) and Thomas Hatch (OSU) before the Cowboys broke through with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
With one out, Dustin Williams walked and went to third on a double to left field by Garrett Benge. On a 1-1 pitch, Carroll hung a pitch and Jon Little hammered a three-run home run to left field to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead. That was all the Cowboys would get in the inning against Carroll, but it was enough to knock off the Wildcats.
ACU had a chance to get back into the game in the top of the sixth when Mark Pearson singled and stole second and stayed at second on an infield single by Hunter Markwardt. Braxton Wilks then singled sharply to right field and the Wildcats had to play station-to-station baseball, leaving the bases loaded with one out.
On a 2-1 pitch, however, freshman Hunter Hays - getting his first start at second base - ground into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play that kept the Wildcats off the board.
That sparked the Cowboys in the bottom of the sixth as Donnie Walton led off with a five-pitch walk before Williams blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left-centerfield for a two-run home run to give the Cowboys a 5-0 lead. After giving up a single following the home run, Carroll was lifted from the game in favor of Collin Dudley, who got out of the rest of the inning unscathed.
The Cowboys sealed the contest in the bottom of the seventh when Corey Hassel doubled down the left field line to drive in a pair of runs before Williams - who drove in three runs - drove in the Cowboys' final run with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.
ACU got on the board in the top of the eighth inning when Alex Copeland singled and went to second on a single by Markwardt. Wilks then collected his third hit of the day to load the bases before Hays singled to center to drive in Copeland and Markwardt to make it 8-2. The Wildcats went fairly quietly in the top of the ninth as OSU improved to 2-0 all-time against ACU.
Carroll - who gave up the first earned runs of his season - fell to 2-2 with the loss as he pitched five innings and gave up six hits and five runs, while striking out three Cowboys.
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