Cowboy Baseball Falls To West Virginia

Sunday, March 16

Stillwater, OK

1:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

9-8, 0

West Virginia

16-1, 0

West Virginia

Oklahoma State

Kollin Ritchie

Photo by: Oklahoma State University

March 16, 2025 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State fell to West Virginia, 8-6, in its Big 12 opener Sunday at O'Brate Stadium; it was the only game in the series after the first two games were canceled due to wildfires.

With the loss, OSU fell to 9-8, while the 13^th-ranked Mountaineers improved to 16-1.

Kollin Ritchie led the Cowboys at the plate, homering twice and driving in two runs, while Ian Daugherty also homered and picked up a pair of RBIs.

Harrison Bodendorf got the start for the Cowboys, pitching 4 1/3 innings and giving up four runs while striking out five.

The Cowboys used six pitchers in relief, with southpaw Ryan Ure taking the loss to fall to 1-1 after allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning.

West Virginia got on the board with a three-run second inning, courtesy of home runs by Gavin Kelly and Kyle West, but in the bottom of the frame, Ritchie hit a ball that cleared the right field wall to make it a 3-1 game.

After a pair of scoreless innings from Bodendorf, the Cowboys' bats got hot in the fourth. Daugherty hit a two-run home run to left field to tie the game, and up next, Ritchie, hit a deep shot to right field for his second round tripper of the game and a 4-3 lead for the Pokes.

In the top of the fifth, Drew Blake came into the game with the bases loaded and one out. After walking in a run, Blake induced a double play to escape the inning with a tie game.

OSU went back on top in the bottom of the inning when Drew Culbertson executed a squeeze bunt with the bases loaded to put OSU ahead, 5-4.

The Mountaineers tied the game back up on a fly ball that got lost in the sun in center field and dropped for a hit, but an excellent relay throw from Culbertson gunned down the go-ahead run at the plate.

Ure entered the game with a runner in scoring position and two outs but struck out a Mountaineer to end the top of the sixth, and Brayden Smith hit a leadoff bomb to right field to immediately give the Cowboys the lead back in the bottom of the inning. It marked Smith's third homer of the season.

WVU tied the game once again in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly, then hit a go-ahead two-run home run to take an 8-6 advantage.

That proved to be the difference as OSU managed just one baserunner over the final three innings.

Up next for OSU is a two-game set against North Dakota State, starting Tuesday at O'Brate Stadium.