ATHENS, Ga. — The Oklahoma State baseball team showcased impressive power at the plate, smacking seven home runs in their 13-5 triumph over Binghamton in the Athens Regional elimination contest on Saturday.
Kollin Ritchie led the home run barrage with two homers. He, along with teammates Colin Brueggemann and Ian Daugherty, orchestrated a thrilling sequence with back-to-back-to-back homers in the third inning, pushing the Cowboys to victory.
Oklahoma State, the No. 3 seed with a record of 28-24, is now set to face the loser of the matchup between the top-seeded host Georgia and No. 2 seed Duke in another elimination clash on Sunday.
The Cowboys took an early 2-0 advantage, courtesy of RBI doubles from Avery Ortiz and Ritchie in the initial inning off Binghamton’s starter Hayden Tarsia, who fell to a 4-4 record. From that moment, Oklahoma State maintained control of the game.
In the third inning, the three consecutive solo homers extended the Cowboys’ lead to 5-1. Ortiz then nailed a two-run homer in the fourth, with Nolan Schubart adding a solo shot, ballooning their lead to 8-1.
Despite Oklahoma State’s commanding lead, Devan Bade hit a solo homer as part of his 4-for-5 performance for Binghamton, and Freddy Forgione contributed a two-run blast, prompting the removal of Oklahoma State’s starter, Hunter Watkins, in the fifth inning.
Not one to be outdone, Alex Conover answered for the Cowboys with a solo homer, adding two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 10-4. Ritchie capped off the scoring spree with a two-run homer in the eighth, concluding with four RBIs from his 3-for-4 performance.
Ortiz also shone with three RBIs and was one of seven Cowboys to record two hits in the game. Stormy Rhodes pitched 2 1/3 innings as a reliever, allowing just one run and securing his first win of the season with a 1-1 record.