Cowboy Baseball Opens Stillwater Regional With Win Over Niagara

Oklahoma State won its opening game of the NCAA Stillwater Regional Friday night as the top-seeded Cowboys secured a 19-7 victory over No. 4-seed Niagara at O'Brate Stadium.

With the win, the 12th-ranked Cowboys improved to 41-17 and will take on third-seeded Florida in a winner's bracket game Saturday at 6 p.m. Niagara fell to 46-12 and will face No. 2-seed Nebraska in an elimination game Saturday.

Offensively, every Cowboy in the starting lineup recorded a hit in the contest, while the Big 12 champions scored multiple runs in six frames.

Zach Ehrhard led the way with three extra-base hits, including a home run, and four RBIs. Nolan Schubart also went deep and had three RBIs, while Aidan Meola and Ian Daugherty both drove in two runs in the contest.

Evan O'Toole picked up the win on the mound, improving to 2-0 on the season. The senior right-hander pitched four shutout innings in relief, striking out four and allowing just two hits. Sam Garcia started the game, working 3 2/3 innings and striking out five while allowing five runs.

Carson Benge opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning after a leadoff walk to Lane Forsythe. Ehrhard followed with his own RBI double to create a two-run lead. A final run scored from a fielding error to cap the opening frame.

Four more runs were added in the second. Schubart bombed his team-high 21st homer of the year to bring home two runs. Meola tallied an RBI single to left field, while Daugherty doubled to extend the margin to seven.

The Purple Eagles responded with a singular run in the third frame off a double from Nick Groves.

Another four runs came for OSU in the fourth, with Forsythe and Benge reaching base for Schubart to single to right field and bring them home. Meola and Daugherty then recorded RBI singles to make the contest 11-1 after three frames.

Niagara rallied in the fourth inning, bringing home four runs off four hits. Rees Kozar singled to plate two before Nick Monile bunted to load the bases for Groves, who delivered a two-RBI double to cut the Purple Eagles' deficit to six runs.

A singular run was added in the away side of the fifth from Kelly Corl, making it a 11-6 game.

The runs continued for OSU in the fifth as three-straight batters reached on walks to set up a bases-clearing double by Colin Brueggemann to make the score 14-6.

With one run coming in the sixth for Niagara, OSU responded with three more. After loading the bases, Ehrhard took four balls to plate a run while a throwing error helped two more Cowboys cross the plate.

Ehrhard notched his 13th homer of the season in the eighth inning, a two-run shot that marked his third extra-base hit of the contest.

O'Toole closed his performance with two strikeouts in the ninth to secure the win for the Cowboys.