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STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State hit three home runs and cruised to a mostly stress-free win over Missouri State on Friday night.
The long balls, including two off the bat of Nolan McLean, were part of a 14-hit barrage that helped the Cowboys take down the Bears 10-5 in the second game of the Stillwater Regional at O’Brate Stadium.
That sets up an elimination game between Missouri State and Grand Canyon at noon CT Saturday, while Oklahoma State — the host and No. 7 overall seed — will square off with Arkansas in the winner’s bracket at 6 p.m.
"They're a very good team, no doubt about it," Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday said about the Razorbacks. "Very good ball club. ... Arkansas is probably the best 2 seed in all of the NCAA Tournament in my opinion."
McLean, the Cowboys’ two-way star, did most of the early damage, with solo home runs in the second and fourth innings sandwiched around a third-inning solo shot by Roc Riggio.
The latter of the two McLean home runs actually started a four-run inning for Oklahoma State, helping it get some separation from Missouri State with a 6-0 lead.
That seemed like a rather large margin considering Oklahoma State starter Victor Mederos was cruising. He had allowed only four base runners in five scoreless innings to that point, but the Bears made things interesting in the sixth.
Mason Greer and Dakota Kotowski each launched two-run home runs and then Grant Wood doubled to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Mederos worked out of it by getting Will Duff to look at strike three.
The Cowboys answered with a four-run inning of their own in the bottom half of the sixth, though, highlighted by Griffin Doersching’s two-run double.
"I think our response after their four-spot was probably the story because we turned around and scored four of our own," Holliday said. "That's hard to come back from when you're on the other side battling back in the game."
With a large lead, Oklahoma State was able to finish off the victory with only two other pitchers. Roman Phansalkar, one of their top right-handed bullpen arms, gave up a run and threw 20 pitches in one inning, while Kale Davis, another solid righty out of the pen, closed it out with 29 pitches in two shutout innings. Both will be available Saturday, if needed.
Oklahoma State will send ace Justin Campbell, a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, to the mound to face Arkansas. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has a 3.43 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 133 strikeouts in 94 1/3 innings this season.
"Justin's an elite competitor," Holliday said. "Justin really, really truly loves to pitch. The mound is his comfort. He loves to be out there. He loves to pitch on behalf of his team."
The Razorbacks have not announced their starting pitcher, but it will likely be right-hander Jaxon Wiggins or left-hander Hagen Smith. Right-hander Will McEntire is another option. It’s worth noting that Oklahoma State hits .289 against righties and .288 against lefties.
Saturday will mark the seventh time Arkansas and Oklahoma State have met in the postseason, with the Cowboys holding a 5-1 edge in previous matchups. The Razorbacks’ lone win came in the winner’s bracket game of the 2015 Stillwater Regional.
