Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Avoid Sweep With 7-5 Win In Finale
April 08, 2007 | Cowboy Baseball
Rebel Ridling's two-run home run in the seventh inning proved to be the difference as
Ridling finished the contest 3-for-5 with three RBIs to help the 11th-ranked Cowboys improve to 23-8 overall and 6-3 in Big 12 Conference play.
Justin Friend earned the win in relief for the Cowboys as the junior right hander improved to 3-2 on the season. Friend worked 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out three.
Picking up his first save of the season was sophomore Jordy Mercer, who allowed just one hit and kept the Cornhuskers off the scoreboard over the final two innings.
OSU got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in its first at bat. Keanon Simon drew a walk to lead off the game and later scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. The Cowboys' second run came on an RBI walk by Jordy Mercer to give OSU a 2-0 advantage.
The Cowboys' lead did not last long, however, as
OSU loaded the bases again in the second inning but managed just one run on an RBI walk by Corey Brown, which gave the Cowboys a short-lived lead as NU plated a run of its own in the bottom of the frame to knot the score once again.
The score remained 3-3 until the fifth when OSU regained the lead with a pair of doubles. Tyler Mach provided the first with a shot to left field, and Rebel Ridling's two bagger with two outs gave the Cowboys' a one-run lead.
That advantage reached 5-3 in the sixth. Pinch hitter Dusty Harvard led off the inning with a single and after advancing to third on a pair of wild pitches, Harvard scored on an infield single by Ty Wright.
NU (19-12, 5-7) answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth, getting an RBI single from Andy Gerch to make the score 5-4.
But Ridling's two-run home run in the seventh gave OSU a three-run cushion. The blast was the Cowboy first baseman's fifth homer of the season.
Wright, Mach and Corey Brown each finished with two hits apiece for the Cowboys.
OSU returns to action with its first mid-week action in a month when the Cowboys open a two-game set against
