Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
8-0
Grand Canyon
3-6
Cowboy Baseball Opens Weekend With Victory
March 05, 2021 | Cowboy Baseball
Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery
Postgame Interviews
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State extended its winning streak Friday at O'Brate Stadium as the 11th-ranked Cowboys collected an 11-5 win over Grand Canyon.
With the win, OSU improved to 8-0, its best-ever start to a season under ninth-year head coach Josh Holliday and the best by the Cowboys since beginning the 1995 season 11-0.
Parker Scott continued to dominate on the mound as he worked six innings and allowed just one run on four hits. The southpaw posted seven strikeouts and did not issue a walk as he improved to 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA on the year.
Offensively, Christian Encarnacion-Strand continued to do damage via the long ball as he smashed his team-leading fourth home run of the season and finished with three RBIs. Matt Golda drove in a pair of runs for the Pokes, while Alix Garcia and Cade Cabbiness also had RBIs.
GCU (3-6) took the game's initial lead in the fourth, going up 1-0 on an RBI single by Elijah Buries.
But the Cowboys would not trail for long. In the bottom of the inning, Nolan McLean started a two-out rally with a double. After Jake Thompson was hit by a pitch, Encarnacion-Strand stepped to the plate and delivered a three-run homer to right field to put the Pokes up 3-1.
The home team would maintain that lead the rest of the way.
The Cowboys doubled their run total in the sixth, plating three runs on RBIs from Garcia and Cabbiness.
Leading 6-2 in the eighth, OSU got a huge performance out of the bullpen by Brett Standlee. After the Lopes loaded the bases with one out following two walks and a single, Standlee came on and struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
The Pokes rode that momentum into the bottom of the inning as they rallied for five runs, taking advantage of some erratic pitching by GCU and also getting a two-RBI double off the bat of Golda.
The two teams return to action Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. at O'Brate Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Scott, Parker (3-0)
L: Barnes, Zach (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Burton, Brock 2
HR: Ortiz, Channy 1
RBI: Ortiz, Channy 3 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Wilson, Tyler 1
SF: Wilson, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ortiz, Channy 1 ; Colato, Juan 1 ; Grissom, Dominic 1 ; Wilson, Tyler 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 1
PO: Wilson, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: McLean, Nolan 1 ; Thompson, Jake 1 ; Golda, Matt 1
HR: Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 1
RBI: Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 3 ; Garcia, Alix 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; Golda, Matt 2
SF: Cabbiness, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McLean, Nolan 1 ; Thompson, Jake 2 ; Sifrit, Noah 1 ; Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 3 ; Campbell, Justin 1 ; Gardner, Dylan 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; Golda, Matt 1
SB: Cabbiness, Cade 1
HBP: Thompson, Jake 1 ; Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 1 ; DeNicola, Nick 1
