Oral Roberts shocked Oklahoma State 10-9 Tuesday in Stillwater, rallying from a late tie with a two-run ninth-inning double before surviving a Cowboys comeback try for the upset win.
STILLWATER, Okla. — In a Tuesday evening game at O’Brate Stadium, Oral Roberts snapped a six game midweek losing skid with a close 10-9 victory over Oklahoma State.
The Golden Eagles (now 18-12 overall) handed the Cowboys (21-12) their third home loss of the season in a back and forth contest that featured 22 combined hits, multiple home runs, and late-inning heroics from ORU.
Oklahoma State entered the game riding pretty high after sweeping Cincinnati over the weekend in Big 12 play, including a 10-4 series finale on Sunday.
The Cowboys had looked sharp offensively, racking up runs in bunches. Oral Roberts, meanwhile, arrived with a poor 0-6 record in midweek non-conference games but showed why they sit atop the Summit League standings with a 9-0 conference mark, using great hitting and solid relief pitching to pull off the upset.
This game was a slugger from the beginning.
Oral Roberts jumped ahead 2-0 in the first on Makani Tanaka’s two-run homer. Oklahoma State answered immediately when Kollin Ritchie, who now has a nation-leading 19 home runs on the season, launched a two-out solo shot to cut the lead in half. Brock Thompson tied it at 2-2 in the third with his fifth homer of the year, a solo shot to right-center.
The lead changed hands several times. In the fourth, an OSU defensive error in right field allowed an unearned run for ORU to make it 3-2, but the Cowboys responded with three runs in the bottom half of that inning.
Avery Ortiz (back in the lineup for his first game since mid February) doubled to spark a two out rally, Garrett Shull drove him in with a single, and Brady Francisco capped the inning with a two-run homer to left, his first homer of 2026, for a 5-3 lead.
Oral Roberts reclaimed the lead with three runs in the fifth to go up 6-5, but the Cowboys refused to go down that quickly.
OSU starter TP Wentworth delivered a solid outing, tossing four innings with a career high six strikeouts and allowing just one earned run. The bullpen saw a lot of use, with six Cowboy pitchers taking the mound.
Oral Roberts’ staff was equally tested but got big innings from several guys, including winner Kash Ferris (1-2).
The game was tied 8-8 entering the top of the ninth after a wild eighth as ORU took a temporary lead on Kole Dudding’s go ahead solo homer and another run, but OSU loaded the bases and tied it on Ritchie’s sacrifice fly and a wild pitch that scored Alex Conover.
In the top of the ninth, Oral Roberts took the lead good.
With two outs and Noah Wech (who fell to 2-4) one strike away from escaping the frame, Hudson Ellis ripped a two run double to plate the go ahead runs and push ORU ahead 10-8. That two-run lead ended up being just enough.
In the bottom of the ninth, Colin Brueggemann, with his sixth homer in the last five games, led off with a solo shot to make it 10-9. A single, sacrifice bunt, fielder’s choice, and another sac bunt loaded the bases with one out, but pinch-hitter Campbell Smithwick’s groundout scored only one run before the tying run was cut down at the plate. Alex Conover struck out to end it with the tying run stranded at third.
Statistically, both teams finished with 12 hits. For Oklahoma State, Brueggemann went 3-for-5 with a homer and RBI.
Ritchie contributed two runs scored and two RBIs (including the sac fly). Francisco and Thompson each added homers and Shull and Ortiz provided clutch extra-base and RBI production. The Cowboys left 10 runners on base and committed two errors.
Oral Roberts got multi-hit contributions from Cooper Kelly (two doubles) and power from Tanaka and Dudding. ORU was 1-for-1 in sacrifice flies and played solid defense aside from one error.
This loss marked yet another gut-wrenching defeat for Oklahoma State in tight contests. It was the Cowboys’ fifth one-run loss of the 2026 season decided in the final two innings, continuing a troubling trend of late-game collapses that has plagued them despite strong overall play.
Oklahoma State will look to bounce back quickly as they hit the road for a three-game Big 12 series against Kansas State beginning Friday, April 10 in Manhattan. The Cowboys will need to tighten up their late-inning execution if they hope to climb the conference standings and make a push toward postseason play.