OSU Opens Baseball Season With Win

NewsOn6.com

STILLWATER, OK -- OSU rallied for six runs in its final two at-bats to win its season opener 17-14 against BYU on Friday.

The win was the 200^th for sixth-year coach Frank Anderson. He is one of five Cowboy head coaches to reach 200 wins and the third fastest -- behind Gary Ward and Tom Holliday -- to achieve the feat.

OSU had 17 hits. Sophomore catcher Kevin David led the way with a 4-for-6 effort, while Tom Belza, Neil Medchill and Davis Duren added three hits apiece.

Belza, Medchill, Tyrone Hambly and Micheal Dabbs had three RBIs for the 13th-ranked Cowboys.

OSU trailed 13-11 in the bottom of the seventh inning. David led off with a single, and after advancing to second on a wild pitch, he scored on a Medchill single. Later in the inning, Hambly doubled with two outs to score Medchill with the tying run.

In the eighth, the Cowboys scored four runs on two hits and took advantage of a pair of BYU errors. Belza provided the go-ahead run with a single, and David followed with an RBI single to make the score 15-13.

OSU's final two runs came when Hambly was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Dabbs drew a walk with the bases full.

BYU (1-1) managed a run in the top of the ninth to trim its deficit to three, but Randy McCurry struck out Kasey Ko with a runner on base to end the game.

McCurry earned the win in his first college game. In two innings, he allowed one run on three hits while striking out two.

OSU plays at 3 p.m. Saturday against Manhattan followed by another game against BYU.