Cowboys Claim Another Big 12 Series Win

Sunday, March 29

Stillwater, Okla.

1:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

19-8, 0

Kansas State

12-14, 0

Kansas State

Oklahoma State

March 29, 2015 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

March 29, 2015

Box Score

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State captured its program-record ninth consecutive Big 12 Conference series win with a 4-1 victory over Kansas State in Sunday's series finale at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

Michael Freeman continued his dominance on the mound, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning and recording his second-straight complete game win, and Donnie Walton drove in three runs for the 12th-ranked Cowboys, who improved to 19-8 overall and 4-2 in Big 12 play.

The Big 12 series win marked the ninth in a row for OSU, the longest streak in program history; the Cowboys won their final seven league series a year ago and have captured their first two this season. OSU won eight-straight Big 12 series over the 2006-07 seasons.

"First and foremost, always for the team to win a series is a big deal," said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. "Secondly, to watch Mike (Freeman) pitch and to watch the team behind him is really fun, and I'm really proud of Mike. He's in a good groove. He's a confident pitcher who works fast and throws strikes, and we make plays behind him.

"Most importantly, we won a very big ballgame for our team. It was a tough day to play. Both teams were maybe a little flat on the offensive side of the ball... We did just enough on offense at the right times to get the win. It's a very good win for the team."

Freeman's masterful performance continued a standout season for the senior southpaw, who improved to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.32, as he became the first Cowboy pitcher since All-American Andrew Heaney in 2012 to toss back-to-back complete games.

After hitting K-State's Danny Krause with a pitch to lead off the game, Freeman retired 15-straight Wildcats, 12 of those via ground balls and three by strikeout.

"I was just trying to get ground balls because I've got all those guys behind me that can make incredible plays and did all day," Freeman said. "I just try and let the defense work and trust them. My fastball is more of a sinker so when it's down in the zone, a ground ball is usually the result."

Despite not collecting a hit, K-State actually took the game's initial lead in the sixth when Jake Wodtke reached on an error to open the inning, took third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout and scored on a passed ball to give the Wildcats' a 1-0 advantage.

But OSU answered in the bottom of the frame. Jacob Chappell drew a leadoff walk and after stealing second and taking third on a sacrifice bunt by Tim Arakawa, he scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Walton.

The scored remained knotted at 1-1 until the seventh when the Cowboys rallied for three runs on four hits. Corey Hassel got things started with a leadoff single, and Kevin Bradley followed with a single on a perfectly executed hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Ryan Sluder then continued his hot hitting with an RBI single up the middle to put OSU up, 2-1.

Holliday's ballclub would add a pair of insurance runs when, after back-to-back, two-out walks to Chappell and Arakawa, Walton ripped a two-RBI double down the left field line to push the Cowboys' lead to 4-1.

From there, the only drama would be whether Freeman could toss OSU's first nine-inning no-hitter since 1968 -- and he nearly did.

However, after Freeman retired the first hitter in the ninth -- on what else, a groundout -- Clayton Dalrymple broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left-center field.

"That stinks obviously, but you just turn the page and try and finish the game -- there's another batter up," Freeman said. "There was a little frustration initially -- it was a bad pitch, I left it up and it got hit. That's just how it goes."

K-State would tally its second and final hit with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Freeman struck out pinch-hitter Keith Browning to secure the win.

"Unbelievable -- he's been doing that all year so far," Walton said of Freeman's peformance. "Coming out here in a game that we needed and doing that, that's Freeman. He's worked so hard. He's probably the hardest working guy on our team, and you can see it right there."

OSU returns to action Tuesday when the Cowboys travel to Tulsa to take on Oral Roberts at 6:30 p.m.