Published: May 03, 2008 10:21 pm            

Cowboys dominate Utah Valley State

Oklahoma State hoped to sneak in at least an hour of practice Thursday night.

Instead, because of tornado warnings in the area, the Cowboys had to settle for a 10-minute workout. Because of final exams, OSU players took Monday and Tuesday off, then practiced for only an hour late Wednesday evening.

Lack of practice didn’t seem to affect the ninth-ranked Cowboys on Friday, when they routed Utah Valley State, 13-1, in front of 1,101 fans at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. Eight of the nine players in O-State’s starting lineup recorded at least one hit as OSU won its 10th straight game.

“You never know for sure what you’re going to get (the weekend after finals), but I was pretty happy with it,” said coach Frank Anderson. “I think there was some excitement being done with finals.”

The Cowboys batted around in the first inning and jumped out to a 5-0 lead courtesy of senior Rebel Ridling’s three-run home run, an RBI triple by junior Luis Flores and sophomore Dylan Brown’s RBI single.

OSU (33-11), which posted 17 hits and left 12 runners stranded, sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth and added four more runs. UVSC’s lone run came off a sacrifice fly by Cole Anderson in the sixth.

“All you have to worry about now is baseball and it’s always a fun stretch,” said junior Jordy Mercer. “I think we relaxed a little more (Friday) and we had some fun, and that’s what it’s all about. When you’re done with class, it relieves a lot of pressure.”

Mercer went 4-for-6 with a double, Brown and Flores each went 3-for-3 and junior Tyrone Hambly had a 2-for-2 night. On the mound, sophomore Andy Oliver hurled seven innings — allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four — and improved to 5-2 with the victory.

“I didn’t think Andy was as sharp as he’s been but I think a lot of that had to do with not throwing during the course of the week and the routines that he normally has,” Anderson said.

Oliver added, “It’s pretty tough (getting prepared) because you only have a certain amount of time. We didn’t really have much organized practice but now that finals are over, it’s a little easier to focus on baseball. I think we did pretty well.”

For the Wolverines (12-29-1), Jake Rickenbach went 2-for-3 with a double and Ryan Jones went 2-for-3. Dan Christensen, who fell to 1-6 with the loss on the hill, threw just 32⁄3 innings and gave up 11 hits, 10 runs and four walks.

The series resumes today with a doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m.

        

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