How Oklahoma State baseball found offensive life heading into challenging week in Texas
STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State baseball team averaged 7.3 runs per game over its season-opening three-game series at Sam Houston State.
The next step is finding balance.
The Cowboys scored 19 runs in an easy victory in Sunday’s series finale but managed just three runs over two losses prior to that.
And the tests get bigger this week, primarily with games against top-10 programs Arkansas and Oregon State at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Here’s a look at what we learned about the Cowboys in the first week of the season:
Oklahoma State
Overall record: 1-2
Last week: 1-2 at Sam Houston State (lost 7-2 and 2-1, won 19-2)
This week: vs. Abilene Christian, 7 p.m. Wednesday; vs. Michigan, 3 p.m. Friday; vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m. Saturday; vs. Oregon State, 5 p.m. Sunday (all games in Arlington, Texas)
More: What is the next step for Oklahoma State slugger Nolan Schubart in Cowboys' 2024 season?
Potential for potency
The Cowboys showed what their offense is capable of in Sunday’s rout.
Carson Benge went 4 for 5 with four runs batted in. Zach Ehrhard, Tyler Wulfert and Nolan Schubart each hit their first home runs of the season. Colin Brueggemann and Lane Forsythe had three hits apiece.
Benge, who batted second in two games and was in the leadoff spot for one, finished the weekend 7 for 12 with three doubles. Benge, Forsythe and Aidan Meola each hit safely in all three games.
Forsythe’s offensive showing was perhaps one of the brightest moments of the weekend, considering he’s more notable for his defense at shortstop. But he went 5 for 10 with a double and three RBIs at the bottom of the lineup.
First look at pitching rotation
OSU coach Josh Holliday said prior to the season that the starting rotation would be a work in progress, and he chose to lean on a trio of veterans at Sam Houston State.
Two of them — Sam Garcia and Brian Holiday — are first-year Cowboys who transferred in last offseason, while the other, Janzen Keisel, came to OSU in the summer of 2022 after beginning his career at BYU.
Holiday and Keisel combined to allow five hits and no runs over 11 innings.
Behind them, only a couple of pitchers worked more than an inning in all, led by Ryan Bogusz, who gave up two hits over two shutout innings Sunday.
As a whole, Cowboy pitchers gave up 11 runs on 24 hits with 16 walks and 23 strikeouts for the series.
More: Oklahoma State baseball: Get to know the 2024 OSU Cowboys roster, schedule
Big tests ahead
Holliday called himself a “crazy man” for the challenging opening schedule he organized this year, but he knows it’ll pay off later.
The Pokes are in Arlington, Texas, for the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Stadium, home of the Texas Rangers.
While Michigan was unranked, Arkansas was No. 4 and Oregon State No. 7 in the USA Today coaches’ preseason rankings.
Prior to the weekend event, OSU faces Abilene Christian on Wednesday, also in Arlington.
“We’re ultimately trying to get great,” Holliday said, “and the beginning of this season’s gonna help us get there.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State baseball finds offensive life before big week in Texas
