The No. 13 Cowboys and the No. 7 Shockers both have strong cases for hosting when playoffs start late next month, and OSU's case got even stronger with a 5-3 win.
"We need to continue this rivalry,” OSU coach Frank Anderson said. "It's a great regional rivalry and they're always gonna have a good club.”
Coming off a weekend sweep of Texas and a six-run win over Mid-America Christian on Tuesday, OSU (29-11) has extended its winning streak to six games.
Wednesday night's game started out in front of a packed house, but the crowd dwindled with an 80-minute rain delay and a game that lasted nearly four hours.
OSU went into the delay with a 2-1 lead, thanks to a Jordy Mercer RBI double in the third inning and a Matt Hague RBI single the next at-bat to score Mercer.
Anderson went back to his starting pitcher, Matt Gardner, after the delay.
"I probably shouldn't have started him after the rain delay but it's a conference weekend and we really gotta piecemeal to make sure we got stuff in place for the weekend,” Anderson said.
Gardner, who finished with five strikeouts in four innings pitched, threw a couple of wild pitches in the fourth, and Wichita State scored on one to tie the score at 2-2.
Wichita State's Andy Dirks hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but Mercer grabbed the momentum back in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run homer to right field.
"That was a big hit right there to separate us,” Anderson said. "When you talk about kids this age, 20 years old, momentum shifts are huge.”
OSU got strong relief pitching from Brett Davis and Robbie Weinhardt, who gave up just one run and one hit in the last five innings. Weinhardt threw two hitless innings, striking out four.
"Right now it's all about playing to host and we're doing a good job,” Weinhardt said.
Weinhardt got defensive help, including a tough play at second by Thomas Belza to end the eighth inning with two men on base. Anderson called it "the defensive play of the game.”
In the bottom of the eighth, Donnie Webb sealed the win with a solo homer to right field, giving OSU the 5-3 lead.
"I told them, when you kinda identify who you are — and we're not pretty, we're a bunch of grinders … if we continue to grind it out we can be pretty good,” Anderson said.
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Another great win for the Cowboys against a ranked team. The Cowboys are now 50-24 in this series against Wichita State. A .676 winning percentage. A good series this weekend might result in a top 10 ranking.
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