STILLWATER – In its final series of the regular season, Oklahoma State dropped the opener to Arizona, 7-4, Thursday night at O'Brate Stadium.
With the loss, the 21st-ranked Cowboys fell to 34-19 overall and 16-12 in Big 12 play, while the Wildcats improved to 19-32 and 9-19 in the league.
All of the Pokes' runs came via the long ball as Danny Wallace and Evan Saunders both homered. OSU now has 130 home runs on the season.
Mario Pesca came out of the bullpen and took the loss on the mound to fall to 5-4. The right-hander allowed four runs on four hits in his lone inning of work.
In his first start since March 28, Hudson Barrett struggled through his first inning, loading the bases before issuing a walk that forced in a run. The southpaw limited the damage, however, recording back-to-back strikeouts to strand three runners.
Arizona took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a two-out bunt single that Barrett wasn't able to corral coming off the mound.
Brennan Phillips took over in the fourth and stranded an inherited runner at second to keep the deficit at two. The left-hander ran into trouble of his own in the fifth, allowing runners to reach second and third before recording an out. He responded by striking out the next three batters, leaving the Wildcats with nine runners stranded through five innings.
Meanwhile, Arizona starter Luc Fladda completed his fifth no-hit inning, striking out two more Cowboys to push his tally to eight.
Arizona added its third run in the sixth inning with a pair of two-out hits to go up, 3-0.
In the bottom half of the frame, Danny Wallace broke up both the no-hit bid and the shutout with a solo home run to center field, his fifth round-tripper of the season.
Kollin Ritchie opened the bottom of the seventh with a walk, marking the first free pass issued by Fladda. Pinch-hitter Deacon Pomeroyfollowed with a single to put runners on the corners before Saunders delivered a clutch three-run home run to put the Cowboys in front, 4-3.
Pesca entered for the eighth and was greeted by a lead-off home run to even the score at 4-4.
In the ninth, Arizona loaded the bases with no outs against Pesca following back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch. Noah Wech came out of the bullpen, but the Wildcats regained the lead on a sacrifice fly and added a pair of insurance runs on a two-out, two-run double to extend their lead to 7-4.
Arizona reliever Corey Kling put the Cowboys away in the home half of the ninth to cap a pair of shutout innings and earn the win.
The two teams return to action Friday at 6 p.m.
