It took 10 innings on Friday night for Oklahoma State to get the win in the first game of the series.
Saturday night, in a good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel, Arizona (24-10, 9-5 Big 12) needed just one inning, the sixth, to break the scoreless tie and secure a 5-1 win over the Cowboys.
Arizona starter Owen Kramkowski (5-3) and Oklahoma State starter Mario Pesca (2-1) battled through the early innings.
Kramkowski, whose last start was at ASU where he went 8 2/3 innings, one out away from a complete game, dealt seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing four hits on 97 pitches, including 66 strikes.
Tony Pluta got the save, his seventh on the season, after pitching 1 1/3 innings striking out four batters in a row.
Arizona’s rally started in the bottom of the sixth inning when Mason White showed his speed turning what would typically be a single into a double on a hit through the right side, followed by an Adonys Guzman walk. That set the stage for a Maddox Mihalakis three-run homer. A towering 402-foot home run that landed on top of the Terry Francona Hitting Center.
“I knew it off the bat, it felt good,” Mihalakis said on his home run.
“It’s tough to kind of just keep putting the at-bats together but the big thing is just to kind of be able to take one at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time and um if things are going well just kind of keep playing off it and if things aren’t going well just understand that you might be doing something right and things just aren’t falling your way so just keeping with the same approach and being consistent.”
The Wildcats added a run in the seventh after Easton Breyfogle tripled down the right-field line and Aaron Walton laid down a text-book bunt to bring Breyfogle home.
The final run of the night for Arizona came off of a Tommy Splaine single to left-center that plated Guzman.
Oklahoma State (16-16, 5-7) scored its only run in the eighth when a Nolan Schubart single to right-center scored Donovan LaSalle.
Arizona’s defense, which had been struggling the last few games, showed up against the Cowboys on Saturday turning two double plays — one an acrobatic turn in the top of the third inning that had all 4,395 fans in attendance on their feet cheering.
OSU’s Drew Culbertson knocked a ball right at White at shortstop. White was shaded toward second. White hopped over a sliding LaSalle and threw high to first. Splaine skied up to grabbed the ball, came down and tagged Culbertson on the head at first while flipping forward.
“Defense played well, and um, you know, it’s a funky thing, man,” Arizona coach Chip Hale said. “When Owen pitches, they know it’s going to be strikes and they’re ready to go”
Arizona and Oklahoma State play a rubber match game Sunday at 12 p.m. at Hi Corbett.
Game Extra:
New Arizona Women’s Basketball head coach Becky Burke threw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday.
.@beckyburke11 in the Juice Box throwing out the first pitch! @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/YD0lmHxhfx
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) April 13, 2025
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