Monday, May 15, 2023
OSU’s ‘clutch’ first inning sparks onslaught of Kansas State Braden Bush Sports Editor The first inning is early to call a moment pivotal, but that’s what it was. After Kansas State took an early lead in the top of the first, Tyler Wulfert stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded from walks. It could have turned into a big, missed chance to take advantage of KSU errors. Instead, Wulfert hit a two-RBI
single, then first baseman David Mendham followed suit with a three-RBI double to start the Cowboys’ 19-5 onslaught of the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at O’Brate Stadium. “The key was the first inning base hit by Wulfert followed by the base hit by Mendham to get off a five-spot in the first – it’s a big deal,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “Those were clutch two-out hits by those two kids.” In the fifth, with OSU leading 8-4, Wulfert led off with a triple to leftcenter field. Designated hitter Colin Brueggemann followed with a sac fly that almost wasn’t. But again, Wulfert made a winning play for OSU (34-15, 12-8 Big 12). He pretended to return to third base after the fly out, then ran home
Chase Davis Tyler Wulfert went 4-for-4 from the plate, including a big two-out, two-RBI single in the first inning of OSU’s 19-5 win against Kansas State on Saturday.
when the Wildcats (32-19, 12-8) let their guard down. “It’s just a little delay play, so we executed it there and it was pretty cool,” Wulfert said.
Holliday met Wulfert outside the dugout with high five for executing the play they call the “Brett Brown.”
See Clutch on 2
Comedy of errors
OSU upset by KU in first round of Big 12 Tournament After resuming the game in the top half of the fourth, the Cowgirls came out in the bottom half of the inning and scored four runs, completely flipping the game on its head. Three of those runs came Ashton Slaughter off a Katelynn Carwile home run, her first since late FebruStaff Reporter ary. Carwile extended her arm in the air the moment she let OKLAHOMA CITY – It go of the bat; she knew it was gone. was a tale of two days for the In the top of the sixth, Cowgirls. the Cowgirls had two outs and On Thursday night, were looking to leave the field a shaky performance from before Kiley Naomi fired the Kelly Maxwell and cold bats ball past third baseman Megan left OSU (No. 3 seed) trailing Kansas (No. 6 seed) 3-1 before Bloodworth. Shayna Espy, Jayhawk the game was postponed til Friday morning due to inclem- centerfielder, found the plate. One-run game. ent weather. After the Cowgirls got On Friday, though, the a run back in the bottom half Cowgirls’ bats were smoking, of the inning, they entered the giving them a two-run lead seventh up 6-4, and were three heading into the seventh inouts away from advancing to ning. the semifinals of the tournaThen, the collaspe. An error-filled, defensive meltdown ment. This is when the defense from the Cowgirls led to a fourrun KU seventh inning. Out of broke down, as crucial errors from Naomi and Bloodworth nowhere the Jayhawks had a paired with sharp Jayhawk bats two-run lead. “We take a lot of pride in led to the four-run, comeback our defense, and it really let us inning. The Cowgirls’ four erdown,” coach Kenny Gajewski rors were the most they’ve had in a game since June 2021. said. See Tournament on 3
Courtesy of ODMHSAS More than 40 vending machines will be placed in Oklahoma zip code locations where overdose rates are high.
New life-saving vending machines available for all Oklahomans
Luke Tolbert The Cowgirls’ four errors were the most they’ve had in a game since June 2021. Kenny Gajewski on his team’s defensive performance, “We take a lot of pride in our defense, and it really let us down.”
saving resources. Vending machines that contain naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits will be distributed in areas where they are highly trafficked. More than Stephanie Landaverde 40 vending machines will be placed in zip code locations News Editor where overdose rates are high. This will be the largestThe Oklahoma Depart- scale initiative in the U.S. Nearly 300,000 Oklament of Mental Health and homa residents report a Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) launched a new substance use disorder, and accidental overdoses are now Harm Reduction campaign last week, working to provide the leading cause of death for people in the U.S. under the all Oklahomans with life-
age of 50. The campaign launch coincided with National Prevention Week, May 7-13, and will aim to decrease accidental overdose in Oklahoma through education, awareness and access to lifesaving resources like naloxone and fentanyl test strips. In 2020 alone, drug overdoses increased by 31%, with nearly 92,000 lives lost that year. More than 70% of these overdoses were driven by opioids, including synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. See Machines on 5