Dallas Baptist University Athletics

THE RUNDOWN
In a game that became a late-innings bullpen battle, DBU (9-8) fell to Oklahoma State (12-4) in extra innings on Tuesday night in Stillwater. Avery Duncan came through in the clutch, delivering three shutout innings for DBU in the late innings of regulation.
 
Oklahoma State struck first as Alex Conover singled to lead off the bottom of the first, and Brock Thompson homered to give the Cowboys an early 2-0 lead.
 
But the Patriots responded in the next half-inning by manufacturing a run, beginning with a Ryan Martin walk to start the second. Having advanced to second on a wild pitch, Martin stood in scoring position with Cooper Neville at the plate and two outs. Down to the last strike of the inning, Neville sent a grounder up the middle to score Martin and cut the deficit to one run.
 
DBU kept the runs coming in third, using three hits to add three tallies. Jake Bennett legged out an infield single to commence the frame and took second on the second wild pitch thrown by Cowboy starter Kai Fyke. Getting to third on a groundout by Ben Tryon, Bennett trotted home when Chayton Krauss doubled to left-center field to tie the game at two runs apiece.
 
But the Patriots weren't finished. In his second plate appearance of the night, Ryan Martin watched three straight pitches miss the strike zone. With a hitter-friendly count, Martin launched a rocket into deep left field for a two-run shot that moved DBU in front 4-2.
 
Coming off an inning where he struck out the side, Jerrod Jenkins worked his magic in the home half of the third, sitting down the OSU hitters in order to set the stage for another Patriot run in the top of the fourth. Facing a new pitcher in Stormy Rhodes, Urim Ibrahimi reached base on a fielding error by third baseman Aidan Meola. After a productive groundout by Neville, Dylan Cupp delivered an RBI single to plate Ibrahimi from second and extend the margin to 5-2.
 
In a three-run ballgame, the Cowboys answered back in the sixth, evening the score at five on back-to-back home runs, a two-run homer by veteran first baseman Colin Brueggemann and a solo blast by Clemson transfer TP Wentworth.
 
As the game aged into the later innings, a storm moving south to north crept into Stillwater, causing a 90-minute delay with two outs in the top of the seventh.
 
With the pause in play came a pause in scoring, as both pitching staffs threw zeros on the board for their squads. The Cowboys' trio of Rhodes, Brennan Phillips, and Noah Wech held the Patriots to two hits for the remainder of the game, but Patriot reliever Avery Duncan answered in kind, limiting the OSU offense to just two hits in the last three innings of regulation.
 
DBU nearly took the lead back in the ninth, advancing Keaton Grady to third base with two out, but was unable to convert. With Duncan on the bump, the righty from Wisconsin worked a three-up-three-down bottom of the ninth to force extras, but OSU would ultimately walk off with the win on a Campbell Smithwick solo home run in the 10th.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Avery Duncan put together a career-best outing, going a career-long 3.0 innings and striking out two batters without allowing a run.
- Ben Tryon's career-best 13-game hitting streak was snapped.
- With his two-hit day, Mac Rose recorded his first multi-hit game as a Patriot.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
25 - With his three-hit day, Jake Bennett has reached base in 25 straight games, going back to the 2025 season.
19 - Ryan Martin's fourth-inning, two-run homer put him into the team lead in RBI with 19.
450 - Martin's fourth-inning home run went 450 feet.
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will face New Mexico State on Friday to open conference play. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Horner Ballpark.
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