Mendham homers, doubles to lead Oklahoma State to win over Arkansas

Ontario Nationals alum David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.) had a home run, a double and three RBIs for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in their thrilling 14-10 win over Arkansas on Sunday. The win forces a seventh game in the NCAA Stillwater Regional. Photo: Oklahoma State Athletics

June 6, 2022

Official Oklahoma State News Release

Oklahoma State capped off a memorable Sunday at O'Brate Stadium by defeating Arkansas, 14-10, in 10 innings to force a seventh game in the NCAA Stillwater Regional.

The No. 7 national seed Cowboys improved to 42-21 and will face Arkansas (40-19) Monday at 6 p.m. with a Super Regional berth on the line.

The Cowboys rallied for four runs in the 10th inning to propel them to the win as Aidan Meola broke the tie with a two-RBI single before Nolan McLean smashed a two-run home run to help seal the win.

In the bottom of the 10th, McLean took the mound and kept the Razorbacks off the scoreboard to earn his second win of the season.

Roc Riggio had another big night at the plate in the win, going 3-for-6 with three RBIs, while David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.) was 2-for-5 and drove in three runs.

OSU also got a solid start from Mitchell Stone, who worked 6 1/3 innings and struck out seven while allowing five runs on 11 hits. The southpaw left the game in the seventh with the Cowboys leading 6-5.

Arkansas took the game's initial lead in the first, getting four hits in the frame but managing just one run thanks to a double play and a fly out.

The Cowboys erased their deficit in the second, collecting four hits of their own. Mendham got the scoring started with his 10th home run of the season, an opposite field shot to left to tie the score at 1-1.

With two on and one out compliments of a single and a walk, Chase Adkison singled through the left side to bring home the go-ahead run, and Riggio followed with an RBI single of his own to put the Pokes up 3-1.

The Razorbacks added a run in the bottom of the inning after two singles and a sac bunt when Braydon Webb brought home a run with a groundout to make the score 3-2.

Riggio continued to swing a scorching hot bat in the fourth, sending a two-run home run over the wall in centre field to push the lead to 5-2.

In the fifth, it was Griffin Doersching's turn to get in on the home run parade as he led off the inning with a missile into the bullpen in left field. It was the 15th round tripper of the season for the Cowboy DH and gave OSU a 6-2 advantage.

UA cut its deficit to 6-3 in the bottom of the frame, this time on a leadoff long ball by Cayden Wallace, and then pulled closer in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs and getting another big hit from Wallace, this one a two-RBI single, to pull the Hogs to within a run.

The final innings provided plenty of drama.

OSU added an insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Adkison to go up 7-5, but the Hogs erased that lead and went back on top in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Michael Turner.

Trailing 8-7 and down to its final three outs, the Pokes got back-to-back walks with one out in the ninth. Mendham then delivered a double to left field that plated both runners, and a double by Marcus Brown made the score 10-8.

But the Hogs mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the ninth, tying the score on a two-out, two-RBI double by Brady Slavens.

In the decisive 10th, Riggio led off with a ground-rule double to right-center field, and Zach Ehrhard followed with a single to put Cowboys on the corners. After Ehrhard stole second, Meola singled off the foot of UA pitcher Brady Tygart, bringing home both runners.

Two batters later, McLean delivered a towering two-run shot down the left field line to give the Cowboys a four-run cushion.