Junior Oklahoma State outfielder Kollin Ritchie was named to the All-American second team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. It is Ritchie’s first All-American honor and comes after one of the best hitting seasons in school history.

His 31 home runs led the Big 12 and ranks third nationally. That total ranks second all-time at OSU behind only Pete Incaviglia’s NCAA record of 48 back in 1985. As of writing, Ritchie is second in the conference in slugging percentage (.804), second in runs scored (81), third in runs batted in (75) and is second in on base + slugging PCT (1.266).

Ritchie led the cowboys with 20 multi-RBI games including a history-making three home runs in a win over TCU, including the walk-off winner.

HOMER x3

Kollin Ritchie ends the night with his third home run of the game#GoPokes | @RitchieKollin pic.twitter.com/VdmODyP3Og

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 2, 2026

Ritchie is the 153rd Cowboy to be named an All-American and the 18th under head coach Josh Holliday. He was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Simmons led the Cowboys for six seasons from 1995 to 2000. He was tasked with revitalizing a program that was coming off six losing seasons and probation.

He’d go 30-38 in that stretch, winning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 1997 — a year he led the Cowboys to an 8-4 record where they climbed as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll.

In memoriam, let’s take a look back at some of Simmons’ biggest wins as the Cowboys’ coach.

Bedlam 1995

Oklahoma State had lost 17 of 18 Bedlams entering the 1995 contest, and the only game the Cowboys didn’t lose in that stretch, they tied.

There was reason to believe that streak would continue on Veterans Day of 1995, as OSU entered Bedlam at just 2-7. That record included losses to Tulsa and Wyoming. The Sooners weren’t world beaters in ’95, but they entered this game at a much-better 5-3-1.

The Cowboys shut out OU in Norman, winning 12-0.

“For the OSU fans and alums, all the aggies that’s been agonizing — it’s over,” Simmons said. “We won. We won.”

The game’s only touchdown game on a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Tone Jones.

Obviously it featured an outstanding defensive effort. On two occasions, the Sooners ran four straight plays from inside the OSU 5-yard line and left those instances with nothing.

Colorado 1997

This game marked the first ranked win of Simmons’ tenure and might’ve been the peak of his best season as the Cowboys’ coach.

After going 4-8 in 1995 and 5-6 in 1996, Simmons had the Cowboys at 5-0 and ranked 20th nationally entering the 1997 homecoming game against No. 25 Colorado — a game OSU would win 33-29.

The Cowboys were down 29-26 with less than three minutes to play when Tony Lindsay hit Alonzo Mayes for a 19-yard game-winning touchdown. Lindsay did a little bit of everything for the Cowboys that day, finishing with 105 passing yards, 126 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

Kicker Tim Sydnes also deserves a bit of a shoutout for keeping the Pokes in it early, as OSU’s first 12 points came off his leg. Kevin Williams also had a 40-yard pick-six late in the first half.

Bedlam 1997

Following the win against the Buffaloes, the Cowboys climbed as high as No. 12 in the polls but back-to-back overtime losses to Missouri and Texas A&M saw OSU drop down to No. 25 by the time Bedlam rolled around.

After snapping that streak in 1995, the Cowboys lost the 1996 Bedlam game 27-17, but that Sooner streak wouldn’t last nearly as long as the previous one.

OSU beat the Sooners 30-7 in Norman. OU actually scored the game’s first points before the Cowboys rattled off 30 straight starting in the second quarter.

R.W. McQuarters had an interception in that 1995 Bedlam game. In 1997, he caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Lindsay, who finished 9-for-16 for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Jamaal Fobbs didn’t find paydirt that day, but you could argue he was the player of the game, running for 122 yards and 25 carries.

Here’s the Bob Simmons Show after that game:

Mississippi State 1998

The Cowboys hosted a ranked SEC foe early in the 1998 season and left Lewis Field that day with a 42-23 win.

The Bulldogs had no answer for the OSU ground attack that day.

Nathan Simmons, Bob’s son, ran for 148 yards and a touchdown. Fobbs added another 104 rushing yards and two scores. Oh, and Lindsay ran for 77 more yards and two more scores. In total, the Cowboys ran for 360 yards and six touchdowns on Mississippi State that day.

Bedlam 1998

Remember when it had been 18 years since the Cowboys beat the Sooners on the gridiron?

OSU beat OU 41-26 in 1998 to move to 3-1 against the Sooners with Simmons as the coach.

Lindsay was the Cowboys’ star man that day, throwing for 138 yards, running for 99 yards and accounting for four of OSU’s five touchdowns.

It was OSU’s first Bedlam win in Stillwater since 1966.

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OSU Bullets

• Steve Lutz said Tuesday that Parsa Fallah has filed for a waiver seeking more eligibility. [PFB]

• Lutz also seems quite bullish on the squad he has assembled. [PFB]

“I told them ‘it’s not enough to make the NCAA tournament.’ I think we have enough talent in the room to win” — Steve Lutz

•  Here’s Lutz’s full presser from Tuesday.

• It’s shaping up to be another busy week for Eric Morris and Co. hosting visits. [PFB]

• Informative tweet from Daniel here about the early portions of the OSU baseball offseason.

A few takeaways from this:

> Francisco was a serviceable backup, but it’s not the end of the world for #OkState. Options via the transfer portal and junior college exist.

> There is a real possibility Smithwick forgoes the MLB Draft and returns to Stillwater for his senior… https://t.co/PfPu07VLkp

— Daniel Allen (@bydanielallen25) June 9, 2026

• The NCAA Track and Field Championships get rolling today.

Tomorrow, we ride in Track Town 🤠#GoPokes I #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/yWaM2sP4Z3

— Oklahoma State XC/T&F (@run4okstate) June 9, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Carolina finds a way in Game 4 to tie the Stanley Cup final. Last night’s game winner came via a falling Jordan Staal.

JORDAN STAAL SCORES AGAIN 💥

The captain’s second of the night gives the @Canes a 4-3 lead! #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: ABC
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/374dwNdaoA

— NHL (@NHL) June 10, 2026

• For the Thunder fan contingent of the OSU fanbase, Sam Presti met with the media this week. Here are nearly two hours of him talking if you want to pop in a headphone today.

Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz told reporters Tuesday that Fallah has filed for an eligibility waiver that would see him gain a sixth season.

“Parsa is petitioning the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility because of some circumstances he had when he first came over to the United States,” Lutz said. “So, yes, I am holding the scholarship for him at this point.”

Fallah was a fan favorite in what was initially thought to be his lone season at Oklahoma State and became even more of a fan favorite late in the year when he tore his ACL at the end of OSU’s win against West Virginia just to hobble into the postgame news conference and pour his heart out for the university.

Fallah’s eligibility will be interesting.

He came to the United States from Iran, but it wasn’t as simple as hopping on a plane and heading over. He had to go to a U.S. embassy in Africa — a process he thought would take two days, but he ended up being in Africa for sixth months with $400.

By the time he got to Southern Utah, his first college program, Fallah redshirted. He went on to play 58 games with Southern Utah across the next two seasons, averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 boards a contest before transferring to Oregon State. In one year with the Beavers, Fallah averaged 12.8 points and four boards a contest before averaging 14.7 and six last season with the Cowboys.

“He’s around,” Lutz said. “He comes to the team meetings and practices, and he works out with (strength coach) Gavin (Roberts), and Kevin (Blaske), the trainer, and our physical therapist. He’s a lot thicker, but that’s because he’s not running. But he told me the other day, if I’m not mistaken, he should be running here very soon, or jogging pretty soon.

“So, he’s doing great. Positive attitude, excited about the future — whether it be with us in basketball or he’s had some job opportunities presented to him here in Stillwater and beyond. So, he’s living the dream.”

It’s hard to tell anymore in terms of what the NCAA is thinking when it comes to waivers. Then on top of that, it’s tough to determine just how much power the NCAA actually has to enforce a decision. Just Monday, a Texas judge ruled that Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is eligible despite his gambling situation.

Fallah’s isn’t the only waiver the Cowboys are waiting on, either.

Reigning Conference-USA Defensive Player of the Year Kashie Natt signed with the Cowboys this offseason, but he’s in need of some extra eligibility.

“I don’t have any updates,” Lutz said of Natt’s situation. “There’s been waivers filed with the NCAA, and then obviously depending on what they say, you obviously have to take it to the courts.”

Natt’s path to that extra year seems a little more straight forward. Last season was Natt’s first at the Division-I level, where he averaged 10.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a pair of steals a game at Sam Houston.

Natt started his college career at Southern University-Shreveport — a junior college — before spending two seasons at LSU-Alexandria — an NAIA school. He was a two-time All-American at LSU-Alexandria and was the 2025 NAIA National Player of the Year.

He’s also apparently made quite the impact in a short period of time this summer in Stillwater.

“He’s an unbelievable human being,” Lutz said. “He’s constantly bringing energy. He’s constantly bringing energy. Today, we started off practice … you get a towel, and you have hold the towel over your head. And then you have to do step slides, defensive step slides, like old school. I’ve never really said you have to say ‘ball’ or you have to say whatever, and Kashie decided, ‘Hey, coach, we’re gonna call ball, ball, ball, ball.’ Well, it’s contagious, and he’s just got that personality. So, it’s been enjoyable.”

Although the Cowboys have yet to crack the NCAA Tournament field under his leadership, the Oklahoma State coach made it clear to the 2026-27 squad that his expectations will be even higher in his third season in Stillwater.

“I told them ‘it’s not enough to make the NCAA tournament,’” Lutz said. “I think we have enough talent in the room to win, and you know that’s kind of sticking your neck out and going out on a limb for a guy that won six games in the Big 12 last year, where I think we need to be fighting hopefully for a conference title, or at least be in the top, you know, 4,5, 6, in the league. Because that guarantees you that you’re probably a top 20 to 40 team in the country, and you give yourself an opportunity to win (and get) in the NCAA tournament and win some games.”

Getting into the field should be easier than ever this season, considering eight additional teams will make the field this time around, following expansion from 68 to 76 teams, which will pit six at-large teams versus other at-large squads and six automatic qualifiers versus other automatic qualifiers.

Of course, if everything goes the way Lutz hopes in the Big 12, Oklahoma State fans won’t have to get too invested in learning the new format ahead of the first weekend.

“I’m all for it, if they think that is what is going to be best for our game, then let’s do it,” Lutz said when asked about expansion. “I mean, selfishly, you know, if we had that field this past year, we were off by three teams, and we would have been in the NCAA tournament. I would love to be in the NCAA tournament, you know, you guys know that that’s my main concern, and that’s our standard here.”

On paper, this is the most talented group of Cowboys to play for Lutz.

The Cowboys added six portal prospects, including four four-star players, and rank 26th overall in the 247Sports portal rankings. OSU’s four-member freshman class also ranks seventh overall and second in the Big 12, behind only Kansas.

That’s a pretty big leap from previous offseasons.

“The biggest growth is, as I’ve said a couple times here today, is we’ve had more funds available for this year’s team, just plain and simple,” Lutz said. “I mean, we’ve been funded from an NIL standpoint in the bottom third of the league in years one and two, and we’ve improved that in this class, and that’s certainly helped us acquire more talent, and it’s helped us to acquire more pieces that fit us.”

Money came up often during Tuesday’s press conference as the Oklahoma State coach addressed the realities of building and retaining a roster in the current era of college athletics.

Although it’s too early for Lutz or his staff to know exactly what they have in this team yet, the head coach is confident he has a great option leading the way at point guard after Kanye Clary chose to return.

“I mean, Kanye has obviously got to be a huge factor for us,” Lutz said when asked about his four confirmed returners. “He’s got to be a steadying force every single day. … So I expect him to have a fantastic year. I expect him to be one of the better point guards in the country.”

After scoring double-digit points 12 times in his first 26 games as a Cowboy, with only three outings with 15-plus points, Clary had something of a breakout late. He hit double figures in seven of his final eight games and surpassed 15 points on four separate occasions, highlighted by a season-high 23 in an overtime win at UCF on March 3rd.

Clary also finished with 157 assists, putting him one shy of a spot on Oklahoma State’s top-10 list for single-season records.

His return could also help Oklahoma State take the next step with both funding and fan engagement.

“The thing that people usually, I don’t want to say complain about, but the thing that I hear from most fans, what they don’t like about the current landscape in college athletics, especially basketball, is that they don’t get to know the players,” Lutz said.

Not only is Clary remaining in Stillwater, he told his head coach in no uncertain terms why he wanted to stick around even if it meant missing out on a bigger financial windfall elsewhere. Lutz also seems to believe that motivation will result in a step up in performance from the point guard.

“Kanye was very intentional about returning and saying, ‘Hey, coach, like I know that other teams may be offering more money and trying to steal me, but if you’ll give me a fair offer, I want to stay here because I want to bring my kids back to Oklahoma State. I want this to be my university, I want to be a Cowboy.’ And that means something to him.”

After picking up a pair of offensive line commitments this past weekend, the Oklahoma State staff will continue to host prospects. Here’s a look at four of the players who will be in Stillwater this week.

Finn Walker, DL

Listed at 6-foot-7, 260 pounds, Finn Walker is the No. 611 player in all of the 2027 class, according to the 247Sports Composite ranking. That ranking marks him as a Top 75 defensive lineman in the class and a Top 90 Texas prospect.

Out of Oak Ridge High in Conroe, Texas (north of Houston), Walker also has offers to Arizona, SMU, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Baylor, Kansas State, Oregon State and others. He has a robust official visit schedule that has already seen him take visits to Arizona, Kansas State and SMU.

He fits the mold of multi-sport athletes that new OSU coach Eric Morris likes to recruit, as he also throws shot and discus, boasting a PR discus throw of 182 feet, 10 inches.

OSU extended an offer to Walker on Jan. 30. In April, OSU defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity and defensive ends coach Greg Richmond made their way down to the Houston area for a home visit, and early last month, Walker announced he’d take this official visit.

Jake Baker, OL

Oklahoma State became Jake Baker’s first Power Conference offer last month, and on Sunday he announced that he’d take an official visit to Stillwater.

Out of Nashville, Baker comes in at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds. The Rivals industry ranking lists Baker as the No. 1,515 recruit nationally and a Top 50 player from Tennessee.

Along with his offer to be a Cowboy, Baker has announced offers to UConn, Memphis, Tulsa, East Carolina, Arkansas State and others.

Tristan Hardin Roberts, OL

Out of Mobile, Alabama, Tristan Hardin Roberts is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive lineman.

He’s unranked as of writing, but that hasn’t stopped the likes of OSU, Florida State, West Virginia, Tulane, USF and others from offering.

OSU offensive line coach Cody Crill was at Hardin Roberts’ spring game last month, where he extended the offer before locking in an official visit. Hardin Roberts has already taken visits to West Virginia and Tulane.

Caleb Canty, OL

Another offensive lineman from Alabama, Caleb Canty committed to Maryland last month but told PFB he will still take  his official visit to Stillwater.

He’s listed at 6-foot-5, 290 pounds, and the 247Sports Composite ranking tabs him as the No. 1,137 player in the 2027 class, making him a Top 100 offensive tackle and a Top 45 player from Alabama. Along with his offers to OSU and Maryland, he’s announced offers to Memphis, Troy, Arkansas State and others.

He also excels on his schools track team. Athletic.net credits Canty with a 152-7 discus throw and a 50-1 shot throw this year.

OSU Bullets

• A court ruled Brendan Sorsby eligible to play in 2026 following a two-game suspension to the surprise of many. [PFB]

• Ross Dellenger spoke with some ADs from the Big 12 and elsewhere. Schools and other conferences are discussing not playing Texas Tech. [Yahoo]

“It’s f***ing bulls***. I know the kid has a problem. Well, get well and focus on your problem. It is absolutely devastating for him to be able to play when every other sport, no matter the level, deems an athlete ineligible or they are punished severely for betting on their team.” — K-State AD Gene Taylor to Yahoo.

• Lastly on Sorsby, Josh Pate went on with Rich Eisen in a discussion I found interesting on the matter.

• Ruby Meylan signed with the OKC Spark. [PFB]

• Steve Lutz spoke with Hoops HQ about his new squad. Lutz meets with the local media today, so expect more OSU hoops content over the next few days. [Hoops HQ]

“This year’s team seems to be much more focused on the processes of winning and those sorts of things. And focused on teamwork. You can already tell the way they’re wired based on our research.” — Steve Lutz to Hoops HQ

Non-OSU Bullets

• The Spurs went into a hostile MSG and got a much-needed win, crawling back into the series.

AREA 51’S FIRST NBA FINALS WIN 👽🏰

Wemby: 32 PTS
Castle: 23 PTS

First teammates, age 22 or younger, to score 20+ PTS in an NBA Finals game! pic.twitter.com/hv50OVlSSR

— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2026

• Perhaps the greatest soccer player to ever live standing next to a quarterback Alan Bowman beat in the 2023 Texas Bowl.

Elite Company pic.twitter.com/zARLYlnwzg

— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) June 7, 2026

Former Oklahoma State ace Ruby Meylan was named to the reserve pool for the AUSL franchise OKC Spark.

Ruby Meylan’s pro debut on the Spark just makes sense 🤠 @rubymeylan pic.twitter.com/UGiddFMvh3

— Oklahoma City Spark | AUSL (@ausl_spark) June 8, 2026

The AUSL’s reserve pool allows teams to fill roster spots when necessary due to injuries or absences. It also gives the players the opportunity to be called up and to earn full-time roster spots.

Meylan earned the opportunity after an impressive career which included two seasons at Washington before spending the last two in Stillwater. The three-time All-American was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and boasted the most wins of any OSU pitcher (29) since 1993.

Despite spending just two seasons at Oklahoma State, Meylan finished 10th in career strikeouts (458), and her career winning percentage of .725 ranks 11th in program history.

The Spark kick off a three-game series against the Texas Volts at home starting Tuesday night.

In case you missed it, Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA to regain eligibility for the 2026 season after initially being deemed ineligible by the NCAA following a gambling investigation.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger has been in contact with some higher-ups around the college athletics space, including in the Big 12, where there have apparently been serious talks as to not play the Red Raiders in 2026. OSU is set to host the reigning Big 12 champs on Nov. 14.

“It’s f****** bulls***,” Kansas State AD Gene Taylor told Yahoo. “I know the kid has a problem. Well, get well and focus on your problem. It is absolutely devastating for him to be able to play when every other sport, no matter the level, deems an athlete ineligible or they are punished severely for betting on their team.”

Another anonymous Big 12 AD told Dellenger it was the “lowest point in my time in college sports” and that Tech “should be ashamed of itself.”

You could see why others in the space would push against Monday’s ruling, given the precedent it sets that gambling on your own team (Sorsby reportedly made bets on Indiana while he was with the Hoosiers) could come down to a two-game suspension.

Before Monday, gambling had been a hardline issue as it pertains to athletes’ ability to play, going back to Pete Rose and even more recently when former Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers got in some trouble for a similar case and had to close his college career at the junior college level. But in this era where everyone has found out the NCAA has no power to enforce just about anything, challenging such a ruling in court — a court in the Lubbock area, no less — you can get by just about anything, it seems.

“There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement. “When you have schools and deep-pocketed supporters willing to look the other way on the glaring integrity threat of betting on your own team — and judges whose rulings effectively strip away our ability to stop them — only Congress can equip the NCAA to apply this common sense rule to everyone fairly and consistently. The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules including the gambling restrictions – it’s needed now more than ever.”

Update: Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark Releases Statement

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark released the following statement on the matter on Monday afternoon:

“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership. I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our Conference ADs and Executive Board this week. We are also in touch with Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA on Monday that helps clear a path for him to play in 2026. That ruling comes after Sorsby was declared ineligible for betting on college sports, including 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman with the Hoosiers.

The injunction would still see Sorsby miss two games of the 2026 season. The Red Raiders open the year with games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State. Conveniently, that suspension ends just before the Red Raiders are set to host what is expected to be a solid Houston squad in the teams’ Big 12 opener.

Major League Baseball’s all-time hit leader was blackballed from the game after a gambling scandal. But in college football, it’s a quick two-game slap on the wrist.

Here was the court’s attempt to put lipstick on this pig:

“This Court finds that Applicant has demonstrated that he will suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury if this Court does not issue this temporary injunction because he will be unable to participate as a member of Texas Tech University’s 2026 football team, including Texas Tech’s 2026 Football season and:

“1. Benefit from the elite coaching, training resources, camaraderie, and regimen that only being a member of a Division I college football team can provide,

“2. Build the skills necessary to maximize his own success during the college football season,  as well as that of Texas Tech’s football team and each of its players, and

“3. Make an informed decision regarding whether to enter the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft.”

Hyperbolic comparison incoming — If a guy got in trouble for robbing a bank, a judge would not rule that because he is now behind bars, he doesn’t have the opportunity to make more bank robbery money and thus must be set free. That’d be insane, right?

And all this isn’t to say that Sorsby’s life should be ruined forever. If he needs help, I hope he continues to get it. But actions have consequences, and what precedent does this set moving forward? Is betting on your own team a two-game suspension now? That’s 25% of a second-half targeting penalty.

Cover 3’s Tom Fornelli put it like this, and it’s something I certainly agree with.

Brendan Sorsby isn’t a victim. pic.twitter.com/BMaa31t5SQ

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 1, 2026

To even be so bold as to challenge this shows that the NCAA has no power anymore. That might sound like I’m dunking on the NCAA (which lends itself plenty of reasons to get dunked on), but it isn’t. What is the NCAA supposed to do when it makes a ruling and then a court comes over the top and says, “Nahhh.”

So, is everyone eligible all the time now?

Former Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers was suspended for a similar ordeal back in 2023 and never played Division-I  college football again. Closer to home, OSU grabbed Iowa transfer receiver Arland Bruce IV out of the transfer portal in 2023, but he was also caught up in that Iowa investigation and never played a down for the Cowboys. Turns out, all they needed was a better lawyer/judge.

It feels like anyone who goes to court seeking some sort of eligibility would get it based on this Sorsby ruling and the wording in it. There still hasn’t been official word on Iman Oates’ eligibility for the 2026 season. If the NCAA rules against him, OSU should find a way to clone him and put four Iman Oateses on the field Game 1.

I’ve seen a lot comparing gambling problems to drinking problems. I don’t have either, so perhaps this is just generally something I should step away from. But, I will note that the rapid development in the online gambling space makes gambling much more accessible. Upon unlocking your phone, you’re a few taps away from being able to gamble on a sporting event. Unless you have a creative phone case, your phone (something you almost always have on you) isn’t going to turn into a drink of some sort. So, this’ll be something that the NCAA or whatever entity is in charge of college sports needs to get ahold of as it pertains to protecting young athletes from themselves.

Lastly, in some ways this story has the ridiculous charm to it that only college athletics could provide. This feels like Eric Dickerson rolling up to school in that Gold Trans Am — where everyone knows exactly what’s going on, but the sport is so Wild West that no one can do anything about it.

For better or worse, this is the type of story that only college athletics can provide, but the more stories like this pop up, the more it feels like the whole system is nearing some boiling point.

OSU Bullets

• The Cowboys picked up not one, but two offensive line commits yesterday. First came 6-foot-7, 285-pound Houston flip Sonny Mullen. A little bit later came 6-foot-4, 290-pound Chase Clark. [PFB]

• Long-tenured coaches were already rare, but they might be getting more rare. Good stuff here from Kyle. [PFB]

“If you take the 16 coaches set to lead the league this fall, they combine for just 43 seasons at their current job. That’s one more than Gundy’s and Whittingham’s tenures together when they left.”

• Lee Roy Smith is heading to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. [okstate.com]

Non-OSU Bullets

• NBA Finals Game 3 is tonight. Interesting piece from Danny Chau on the Knicks starting to feel inevitable. [The Ringer]

• The World Cup starts Thursday! Here’s an informative team-by-team guide. [The Athletic]

By the end of the 2025 season, the Big 12 had said goodbye to two of the top 3 longest tenured head coaches in the country, leaving a big hole when it comes to experience. But in a league, and in a sport, that’s been defined by transition over the last few years, maybe some fresh blood is necessary.

Mike Gundy was fired mid-year after 21 years at the helm of Oklahoma State’s program. Then Kyle Whittingham stepped down a couple months later after 21 years at Utah (though just two in the Big 12). Only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (27 years) was longer in his post in the FBS. Whether or not it was time for each to go, the league lost a lot of experience and stability in a sport that has become even more in-flux of late.

With the exit of two such established program heads, I thought I would look around the league, dig into the numbers and see what kind of takeaways I could cobble together. First off, those two coaching changes made for a lot more parity when it comes to coaching experience.

If you take the 16 coaches set to lead the league this fall, they combine for just 43 seasons at their current job. That’s one more than Gundy’s and Whittingham’s tenures together when they left. Those exits alone cut the median tenure of coaches in the league in half (5.3 years on average to 2.7).

Breaking up is rarely pretty, but sometimes it’s necessary.

Although Gundy’s firing was not a complete shock given how the previous couple of years of his tenure had gone, Whittingham’s departure wasn’t exactly expected from an outsider’s view. The 66-year-old head coach reportedly wanted to stay on but negotiations broke down apparently stemming from Utah’s desire to keep an extension short and for him to cede control to head coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley. Whittingham stepped down Dec. 12 but two weeks later he signed a five-year deal to lead Michigan’s program. Whether or not that decision backfires on Utah remains to be seen.

But that’s the same at any school. Even at OSU which was able to land one of the hottest up-and-comers in the nation in Eric Morris, who brought large portions of his staff and roster and boasts a highly ranked transfer portal class from North Texas and elsewhere.

College football has been a win-now culture for a couple of decades so seasoned longstays like Gundy and Whittingham were the exception even before the seismic shift of the last few years. We’ve seen NIL and transfer portal changes shift the sport closer to a free agency model than the amateur flag it had been trying to run under for as long as we can remember. What they lose in consistency and tradition, programs gain in the ability to pivot quickly now that you can retool 80 percent of your roster in an offseason.

There are five new head coaches that ran their first practices at their respective schools this spring, essentially one-third of the league. In addition to Morris, those include Jimmy Rodgers (Iowa State), Colin Klein (Kansas State), Scott Frost (UCF) and Morgan Scalley (Utah).

To be fair, Frost spent two years at UCF prior, but it was before the school joined the Big 12. And Scalley has been with his school since playing his college ball there and has served in some form on Utah’s staff since 2007.

But the average amount of years coaching in the Big 12 is just 2.1 years. That’s a stark contrast from the Big 12 many of us grew up under with figures like Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Mac Brown and Gundy running programs for decades instead of seasons.

BYU’s Kalani Sitake is the elder statesman of the hodge-podge Big 12, entering his 11th year in Provo. Next up is Dave Aranda entering Year 7 at Baylor and Lance Leipold going into his sixth at KU. The remaining 13 head coaches have five years’ experience or less in the league.

Only three of those 16 current coaches have a Big 12 trophy on their mantel and all three won the title within their first three years in the league. Aranda got one in his second year in 2021, Dillingham got his in 2024 in his second year at Arizona State but his first in the Big 12. Joey McGuire took a whole three years to take the crown home last season. This may say more about the parity in the conference as each of those were their school’s first Big 12 titles.

With that turnover comes its own limitations and insecurities. What if Morris kicks butt and wins 10 games this season? What if he follows the McGuire’s and Dillingham’s of the world and brings some hardware home? His name will be atop all coaching search lists and a school like OSU will always run the risk of “stepping-stone” status. But like it or not, that’s a good problem to have.

Gundy built a winning and preternaturally consistent program (even with the last two years included) and boasts the title of best to do it in Stillwater until someone proves otherwise, which may or may not be possible giving the new model. Back to Iowa, Ferentz has been nothing but consistent in his time in Iowa City. Just four losing seasons in 27 years. But the Hawkeyes also haven’t owned a share in the Big Ten title since 2004 and have not won an outright title since 1985.

I guess it comes down to shifting your opinion of what a college football program is. Or maybe, to being more honest about what it is. It’s entertainment commodified, in a huge way. Results matter and fresh blood can be a boon, if the formula is right — and there are a lot of variables.

It might be over-simplifying to call it a sign of the times, but those long-timers figure to be more and more rare. Maybe they’ll go extinct. The sport has changed a lot, and to their credit, OSU brass took steps to change with it.

Not long after the Cowboys flipped three-star offensive tackle Sonny Mullen from Houston, OSU landed fellow three-star lineman Chase Clark.

First and foremost, I want to give all glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without His guidance, grace, and blessings, none of this would be possible.

I want to thank my family for their endless love and sacrifices, my coaches for believing in me and pushing me day in and… pic.twitter.com/FHJhWNfRm2

— Chase Clark ‘27 (@ChaseClark35) June 7, 2026

Out of Mount Carmel in Chicago, Clark is listed at 6-foot-4, 290 pounds. He’s the No. 1,364 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the class, which lists him as a Top 100 interior lineman in the cycle and a Top 50 player from Illinois.

Clark chose Oklahoma State over an offer list that also includes Purdue, UConn, Oregon State, James Madison, Liberty and others.

He announced his OSU offer on May 13, with the OSU staff working quickly to get him on campus this weekend for an official visit and now a commitment.

“I’m loving it so far,” Clark said of his visit in a video he posted. “I’ve enjoyed the people. I’ve enjoyed the atmosphere, and I’ve enjoyed pretty much the whole environment around me.”

Mount Carmel went a perfect 14-0 in Clark’s junior season, with Clark primarily playing right tackle.

He’s the Cowboys’ second commitment of the day and their sixth overall for the 2027 class.

After a slow start to the class (which was somewhat expected considering Eric Morris spent much of his first few weeks on the job hitting the transfer portal), the Cowboys’ class is up to No. 12 in the Big 12 and 65th nationally.

OSU’s 2027 Class

Listed at 6-foot-7, 285 pounds, Mullen announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Sunday following an official visit to Stillwater. Mullen is the No. 1,133 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the class, making him a Top 100 offensive tackle and a Top 150 player from the state of Texas.

#AGTG Go Pokes 🤠 !!! I am committing to Oklahoma state!! @_coachjsmith @__CoachMorris @Coach_Crill @BooneFeldt @rajesh_murti @JasonMartinezz @CowboyFB @OSUAthletics pic.twitter.com/F5mCY9wTHX

— Sonny Mullen (@SonnyMullen56) June 7, 2026

“I’m loving the vibe so far,” Mullen said in a video he posted from his visit. “Team feels like a family. Coach (Eric) Morris is awesome. All the position coaches are awesome. It feels like a family here.”

Along with his offers to OSU and Houston, Mullen has offers to TCU, Baylor, Kansas State and others.

The Cowboys moved quickly with Mullen. Offensive line coach Cody Crill extended an offer on May 5 before quickly setting up an official visit and getting him committed in early June.

He hails from Troy, Texas, a city of about 3,500 south of Waco. Like many of the athletes Morris recruits, Mullen is a multi-sport athlete, also throwing shot and discus. He has a 140-11 discus throw and a 42-7 shot throw this year, according to MileSplit.

Mullen is the fifth commitment in the Cowboys’ 2027 class and the first offensive lineman of the group.

2027 Oklahoma State Commits

OSU Bullets

• Not a shocker, but Drew Mestemaker has been tabbed a Top 10 QB coming into 2026. [Heartland Sports]

• Eric Morris and staff hosted a speedy Texas safety this weekend.

Thank you to @CowboyFB and the entire coaching staff for an amazing official visit I appreciate all the love and hospitality. Had a great time in Stillwater! #GoPokes @CoachSkyCassity @CoachMalone18 @__CoachMorris @EthanRusso_OSU @CoachRRoberts @coach_ikeDL @CoachMikeOG pic.twitter.com/EiIBlVzqN0

— 🌟Chayce Davis🌟🥇 (@Chayce09Davis) June 6, 2026

• A nice trip down memory lane.

In 2002 Nebraska came to town to take on @CowboyFB. The defense played a great game led by Kevin Williams and Greg Richmond who made big plays all day. Tatum Bell rushed for 182 yds and John Lewis made a highlight catch to seal the first win over Nebraska since 1961 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/CtvxAyxPwP

— Dustin J (@405pokefan) June 5, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• I just don’t even understand this thought process. 

Insane no-rules 2v8 MMA fight just went down in Czechia 😳

Ended in less than 30 seconds 😭 pic.twitter.com/RwIZPUz253

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) June 6, 2026

• What a play.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by ESPN (@espn)

OSU Bullets

• Tyler compared the Big 12’s best QB-RB-WR trios, and it’s a good look for the Cowboys. [PFB]

• New Stilly Boys video dropped, detailing the Cowboys’ trip to the U20 World Team Trials. Really good stuff about Landon Robideau’s win, Dreshaun Ross’ comeback, Ronnie Ramirez’s weight cut and Dee Lockett rebounding from the NCAA Championships. [YouTube]

• Get to know incoming freshman basketball player Parker Robinson.

catch Parker Robinson at the golf course… just don’t look at his swing 😅 pic.twitter.com/2f5JXrGzf4

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) June 5, 2026

• Jackson Koivun vs. Preston Stout: the match that everybody wanted to see but just didn’t see end. [Golf Channel]

Non-OSU Bullets

• This is an absolutely brutal way to lose an NBA Finals game. The Knicks went to San Antonio and won two.

Wemby’s costly turnover in the finals seconds of Game 2…

Tough. pic.twitter.com/96BRj8L5Aj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2026

• The World Cup starts next week, and ESPN predicted every game. [ESPN]

Sometimes it was tough to tell which was worse for the Cowboys, but that shouldn’t be the case in 2026.

Not when the Big 12’s best trio resides in Stillwater, and if history means anything, it might not be close.

When ranked from a production standpoint, the Cowboys are the only team in the conference with a top-five option at quarterback, running back and wide receiver in 2026. BYU is the only team that appears on the list more than once.

All stats obtained using Pro Football Focus database, which might vary from official box scores.

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State): 4,381 yards in 14 games
2. Noah Fifita (Arizona): 3,228 in 13 games
3. Bear Bachmeier (BYU): 3,022 in 14 games
4. JC French (Cincinnati): 2,924 in 13 games
5. Alonza Barnett (UCF): 2,811 in 14 games

There are so many elephants in this room, there’s barely room for the five quarterbacks. Let’s get those guys out of here.

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was one of the most discussed returners before the gambling scandal broke out, which has his eligibility in real doubt. He would rank sixth on this list with 2,782 yards in 12 games.

So his case bears watching, especially since his yard-per-game stats would rank him third among this group, anyway.

Other fanbases and understandably glass-half-empty OSU fans will mention that Mestemaker racked up his yards against a much easier slate than he will face in the Big 12.

Even if he threw for 1,000 yards less in 2026, that would still put him ahead of all returning players and would have ranked 20th in the nation last season.

French and Barnett are also new to the conference. French, a Georgia Southern transfer, faced one Power Conference opponent last season in USC. He completed 54% of his passes for 179 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. As bad as that sounds, he threw for less than 200 yards six times and failed to hit 60% four times.

Barnett, a James Madison transfer, faced two power conference opponents. In week two, he finished with 102 yards while completing 60% of his passes for one touchdown against Louisville. He then threw for 273 and two touchdowns while completing 48% of passes against Oregon in a weird playoff game.

Mestemaker didn’t face any power conference opponents, but he completed 80% of his attempts as often as he finished under 60%, three times. His worst passing yardage total (211) came against Washington State in week three when he completed 86% and threw four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

His biggest competition through the air this year will likely be Fifita, who has now thrown for 2,800-plus yards in three consecutive seasons, and Bachmeier, the latter of whom wasn’t expected to be the starter for the Cougars until they found themselves in need of one late last offseason. As a true freshman last season, it’s easy to imagine him making a leap this fall and putting BYU in conference title contention.

Although it might be hard to put the Pokes in that same conversation, this is also Mestemaker’s first offseason as a starter. So it’s just as possible he makes a leap in year two, which might more than make up for the additional challenges of playing power conference football.

Running backs

1. Cam Cook (West Virginia): 1,650 yards in 13 games
2. Caleb Hawkins (Oklahoma State): 1,431 in 13 games
3. LJ Martin (BYU): 1,299 in 13 games
4. Cameron Dickey (Texas Tech): 1,135 in 14 games
5. Wayshawn Parker (Utah): 992 in 13 games

Hawkins isn’t the only Big 12 newcomer on this list. Cook transferred in from Jacksonville State, a program West Virginia Rich Rodriguez coached before returning to his alma mater.

When adjusted for yards per attempt, Hawkins ranked ninth in the nation, averaging 6.2 yards per carry among backs with at least 146 carries. That’s how many attempts Parker finished with when he averaged 6.8, which put him fourth in the nation last season.

Cook, Martin and Dickey averaged 5.6, 5.5 and 5.4, respectively, last season, ranking 25th, 28th and 34th.

All together, it sounds like the Big 12 title will come down to which offense has the best season. From a pure production standpoint, Hawkins led the way with 370 receiving yards, followed by Cook (291), Martin (251), Dickey (217) and Parker (185).

Receivers

1. Danny Scudero (Colorado): 1,299 yards in 12 games
2. Wyatt Young (Oklahoma State): 1,264 in 14 games
3. Eric McAlister (TCU): 1,173 in 13 games
4. Nik McMillan (Kansas): 983 in 12 games
5. Amare Thomas (Houston) 966 in 13 games

Most of this list includes newcomers to the conference. Scudero transferred in from San Jose State, Young obviously from North Texas and McMillan from Buffalo.

Young stands out on the list as the most reliable target, hauling in 72% of his 97 targets. Thomas led the others with 68%, followed by McMillan (64%), McAlister (60%) and Scudero (56%).

All five proved capable of making some big plays last season.

Deep Targets 20-plus yards downfield

Young finished third in yards but second in catch percentage and fourth in deep targets. He will have to prove he can win those battles and get loose against better defenses this fall, but based on these numbers, it wouldn’t take a lot of additional deep targets for Young to establish himself as the Big 12’s frontrunner for the receiving title.

OSU Bullets

• Oklahoma State offered another Class of 2027 quarterback on Thursday in Mississippi passer Sladen Shack. [PFB]

• I had fun doing research on two years I wasn’t alive for, 1945 and 1988, to take a peek at what was the best year for OSU athletics. [PFB]

Question: Which year do you think was better for the school?

• After the past few years, it’s fun seeing OSU on these types of lists again, and I promise to not take it for granted.

The Top 10 college football offenses in 2026, according to PFN CFB Analyst @hodgkinsonsport ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/WbGBfaePwi

— PFSN College (@PFSNcollege) June 4, 2026

• We dropped two pods Wednesday. Carson and Colby went heavier on the Cowboy golf season coming to an end, while The Reload went heavier on baseball.

Non-OSU Bullets

• Texas went back-to-back in college softball, beating Texas Tech two games to none.

The last out of the 2026 #NCAASoftball season 👏#WCWS x @TexasSoftball pic.twitter.com/yKvGXnCNDO

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 5, 2026

• The Hurricanes made an electric comeback in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals to even the series.

THE REF CAM VIEW OF THE CANES’ OT WINNER 🔥#StanleyCupFinal pic.twitter.com/ZC1zRMmVZX

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 5, 2026

Sladen Shack announced an Oklahoma State offer on Thursday, also announcing he’ll take an official visit to Stillwater next week.

After a great conversation with @Coach_Brophy I’m blessed to receive an offer from Oklahoma State University!!!
Extremely excited for my OV next weekend! #AGTG pic.twitter.com/gqZbD71ixA

— Sladen Shack (@sladen_shack) June 4, 2026

Listed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Shack hails from Brandon, Mississippi. He’s the No. 1,485 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the 2027 class, which lists him as a Top 100 QB in the cycle and a Top 40 player from Mississippi.

Shack also holds offers from Ole Miss, Illinois, Arkansas State, Southern Miss, Tulane and others. He’s set to take an official to Illinois this week, and has an official scheduled to Arkansas State for June 19.

He led Brandon to a 7-6 record as a junior, which might not sound all that ideal, but the Bulldogs got hot late in the year, making it all the way to the Mississippi 7A state semifinals.

Get ready to see some dimes:

Eric Morris and Co. already had a 2027 quarterback committed in Iowa Colony (TX) product Carson White. White is one of four pledges in the Cowboys’ class to this point, along with tight end Talan Scott, safety Bryson Brown and receiver Cooper Hooker. In his short time in Stillwater, Morris has already shown a willingness to take multiple QBs in a cycle, adding Broderick Vehrs and Luke Tepas to his 2026 roster.

Rob Glass to Receive Award

Rob Glass has been named the recipient of the 2026 Merv Johnson Integrity in College Coaching Award, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Football Foundation announced this week.

The award is presented yearly to an esteemed coach from any level in Oklahoma and recognizes them for their outstanding career as a coach, educator and community leader.

OSU’s longtime strength coach, Glass has transitioned to OSU’s assistant athletic director in athlete performance. He’s in his 31st year at OSU. He graduated from OSU in 1984 and has worked with just about the who’s who in OSU athletics — from Barry Sanders, to Robin Ventura, to Ollie Gordon and so on.

Glass was the 1994 NSCA Big Eight Strength Coach of the Year, and along with his work in the college athletics space, he has ran the powerlifting portion of the Special Olympics Oklahoma Summer Games for 25 years.

He’ll be presented the award at the All-Sports and Scholar Athletes Award Ceremony on June 25 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

Russell Okung on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

On Monday, the National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame released a list of 80 players on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2027 class, and that list includes a Cowboy.

Russell Okung might be the best offensive lineman in OSU’s history, playing as a Cowboy from 2006-09.

Okung was a unanimous All-American as a senior, a year that also saw him win the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year and the Jim Parker Trophy (given to the nation’s best offensive lineman). He was also a finalist for the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award (top lineman).

In each of his four seasons, the Cowboys had a 1,000-yard rusher, and Okung made 47 straight starts.

The Seahawks took Okung sixth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He’d spend 11 years in the league, playing for Seattle. Denver, the Chargers and Carolina. Okung made two Pro Bowls and has a Super Bowl ring from 2014.

The announcement for who gets voted in to the College Football Hall of Fame will be made in early 2027.

That year, in Oklahoma State lore, is best known because Barry Sanders had the greatest season in college football history, but he wasn’t the only OSU athlete shining in ’88.

In my recent tracking of Kollin Ritchie climbing OSU’s season home run chart, I learned that Monty Farris hit 30 homers in 1988 — now tied for the third-most in a season in OSU’s history.

As 1988 has popped up a few more times, it had me (someone born in 1995) wondering — was that OSU’s greatest athletic year to date? As I started thinking about other years that could compete, the other best year I could come up with was 1945 when OSU won national titles in football (sorta after the fact) and men’s basketball in the same year.

So, I’ve spent my morning diving through both years in OSU athletics. Here are my findings.

1988

Football: We’ll start with the obvious: Barry Sanders won the Heisman Trophy. He’s the only OSU football player to ever accomplish the feat, and he did so while putting together what many consider to be the greatest college season of all-time.

He accounted for 264 points — 102 more than anyone else had in a season in program history. He scored 44 touchdowns — 17 more than any other Cowboy. He ran for 2,850 yards — the most ever, OSU or otherwise.

OSU went 10-2 that season under Pat Jones, one of the program’s best seasons to that point. The Cowboys scored 584 points, the fourth-most in program history. That’s especially impressive  given the offensive boom of the 2010s. The 78 touchdowns the Cowboys scored that year are still the second-most they’ve ever scored, and the 6,365 total yards still ranks seventh in program history.

Hart Lee Dykes joined Sanders as an All-American, while Mike Gundy threw for 21 passing TDs, which at the time was a program record.

Baseball: The Cowboys won 61 games and a Big Eight title in 1988. They had three All-Americans: Monty Fariss, Tim Pugh and Robin Ventura.

Ventura had 100 hits, which is tied for 10th in program history. Fariss had 114 RBIs, good for second in program history. Pugh had 14 wins, tied for second in program history. Oh, and Ventura won Olympic gold that year, as well.

OSU’s Regional that year featured three of the top 10 crowds in Allie P. Reynolds’ history.

Wrestling: Speaking of Olympic gold, John Smith won that and an NCAA title in 1988. Kenny Monday wasn’t in college anymore, but he too won Olympic gold in 1988.

OSU also had seven All-Americans that year: Smith, Chris Barnes, Cory Baze, Kendall Cross, Mike Farrell, Laurence Jackson and Wes White.

Softball: This was also an elite year for the Cowgirl softball program, winning 51 games — the most in program history.

That team featured three All-Americans in Michele Smith, Dee Brewer and Shari Johnson. All three of their 1988 seasons still rank in the Top 20 in batting average in program history. Smith also had 218 strikeouts from the circle, the 15th-most in program history, and her 16 shutouts that season rank fourth.

Then Dena Carter, a freshman that season, had a 0.35 ERA, which ranks tops in program history among pitchers who threw at least 100 innings.

Men’s Golf: EJ Pfister won an individual national championship, and the Cowboys won the Big Eight.

Women’s Cross-Country: Cowgirls Sonia Barry and Jackie Goodman were All-Americans, finishing third and fourth, respectively, at the national meet.

Women’s Tennis: Jane Wood and Monika Waniek were both All-Americans, and the Cowgirls won the Big Eight regular season and conference tournament.

Women’s Golf: The Cowgirls won the Big Eight, while Eva Dahloff won an individual conference title and was an All-American.

Men’s Basketball: There isn’t a ton to report on basketball from 1988. The Cowboys had a losing record, but Richard Dumas scored 512 points, the 35th most in program history, ranking second among freshmen.

1945

There weren’t as many sports going on in 1945 because they hadn’t made it to campus quite yet or, as was the case with baseball, there was the little thing called World War II going on. So, baseball didn’t even play in 1945.

But there is something to be said about winning national titles in what to this day are still considered the two biggest college sports.

Basketball: Henry Iba’s squad went back-to-back in 1945 and 1946, winning the Missouri Valley both of those seasons, as well.

Bob Kurland was the team’s star man, being an All-American both seasons. His 529 points in 44-45 rank 30th in program history, while his 643 points in 45-46 are the ninth-most.

Football: OSU went 9-0 under Jim Lookabaugh this season, later claiming the national title. OSU also won the Missouri Valley that season while Bob Fenimore and Neill Armstrong were both named All-Americans.

Conclusion

If you’re asking me which I would’ve rather been in school for (taking WWII out of account), I think I’m going with 1988.

There was greatness all over the campus that year, and while that year might’ve not had the high-level team success of 1945, watching Barry and John Smith live and in color would’ve been enough on its own for me. And even the sports that don’t always get all the pub had something cool going on.

What do you think — 1945 or 1988?

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OSU Bullets

• After doling out grades for the fall sports on Tuesday, Tyler handed out winter sport grades Wednesday. [PFB]

• Three-star corner J’lyndd Kellow included OSU in his top group and will pick a program next week. [PFB]

• Nebraska pitcher Jordy Frahm was pregnant when the Cornhuskers beat the Cowgirls in Supers.

Nebraska pitcher Jordy Frahm announced she is pregnant after playing in the WCWS ❤️

Frahm has been competing for three months while pregnant 🤯

(via jordybahl/IG) pic.twitter.com/h4AlWsFSLS

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 2, 2026

• The Cowgirl soccer team released its 2026 schedule. [PFB]

Non-OSU Bullets

• It’s hard to have original commitment posts these days, but this WVU commit gets an A+.

pic.twitter.com/QOn3yQgDyH

— Ethan Lawson (@BigELawson) June 3, 2026

• Jalen Brunson went crazy and led the Knicks to a Game 1 win.

JALEN BRUNSON 4Q TAKEOVER.

THE CAPTAIN LEADS NEW YORK TO VICTORY.

Knicks move 3 wins away from their first NBA Championship in 53 years 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xj7MPUZ0uv

— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2026

But that wasn’t a problem for wrestling, which somehow managed to exceed even last year’s success by putting three Cowboys atop the podium this time.

Wrestling coach David Taylor continues to set himself apart from his peers despite only having two years under his belt, which begs the question: What will year three look like?

​This is the second installment in a four-part series looking back at how each OSU team finished in the 2025-26 athletics calendar year. Be sure to check out Part 1: Fall Sports.

Wrestling

Record: 15-1, 7-0 Big 12

Postseason: Second

Conference: First

All-Americans: 8

125 Troy Spratley

133 Jax Forrest

141 Sergio Vega

149 Casey Swiderski

157 Landon Robideau

184 Zack Ryder

197 Cody Merrill

HWT Konner Doucet

Final Thoughts: Three freshmen claimed individual national titles, a first in NCAA history and the Pokes finished second as a team for the first time since 2016. The Cowboys also finished with more team points than any other year since 2005, including the national championship team in 2006.

The trio of champions (Jax Forrest, Sergio Vega and Landon Robideau) all spoke of chasing the next one shortly after returning home with their titles. There remains a sizable gap between the Pokes and David Taylor’s alma mater, Penn State, but the Cowboys appear to be creating a second gap between themselves and the rest of the sport.

If Oklahoma State can continue trending in that direction in year three under Taylor then the difference between OSU and Penn State might look smaller than the difference between those two and everyone else, not that the trio of champs have any interest in waiting to catch the Nittany Lions.

Grade: A+

Cowgirl basketball

Record: 24-10, 12-6 Big 12

Postseason: NCAA Tournament round of 32

Conference: Fourth (regular season), quarterfinalist

All-Americans: Micah Gray (honorable mention)

Final Thoughts: UCLA won the national championship, beating South Carolina by 18 points after beating the Cowgirls by 19 in round two. I’m not arguing Oklahoma State was on the same level as the Gamecocks, but UCLA beat up on most of the teams it faced all season so that shouldn’t be held against the Cowgirls.

In fact, OSU’s ability to cut it 13 points in the third quarter then 14 in the fourth highlights the potential this team had to go on a much deeper run if given a higher seed. While it seems like the Cowgirls always get overlooked a bit on the national stage, this team failed to truly capitalize on its potential highlighted by a devastating inability to close out against Baylor at home on New Year’s Eve and the buzzer-beater loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 quarterfinals.

Whew, that sounded negative there for a bit. Oklahoma State did win its first NCAA Tournament since 2021 and continued breaking records under the leadership of Jacie Hoyt. Cornerstone Stailee Heard remained in Stillwater when her teammates chose to leave following the season, but that group proved that Hoyt’s teams can make real noise on the national stage.

An example the head coach seems to have gotten a lot of mileage out of during transfer portal season, although it’s worth noting this grade does not reflect anything that happened following the season.

Grade: B

Cowboy basketball

Record: 20-15, 6-12 Big 12

Postseason: NIT, second round

Conference: 14th, Second round

All-Conference: Parsa Fallah (honorable mention)

Final Thoughts: The Cowboys won three more games than they did last year and tied or exceeded any season’s win total since winning 21 in the 2020-21 season. All of it was good enough to put the Cowboys on the NCAA Tournament bubble following a win over then-No. 16 BYU on Feb. 4.

Then Oklahoma State dropped five consecutive games and finished with a 3-3 mark, which included a competitive loss against then-No. 7 Houston. Add in a premature, devastating injury to senior Parsa Fallah late in the year, and there’s no question this group wrapped things up on a down note.

That said, from a big picture standpoint, Cowboy basketball was more fun than it has been in recent memory, and it feels like Lutz should be able to at least get the Pokes on the bubble if he can get a little more out of next year’s squad.

Grade: C+

Cowgirl indoor track

Postseason: 32nd

Conference: Third

All-Americans: 5

Billah Jepkirui (two events)

Elyse Wilmes

Elise Eikeland

Brooke Beck

Kaylie Politza

Final Thoughts: Senior Billah Jepkirui earned All-American honors after finishing fourth in the mile and 8th in the 3,000 meters. This came after running what was then the fourth-fastest mile in NCAA history to claim the Big 12 title in that event two weeks earlier.

Fellow senior Kaylie Politza also earned All-American honors when she and a trio of freshmen (Elyse Wilmes, Elise Eikeland and Brooke Beck) on the distance medley relay finished eighth.

This was a significant improvement for the Cowgirls who failed to score any points at the indoor championships last year after finishing ninth in the Big 12. However, the program finished eighth overall in 2024 and 21st in 2023 so it’s not an unprecedented placement.

Grade: B-

​Cowboy indoor track

Postseason: T47th

Conference: Fourth

All-Americans: Kevin Kemboi

Final Thoughts: Freshman Kevin Kemboi earned second-team All-American honors after finishing 13th in triple jump at the indoor championships. He beat his previous mark on all three attempts to finish with a final jump of 15.99 meters.

The Cowboys entered the indoor season with three-consecutive top seven placements at the NCAA Indoor Championships and an equal streak of runner-up placements at the Big 12 meet. So from a big picture standpoint, this was a rather uncharacteristic finish for the Cowboys during the indoor portion of the season.

Grade: D-

Checkout how the fall sports graded out here.

The Oklahoma State soccer team released its 2026 schedule on Wednesday, with the Cowgirls opening with an exhibition on Aug. 6 before the true season gets started on Aug. 12 against Sam Houston.

Here’s the schedule in full:

OSU is coming off a 4-13-2 season on the pitch, the Cowgirls’ fewest wins in a season since 2000. It wasn’t that the Cowgirls were just getting ran off the field, though. Six of those losses came by a single goal.

Colin Carmichael had to reshape his roster a bit this offseason. Among the six Cowgirls who scored multiple goals last season, only Sonora Defini (four goals) and Reganne Morris (two) are on the 2026 roster.

That might not necessarily be viewed as a bad thing for a squad that scored 20 goals in 2025, tied for the third-lowest among Big 12 schools. But where the Cowgirls really need to get better is in defense after allowing 36 goals last season — most in the conference.

On Tuesday evening, J’lynnd Kellow announced that he’ll make his college announcement next Tuesday (June 9) and is down to Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Kansas and Baylor.

#AGTG @CoachTMiller18 @SlafkaJeff @Th3DWilliamsJr @DarrylDJSimon @MickensJay @TheProtectUCrew @BenjaminGolan @samspiegs @On3 @vypehouston @RazorbackFB @CowboyFB @CycloneFB @HailStateFB @KU_Football @BUFootball where’s home 🏡👀 pic.twitter.com/BCqWYV6RW5

— J’lynnd Kellow (@jlynnd1123) June 3, 2026

Listed at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, Kellow hails from Willis, Texas — a town of about 7,000 north of Houston. He’s the No. 1,028 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the 2027 class, making him a Top 100 corner in the cycle and the No. 134 player from Texas.

According to MaxPreps, Kellow made 46 tackles during his junior season to go with 14 pass breakups and two forced fumbles. Here’s a look at his highlights:

He also plays on the Willis basketball team:

#AGTG Check out my 2025-2026 🏀highlights I am a Dual sport athlete !! pic.twitter.com/QiYOkXe0dw

— J’lynnd Kellow (@jlynnd1123) March 21, 2026

Kellow has official visits set to four of his finalists: Mississippi State (May 28), Oklahoma State (June 4), Arkansas (June 5), Iowa State (June 12). Based off the timing of his announcement, Mississippi State might be considered the favorite, as his official to Starkville has already taken place. But — unless he cancels them — those visits to OSU and Arkansas would come before he makes his announcement.

Via corners coach Julian Wilson, OSU extended its offer to Kellow in late February. He was then in Stillwater for the Cowboys’ spring game in April. He also took unofficial visits to Iowa State, Baylor and Arkansas this spring.

OSU’s 2027 class is growing. The Cowboys are up to four pledges in the cycle, led by quarterback Carson White (Iowa Colony, Texas). OSU also has two in-state pledges in Pryor receiver Cooper Hooker and Broken Arrow defensive back Bryson Brown. Arizona tight end Talan Scott is the Pokes’ most-recent commit.

OSU Bullets

• The Cowboy golf squad beat Florida in the NCAA quarterfinals but dropped its semifinal match against Auburn, ending OSU’s season. [PFB]

• The Cowboys’ shot of the day was this chip from Eric Lee in the Florida match.

Hooped it!

📺 — @GolfChannel #GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/vRpmpUFHv6

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

• Bill Haisten got into the resource gap the Cowboy baseball program was operating within this season. [Tulsa World]

It is believed that OSU’s 2026 roster revenue was about $400,000. The Cowboy baseball payroll is ranked in the lower half of the Big 12.

“I’m always going to be grateful for everything we have,” Holliday told the Tulsa World, “but if we’re looking for facts for the reporting of news, those are facts.” — Tulsa World

• With the school year wrapped up, Tyler handed out grades for OSU’s fall sports. [PFB]

Non-OSU Bullets

• Interesting Thunder piece dropped yesterday from OSU alum Anthony Slater and Tim MacMahon on how far OKC will go to keep its roster in tact. [ESPN]

• The NBA Finals start tonight. The Ringer staff did an entrance survey, discussing their favorite storylines, impact players, predictions and more. [The Ringer]

Oklahoma State dropped its NCAA semifinal match against Auburn on Tuesday evening in Carlsbad, California, ending the Pokes’ season. The Cowboys were unable to secure a point against the hot-playing Tigers.

The Cowboys entered the NCAA Championships ranked fifth nationally and had a Top 4 finish.

Auburn advances to Wednesday’s final against UCLA. Should the Tigers win, they’d join the 2018 Cowboys as the only teams to win the stroke-play portion and the match-play tournament at the NCAA Championships.

Although the Cowboys were unable to secure their 13th national title this season, they did win four other tournaments this schools year — the Fighting Illini Invitational, the Cabo Collegiate, the Maridoe Intercollegiate and the Big 12 Championship.

The five-man lineup the Cowboys used for the past two NCAA Championships could all return next season, as none are seniors. Now it’ll just be a question of whether anyone would transfer or look to start their professional careers.

Oklahoma State beat Florida 3-2 in the quarterfinal round at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California. The Pokes advance to face top-seeded Auburn in Tuesday evening’s semifinals.

Junior Eric Lee got the Cowboys on the board first, taking his match against Luke Poulter 6&4. It wasn’t even that Poulter was having a rough round, Lee just caught fire.

The Cowboy bogeyed the fourth hole, falling behind in the match, but he birdied holes six, eight and nine to flip the script and go 2-up. Then Lee eagled the 10th to go 3-up and holed out a beaut of a chip shot to go 4-up through 12.

Hooped it!

📺 — @GolfChannel #GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/vRpmpUFHv6

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

He’d birdie the 13th, as well, before Poulter bogeyed 14 to drop the match.

The sailing wasn’t quite as smooth elsewhere.

Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson dropped his match against Parker Sands 3&2, meaning it was going to come down to two of Ethan Fang, Preston Stout and Gaven Lane to push the Pokes across the line.

Fang went to an extra hole against Zack Swanwick, where the Gator birdied the playoff hole to win the match.

Lane trailed Jack Turner by a hole through eight, but three straight birdies on nine, 10 and 11 moved him to 2-up. That started a bit of a back-and-forth, as Lane lost hole 12, won hole 13, lost hole 14 and won hole 15 to maintain his 2-up lead in entertaining fashion. The pair would tie the next two holes, closing the match.

Newly crowned individual national champ Preston Stout matched up with Matthew Kress. Stout jumped out to an early lead, winning the first two holes, but Kress would tie the match at the 10th hole, setting up for a tight finish.

Stout pulled back ahead with a birdie on the 11th, a lead he increased to 2-up after birdieing 15. Kress won the next hole, but Stout was able to maintain his lead through the next two.

Update the board! #GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/5d3N2toMC6

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

The Cowboys will be paired up against a squad that has been seeing the course well this weekend in the semis. Auburn earned the top seed in the stroke-play portion of the tournament, finishing three strokes ahead of the field and 15 strokes ahead of the Cowboys.

The Tigers beat Stanford 3.5-1.5 in the quarterfinals. Auburn is led by Jackson Koivun, who just won his second Haskins Award, and he’ll match up with the reigning national champ.

OSU-Auburn Semifinal Matchups
Eric Lee-Logan Reilly
Preston Stout-Jackson Koivun
Gaven Lane-Jake Albert
Ethan Fang-Josiah Gilbert
Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson-Cayden Pope

The other semifinal will see UCLA play Arizona. Shoutout to the Big 12 for having half of the semifinalists.

It certainly looks that way now as the program bookended it with national championships giving the program six overall.

While these Pokes celebrated a dominant return to prominence, most of the other fall sports derailed in 2025 and will be looking to bounce back later this year.

This kicks off a four-part series looking back at how each OSU team finished in the 2025-26 athletics calendar year.

Cowboy Cross Country

Postseason: National Champions
Conference: Big 12 Champs
All-Americans:
Brian Musau
Fouad Messaoudi
Denis Kipngetich
Adisu Guadie
Ryan Schoppe

Final Thoughts: Smith has built the Pokes into a legitimate powerhouse. The team has finished second or higher in three of the last four seasons and gives the program six first-place and two second-place finishes since 2009.

In that 17-year stretch only three other programs have combined to finish second or higher three times. Northern Arizona won six titles and finished second three times to hold the slimmest of leads over OSU, but the Cowboys are miles ahead of BYU and Colorado who each won a pair of titles with one second-place showing mixed in during that stretch.

Fouad Messaoudi and Denis Kipngetich finished fifth and sixth in the national championship race, making them the seventh and eighth Cowboys to earn three-time All-American honors. Their teammate, Brian Musau, finished fourth in the race, becoming the sixth three-timer.

The senior-to-be has also won the Big 12 conference race all three times he competed. His success in other sports will come up later in the series, but there’s a reason both Smith and PFB’s own Marshall Scott have big expectations for him in the upcoming sports cycle and it all starts with cross country.

Grade: A+

Cowgirl Cross Country

Postseason: 12th overall
Conference: 4th
All-Americans:
Isca Chelangat

Final Thoughts: The Cowgirls didn’t hoist the trophy at the end of the season, but they arguably responded even better to a disappointing 2024 run that saw them finish 27th in the nation after back-to-back finishes inside the top five during 2022 and 2023.

Freshman Isca Chelangat led the way this time around, placing seventh overall. In the process she beat her own school record (which was just over a week old at the time) for the fastest 6K by 23 seconds.

Grade: B+

Football

2025 Record: 1-11, 0-9 Big 12
All-Big 12:
Punter Wes Pahl (First Team)
Edge Wendell Gregory (Freshman of the Year; Third Team)
LB Brandon Rawls (Honorable Mention)
OL Bob Schick (Honorable Mention)

Final Thoughts: The Pokes hit rock bottom last fall.

In the long-term, the collapse in 2025 could prove to be perfectly timed to usher in the next great era of Cowboy football, but that doesn’t really change how bad things looked or how unfair this ending was for the players who remained committed throughout the season, including guys like Parker Robertson who wrapped up their careers.

Grade: F

Soccer

2025 Record: 4-13-2 (0-10-1 Big 12)

Final Thoughts: Considering the Cowgirls lost six one-goal games in 2025, there’s an argument to be made that the team was much better than the record suggests. However, the Cowgirls returned seven starters from a team that won 14 games in 2024 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020.

Eight of the team’s losses came against teams which made the NCAA Tournament field with five of those advancing to the third round or later.

Even with a challenging schedule this was an unusual down year for a program that won double-digit games for eight of the last nine entering 2025. Considering the last losing season came back in 2001, there’s reason to believe the dip could be short-lived.

Grade: F

OSU Bullets

• Preston Stout won the individual portion of the NCAA Championships on Monday. OSU opens match play Tuesday against Florida. [PFB]

The winning putt 🙌

Preston is the 10th Cowboy to earn NCAA Individual National Champion honors 🥇

📺 @GolfChannel #GoPokes | @preston_stout8 pic.twitter.com/JQw8XO6yb3

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

“Being at Oklahoma State, we have the best practice facility in the country. I don’t really care what anybody says. We see everything and that has really sharpened my game. Obviously, the coaching staff has really helped me a lot.”#GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/VqXEbCzRRf

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

• The Cowboy basketball team got their jersey numbers. I can’t decide which single digit I think will look the coolest. Also a lot of fans of double numbers.

Cowboy Basketball, from 1 to 99 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wRH9pRN1fX

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) June 1, 2026

• Steve Lutz also added a new strength coach who has two NCAA title rings and experience with Lutz. [PFB]

Non-OSU Bullets

• Russell Westbrook is an investor in OKC’s multipurpose stadium. [The Oklahoman]

• This is must-see TV.

A CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS REMATCH 🥎🏆

Game 1
📆 Wednesday, June 3
⏰ 8 PM ET

Game 2
📆 Thursday, June 4
⏰ 8 PM ET

Game 3 (if nec.)
📆 Friday, June 5
⏰ 8 PM ET

📺 ESPN
📻 @westwood1sports
📲 https://t.co/2QO2igeQwl#WCWS pic.twitter.com/fUUByMkwKw

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 2, 2026

Preston Stout claimed the individual title at the NCAA Championships on Monday at the Omni La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, California.

Stout closed out his 3-under final round in the tournament lead but had to wait for Alabama’s William Jennings to finish, as Jennings was running Stout down. But Jennings missed a putt on his final hole, meaning Stout was the champion.

Stout was at 5-under for the day through 11 holes, birdieing the second, sixth, seventh, ninth and 11th. But then he had three bogeys across his next six holes to bring the field back into the tournament. Stout closed with a birdie, one that ended up being rather important given Jennings’ missed putt to finish a stroke back.

The winning putt 🙌

Preston is the 10th Cowboy to earn NCAA Individual National Champion honors 🥇

📺 @GolfChannel #GoPokes | @preston_stout8 pic.twitter.com/JQw8XO6yb3

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) June 2, 2026

Already a three-time Big 12 champion in three college seasons, Stout becomes the Cowboys’ first individual national champ since Matthew Wolff in 2019. Here’s the full list of names Stout joins as Cowboy national champs:

Preston Stout — 2026
Matthew Wolff — 2019
Jonathan Moore — 2006
Charles Howell — 2000
E.J. Pfister — 1988
Brian Watts — 1987
Scott Verplank — 1096
David Edwards — 1978
Grier Jones — 1968
Earl Moeller — 1953

An impressive aspect of Stout’s win was that he was 1-over after his first round. No one else who finished in the top five had a round over par, but Stout overcame that with a 5-under 67 in his second round, a 7-under 65 in his third round and then his 3-under 69 to close.

The moment Preston Stout found out that he became a national champion 🎉 pic.twitter.com/fqvnkXGVVT

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 2, 2026

Cowboys Advance to Match Play

More good news for the Cowboys, they’re moving on to match play.

OSU finished stroke play tied for fourth as a team with Florida. It looks as if the Cowboys will be the 5 seed, but it doesn’t really matter as the 4 seed and the 5 seed will be matched up in the first round on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at the rest of the first-round matchups:

1 Auburn vs. 8 Stanford

2 Texas vs. 7 UCLA

3 Vanderbilt vs. 6 Arizona

4 Florida vs. 5 Oklahoma State

That action starts at noon (Central) Tuesday.

An All-American at Oklahoma State, Adamovic was announced to be taking over the program she played for on April 28. About a month removed from that announcement, she already has added three players to a team that had to forfeit multiple meets last season because of a lack of players.

Jovana Grujic (Florida State), Claudia Gasparovic and Veronika Kliuch (UNLV) have all signed on to join the Cowgirls.

From Ukraine, Kliuch brings the most put-together collegiate resume of that trio. She was the Mountain West’s Women’s Tennis Player of the Year last season as a sophomore. She went 25-2 on the season in singles and produced a 15-5 record in doubles. She closed the season on a 21-match winning streak in singles and was 18-0 in dual matches.

She has 10 ITF Juniors wins and earned a career-high ranking of 476 back in 2024.

“Veronika is a proven winner and one of the most competitive players in college tennis,” Adamovic said in OSU’s release. “What stood out to me throughout the recruiting process was her ambition. She’s the type of player who wants to be the best, embraces big challenges, and isn’t afraid to set the bar high for herself.”

From Serbia, Grujic was injured this past season, missing her entire freshman year at Florida State. She is, though, a member of the Serbian Junior National Team and recorded 16 wins in ITF juniors competition. She has a career-best ITF Juniors Ranking of 188, which came back in 2022.

“Jovana embodies the mindset we want our program to be built on — toughness, humility, discipline, and a true blue-collar work ethic. She is someone who had great success internationally before college,” Adamovic said. “What stood out most to me throughout the recruiting process was her mentality and character. She’s hungry to improve, grateful for every opportunity and fully aligned with the culture we’re building at Oklahoma State. We’re incredibly excited to welcome her to Cowgirl Tennis.”

From Austria, Gasparovic hasn’t played college tennis to this point. She earned a spot on Austria’s 2026 Billie Jean King Cup squad after a 2025 season that saw her win the Austrian Women’s National Championships in doubles and a runner-up finish in singles.

Gasparovic also has a higher ITF singles ranking than the others, as she was ranked at No. 161 in March of 2025.

“We believe Oklahoma State is the perfect place for her to maximize her potential both on and off the court, and we’re excited to welcome her to the Cowgirl family,” Adamovic said.

Despite last season going off the rails, the Cowgirl program is a proud one, having won seven Big 12 titles since 2001 and another 21 Big Eight titles between 1981 and 1991. OSU finished as the national runner-up in 2016. In 2024, the Cowgirls won their first ITA National Indoor Championship.

On top of all of that, the program plays at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center, which has to be among the nicest college tennis facilities in the country. It won the 2016 USTA Outstanding Facility Award.

So, there’s reasons to believe that Adamovic’s rebuild of the program could happen fairly quicky.

Oklahoma State announced Monday the program has hired Gavin Roberts as the Cowboys’ new strength coach. Roberts has been at UConn in a director of sports performance role since 2021, being a part of the Huskies’ NCAA Tournament wins in 2023 and 2024. Roberts was responsible for all aspects of strength, conditioning, nutrition and wellness for the UConn men’s program.

Lutz is also familiar with Roberts, as they were both on Matt Painter’s staff at Purdue. Roberts was the Boilermakers’ strength coach the three seasons before he went to UConn, while Lutz was at Purdue from 2017-21. Roberts worked at Western Michigan before that.

“Gavin has been part of championship-level programs and understands what it takes to prepare players to perform at their best,” Lutz said. “I saw that firsthand when we worked together at Purdue. He brings energy, expertise and a very intentional approach to developing athletes, and he will be a tremendous resource for our players.”

UConn and Purdue went a combined 209-73 with Roberts on staff.

Some guys Roberts worked with in that stretch include Zach Edey, Jaden Ivey, Jordan Hawkins, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle.

Roberts played football at Purdue. He was a defensive back for the Boilermakers, graduating in 2013 with a degree in health and fitness before earning his master’s in technology leadership and innovation in 2015.

He hails from Somerset, New Jersey, playing football and basketball at Franklin High School.

Roberts will be tasked with strengthening a new-look squad for the Cowboys. Only four players (Kanye Clary, Benjamin Ahmed, Ryan Crotty and Mekhi Ragland) return from last season’s roster. Meanwhile, the group is adding four freshmen (Jalen Montonati, Latrell Allmond, Parker Robinson and Anthony Felesi) and has six incoming transfers (Luka Bogavac, Kashie Natt, Jacob Walker, Andrija Grbovic, Julius Halaifonua and Joran Burks) as of writing.

“I’m excited to be at Oklahoma State and to work alongside Coach Lutz and this staff,” Roberts said. “This program has great tradition, and I’m ready to help our players build the daily standard that it takes to win.”

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OSU Bullets

• The Cowboys never gave up in Tuscaloosa, but their season came to an end late last night with an 11th-inning loss to Alabama. [PFB]

• Eric Morris and Co. picked up a commitment from a tight end out of Arizona. [PFB]

Grateful for the journey I have been able to go through and thankful for all the coaches who recruited me. I am extremely excited to call @CowboyFB Home.🏠 @CoachSvoboda @__CoachMorris @Coach_Brophy @lukepardee @JUSTCHILLY @BrandonHuffman @BlairAngulo @SWiltfong_ @alaqcfootball pic.twitter.com/wzDEDYZ8vD

— Talan Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@TalanScott9) June 1, 2026

• The Cowboy golf team is in a three-way tie for fourth going into the fourth and final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, Preston Stout sits alone in first on the individual leaderboard. [Clippd/Golf Channel]

“Proud of the fight we showed and that’s what champions are supposed to do.”#GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/9aPfyoKJvj

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) May 31, 2026

• Troy Spratley and Bennet Berge picked up wins at U23 Nationals. [PFB]

Non-OSU Bullets

• People are breaking down handshake lines at the WCWS.

Texas Tech-Tennessee postgame controversy explained. pic.twitter.com/Fl3eX3XJuY

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 31, 2026

• Not a whole lot of firsts happen in baseball anymore, but the Yankees became the first team to score 13+ runs in a game with all of those runs and hits coming in one inning. [CBS Sports]

The Cowboys had to fight an uphill battle to make it to the Tuscaloosa Regional Final, but fight they did.

Oklahoma State fell to Alabama 9-7 in 11 innings. The Cowboy rallied from a 5-3 deficit, took a 6-5 lead into the eighth and then duked it out for three tough innings with the No. 13 team in the country on their home field.

Brock Thompson and Kollin Ritchie hit back-to-back solo home runs in the seventh to give the Pokes their first lead at 6-5, but it didn’t last long. Alabama freshman Eric Hines’ solo moonshot tied it at 6 in the eighth, and it was a battle the rest of the way. The Cowboys’ defense held Alabama’s bats in check, and OSU’s offense put tons of pressure on the Tides’ D. But a couple of big plays by Bama’s catcher and some missed opportunities made the difference.

Ritchie 🚀

Another clutch 💣 for Ritchie Rich#GoPokes | @RitchieKollin pic.twitter.com/3KCSNbERh4

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) June 1, 2026

The Cowboys’ bats were hot all day, but they couldn’t quite take advantage of some big opportunities. After racking up six home runs in their earlier win over USC-Upstate on Sunday, the Cowboys added four more in the title game. But again and again, they were one swing away from forcing and winner-take-all game on Monday, and they just couldn’t make it happen.

The Cowboys were the home team in Tuscaloosa and loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings of a tied game while their defense continued to get outs.

With two outs in the eighth, Garrett Shull singled to right field, and then Remo Inomenico singled and Deacon Pomeroy was hit by a pitch. With bases loaded and two away, Alex Conover came to the plate. He went 0-for-5 on the game and had been 0-for-4 in the earlier contest against USC-Upstate. He had clipped one to right field but was out at first to strand three Pokes in a tied game going into the ninth.

Conover did secure the Pokes’ second and third outs in the ninth on defense. The first came on a circus play from Avery Ortiz who climbed the ladder to catch a line drive toward left field.

In the ninth, new Bama pitcher Hagan Banks retired both Brock Thompson and Kollin Ritchie swinging before Ortiz made another play. He cracked a breaking ball to left center to get on base and bring up Campbell Smithwick who cracked one to left that was fumbled, and Ortiz advanced to third. Colin Brueggemann got a free pass to load the bases for the second-straight inning, but Banks struck out Shull swinging.

In the 10th, the Cowboys went with freshman Elijah Essex as a DH to get some speed on the bag. But he was caught stealing at second by catcher Brady Neal, his first time caught this season. Then Neal made an even bigger play on his next at-bat. He cranked a three-run homer over the right-field fence to give Bama a 9-6 lead in the 11th.

After those back-to-back tries, OSU was 1-for-10 with bases loaded over the weekend. But they would get another shot in the 11th and final inning, and this time they actually scored.

Garrett Shull kept this game from dying taking a strike and then five-straight foul balls to before his RBI single that cut it to 9-7. But Banks was able to strike out Indomenico to end the game.

With the loss, the Cowboys’ season ends at 39-22. The Cowboys fought through a tough start to the regional and got their licks in, a microcosm for the season. OSU got hot late in the year, winning its last four series to finish fifth in the Big 12 and secure the 2 seed in a regional.

With the win, the Crimson Tide will now host the Super Regional against the winner of the Tallahassee Regional.

Scott announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Sunday evening, as his official visit weekend to Stillwater comes to a close. He’s a three-star tight end out of Arizona in the 2027 recruiting class who picked OSU over offers from SMU, Cal, Colorado, Stanford, Utah, Auburn and others.

Grateful for the journey I have been able to go through and thankful for all the coaches who recruited me. I am extremely excited to call @CowboyFB Home.🏠 @CoachSvoboda @__CoachMorris @Coach_Brophy @lukepardee @JUSTCHILLY @BrandonHuffman @BlairAngulo @SWiltfong_ @alaqcfootball pic.twitter.com/wzDEDYZ8vD

— Talan Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@TalanScott9) June 1, 2026

Listed at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Scott is the No. 849 recruit in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the 2027 class, which lists him as a Top 50 tight end in the class and a Top 20 player from Arizona.

He plays at American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona. As a junior, he caught 45 passes for 468 yards and eight touchdowns. He also plays as out outside linebacker/edge rusher where he accumulated 44 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks as a junior. He also plays basketball.

OSU associate head coach/tight ends coach Drew Svoboda offered Scott in early March. In April, Scott mentioned his official visit to OSU being in June, but then earlier this week he announced he was moving it up. Just last week, Svoboda was out in Arizona visiting Scott. So, the Cowboys’ staff was after him and got him.

He’s the fourth pledge in Eric Morris’ 2027 recruiting class, joining quarterback Carson White (TX), wide receiver Cooper Hooker (OK) and safety Bryson Brown (OK). Recruiting news is likely to get rolling over the next few weeks as more visit weekends roll on.

It’s a shame they don’t enact the mercy rule in regionals.

Oklahoma State defeated USC-Upstate 12-1 in an elimination game in the Tuscaloosa Regional. The Pokes will face 1 seed Alabama in the regional final. To get there, the Cowboys had to deal with a brief lightning delay that followed the type of heat that sent the home plate umpire to the locker room for the final two innings.

The Cowboys started the Tuscaloosa Regional with an 8-5 loss to the Spartans. But despite that upset on Friday, the Cowboys have one big statistical advantage over Upstate and it showed on Sunday afternoon.

Coming into this game, OSU ranked second nationally with 143 home runs while USC-Update ranked T-303rd, allowing 88. This one followed that blueprint early and often, as 11 of OSU’s 12 runs came by way of homer.

Campbell Smithwick broke the seal with a two-run homer in the second, and then the Cowboys stamped their name all over the third inning.

Orange Crushed @campbellrsoup with a no doubter to put us up early#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/xxKHP6rzq5

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 31, 2026

After Alex Conover struck out swinging to start the third, the Cowboys scored seven runs before their next out and they had blown it open 9-0.

Avery Ortiz drilled his second pitch from the plate 461 feet into the parking lot for a three-run bomb.

This @averyortiz_7 bomb was our 142nd HR of the season, the third most in school history.

The top two
1. 154 in 1988
2. 149 in 1997#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/nyusgQj38J

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 31, 2026

Colin Brueggemann added an RBI double to make it 6-0. It was OSU’s only score that didn’t result from a round-tripper. After walking Garrett Shull, Upstate starter Max Eichenberger was benched. But Remo Indomenico drilled the first pitch from Upstate reliever Andrew Kummer for his second three-run homer of the regional.

Stay hot kid

2nd 💣 of the weekend for @RemoIndomenico #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/rAFke2fSBO

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 31, 2026

Smithwick also hit a solo bomb with two outs to push the lead to 10-0 in the fourth. That second was Smithwick’s 10th homer of the season, making it seven Cowboys with double-digit home runs on the year.

Indomenico homered again in the top of the seventh, as did Terrance Bowen (his first of the season) to make it 12-0 after seven. If this weren’t the postseason, the game would have stopped there via mercy rule. Instead, the teams played through a sweltering afternoon in Tuscaloosa that saw the home plate umpire have to leave the game due to some type of overheat issue and then a brief lightning delay during the top of the eighth.

From the mound, Hudson Barrett pitched a season-high 102 pitches, earning the win to move to 6-1 his junior season. He pitched seven innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out 10 Spartans. His ability to keep Upstate scoreless so long should pay off in the regional final.

Kyler Zagar finished things up for the final two innings, allowing three hits and one run. The Spartans were able to avoid the shutout in their season finale with an RBI double in the bottom of ninth with two outs.

The Cowboys will face 1 seed Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Regional Final set to get started at 7 p.m. CST. If the Pokes win, they stay alive and will face Alabama again to move to the Super Regionals. A loss on Sunday night would end the season for Oklahoma State.

Spratley and South Dakota State transfer Bennett Berge won U23 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio.

Spratley stormed through the 57 kg field, winning his seven bouts by a combined score of 69-0. Only one opponent made it the distance against the Cowboys’ 125-pounder. He was named the event’s Outstanding Wrestler.

Spratley met up with Missouri’s Mack Mauger in the best-of-three final. Mauger was 21-16 during the college season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Spratley won the final via two techs in a combined 6:34.

His closest match of the tournament was a 6-0 win against Penn’s Max Gallagher in the quarterfinals. Spratley beat Iowa’s Joey Cruz 11-0 in the semis.

Troy Spratley is the U23 Nationals champion at 57 kg and wins the Outstanding Wrestler award to close out the competition.#stillyboys pic.twitter.com/aSM7pyCtN5

— stillyboys (@stillyboys_) May 31, 2026

Berge also went 7-0 on the weekend, winning his bouts by a combined score of 59-15.

He took out an old teammate in his best-of-three final. South Dakota State’s Brock Fettig was the Jackrabbits’ Big 12 entry at 184 pounds this past season while Berge was up at 197. Berge won the first match against the Jackrabbit 9-3 before winning the second bout 6-2.

Berge beat NCAA qualifier Ian Bush (West Virginia) 7-3 in the semis and took out Aidan Brenot, who transferred from North Dakota State to Arizona State this offseason, 13-3 in the quarters.

Bennett Berge owns the mat 😤#USAWrestling #U23Nationals2026 #U20WTT2026 pic.twitter.com/tUsvzW9tRe

— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) May 30, 2026

Elsewhere

Those guys weren’t the only Cowboys competing at U23 Nationals.

Casey Swiderski was one of the more intriguing storylines entering the tournament at 74 kg — about 163 pounds. That comes after Swiderski wrestled for the Cowboys at 149 this past season, but with Sergio Vega likely moving up in weight and Landon Robideau holding down 157, Swiderski might be on the move up to compete for the 165-pound spot in the lineup.

He ended up taking fifth in what was one of the more loaded brackets of the event.

Swiderski beat Ohio State’s e’Than Birden 4-1. Birden went 18-8 at 165 for Ohio State this past season, primarily wrestling in opens, but he did have six dual appearances. Swiderski also beat Penn’s Paul Ognissanti 9-0 in the fifth-place match. Ognissanti went 6-4 at 165 this past season.

Swiderski’s first loss came in the semis to Arizona State’s Nicco Ruiz, with the Sun Devil winning 5-4. Ruiz took fourth at NCAAs at 165 this past season and also beat Dee Lockett in the Big 12 final. Swiderski was up late in that bout, but Ruiz scored a takedown in the final seconds to win it. So, he was right there, in freestyle, with the Big 12 champ.

His second loss was a 12-5 defeat to Virginia Tech’s Noah Nininger.

The physicality of the upper weight didn’t seem to be much of an issue for Swiderski, who himself wrestles an ultra physical style, but we’ll have to wait and see just how possible it is for Swiderski to compete for that spot in OSU’s lineup.

Cutter Sheets also had a nice tournament in the 70 kg bracket. Son of Mike and brother of Wyatt, Cutter finished sixth with two of his losses coming to North Dakota State’s Gavin Drexler, who has qualified for NCAAs the past two seasons and was an All-American in 2025.

Meanwhile, Sheets had a win against Michigan’s Sergio Lemley, who made it to the blood round at NCAAs in 2025.

Finishes:

Bennett Berge (86 kg) — 7-0, 1st
Troy Spratley (57 kg) — 7-0, 1st
Casey Swiderski (74 kg) — 6-2, 5th
Cutter Sheets (70 kg) — 7-3, 6th
Kolter Burton (70 kg) — 6-2, DNP
Ishmael Guerrero (74 kg) — 5-2, DNP
Beau Hickman (70 kg) — 4-2, DNP
Jake Hamiti (61 kg) — 3-2, DNP
Austin Johnson (92 kg) — 3-2, DNP
JJ McComas (61 kg) — 0-2, DNP

OSU Bullets

At least the Cowboys are still alive.

•  OSU survived a dicey one against Alabama State to move to the winner’s bracket of the Tuscaloosa Regional. [PFB]

• The Pokes will face USC Upstate in the winner’s bracket at 2 p.m. Sunday.

#OkState coach Josh Holliday’s opening statement after his team’s 11-inning win over Alabama State pic.twitter.com/sWvSBM5qxt

— Will Thorogood (@thorogood_will) May 30, 2026

• Steve Lutz’s next team is on campus.

Welcome home, Cowboys 🤠 pic.twitter.com/JTj0EAl12s

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) May 31, 2026

• The Pokes are T-7 after Round 2 of the NCAA Men’s Championships. 

Bounced back in a big way! #GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/Bvori5OUpo

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) May 31, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Elsewhere in the league: More details out on the Brendan Sorsby investigation. [Heartland Sports]

• On why we need constraints. [Big Think]

Oklahoma State beat Alabama State 8-7 in 11 innings in the Tuscaloosa Regional’s 0-1 game.

The Cowboys’ season was 90 feet from being over in the bottom of the 10th. The bases were loaded with two outs after Mario Pesca walked in a game-tying run. It was one of four walks (one intentional) Pesca issued in the inning. That was the scene before Pesca struck out Devin Chandler looking to extend the game.

That’s when the Cowboys’ star put his fingerprints on the regional. Kollin Ritchie crushed the second pitch to the inning over the fence in left. It was his first hit in Tuscaloosa and came when OSU needed it most.

It was also his 30th home run of the season, which ties him with Lamont Evans (1999) and Monty Fariss (1988) for second in a season in program history.

Clutch Ritchie 🚀#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/4RfD4TqANH

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

That was the Cowboys’ fifth and final hit of the game, a contest they somehow won despite being outhit 11-5.

OSU still needed to get through the bottom of the inning, which wasn’t without its own challenges. Pesca stayed in, as the Cowboys need to use as few arms as possible should they want to continue to advance this weekend. Pesca plunked the first batter he faced in the frame, putting a runner on.

He then forced two straight ground balls, but neither could elicit a double-play, with the runner legging it out at first each time. That’s when Trey Callaway extended the game with a single to left before Pesca ended the game with a full-count strike out.

Sealed it with a K#GoPokes | @mariopesca_ pic.twitter.com/CLbadjW7dv

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

The game was crazy to even get to that extra-innings rollercoaster.

The Cowboys were up 6-0 in the top of the sixth after plating four in the fourth off a Colin Brueggemann grand slam.

Bruegge with the no doubter

Pokes on top#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/8Vs3AWdSeq

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 30, 2026

Then the top of the sixth saw Brueggemann score on an error.

The Hornets clawed two back in the sixth with a Niguel Jenkins homer. Then they added another with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and three more with an RBI single and a two-run home run in the eighth to tie it. It was madness.

Brennan Phillips got the start on the bump, going 5 2/3 innings where he allowed the first two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out seven.

Kai Fyke and Noah Wech combined to throw 1 2/3 innings with 23 combined pitches, with Wech being responsible for the next two runs.

Pesca had the extended work. He entered in the eighth, where he gave up that two-run homer to his first batter, before closing the game out.

OSU advances to play the loser of Alabama and USC-Upstate (two teams that play Saturday evening) at 2 p.m. (Central) Sunday. Should the Cowboys win that game, they’d play again at 7 p.m. Sunday.

OSU Bullets

• Cowboys Landon Robideau and Dreshaun Ross (incoming freshman) won that the U20 World Team Trials on Friday to earn a trip to Slovakia. [PFB]

• With all the 24-team playoff chatter, Tyler went back and looked at what an expanded field would mean for the Big 12 and OSU. [PFB]

• The OSU baseball team dropped its Regional Opener against USC-Upstate. The Cowboys play Alabama State at 1 p.m. Saturday in a do-or-die game. [PFB]

#OKState coach Josh Holliday after the 8-5 loss to USC-Upstate: “We had multiple shots throughout the game to turn the board but didn’t deliver when we needed to.”

The Cowboys will face the loser of Alabama-Alabama State tomorrow.

Here’s what Holliday said about Aidan Meola: pic.twitter.com/N3pPlERfhs

— McClain (@McclainBaxley) May 29, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Game 7 is tonight and I’m nervous. ESPN had 14 of its insiders pick the game, and they split 7-7. [ESPN]

• There’s a 6-foot-9 high school pitcher who throws 101. [CBS Sports]

Landon Robideau and Drershaun Ross won the U20 World Team Trials on Friday in Geneva, Ohio to earn the right to represent their country at the 2026 U20 World Championships in August in Slovakia.

Robideau, the reigning 157-pound NCAA champ, was able to sit out to the final best-of-three series in the 70 kg bracket after winning the U20 U.S. Open.

Melvin Miller, the No. 1 prospect in the 2027 class, emerged from the bracket to face Robideau in the best-of-three series. Robideau won two matches to none, beating Miller by a combined score of 17-0.

PURE DOMINANCE 💪#GoPokes | @LandonRobideau pic.twitter.com/jD0BkOzxlw

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) May 29, 2026

The path wasn’t so simple for Ross — an incoming freshman who will likely start for the Cowboys at heavyweight next season.

Ross lost to Coby Merrill (younger brother of Cowboy wrestler Cody Merrill) in the final at the U.S. Open, meaning Merrill was able to sit out to the best-of-three series.

Ross had to win two bouts to get to Merrill, who will be at Iowa State next season. Ross pinned Dean Bechtold before teching Michael Mocco, son of Steve Mocco, 11-0.

In their U.S. Open final, Merrill was able to get the better of Ross by forcing him off the mat, with a step-out being worth one point in freestyle. By the looks of it, Ross has probably had David Taylor and Wyatt Hendrickson pushing on him the past couple of weeks because Ross was able to hold his ground much better this time around.

But that didn’t mean it was easy.

Merrill won the first match via an 11-0 tech, scoring a takedown that he turned into a leg lace. Merrill used his strength to twist Ross over and over, ending it early.

But Ross rebounded in the second bout, winning 9-2. The two were gassed late in the final minute of the bout, and both attempted a shot at the same time. Ross got the better of the exchange, scoring the match’s first takedown.

They were the only series to go to three matches, meaning they just took a 20-minute break and went back at it for Match 3. Ross won it 7-1.

He shot Merrill off the mat thrice to take a 3-0 lead into intermission. Needing some offense, Merrill got aggressive late, but Ross was able to come out on top of the exchanges, scoring on a big double-leg and then a slick takedown on the edge of the mat while somehow avoiding a step-out.

Ross let out a thunderous yell at the final whistle before giving David Taylor a big hug while stepping off the mat.

LET ‘EM KNOW DRE 🗣️#GoPokes | @TheDreshaunRoss pic.twitter.com/V0uU9HDtlp

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) May 29, 2026

How Everyone Else Did

Dee Lockett stormed through his bracket and made the best-of-three final but fell to Penn State’s Jayden James two matches to none. Lockett was leading both of those matches late before James would find a way to get his hand raised in both bouts.

To get to that series, Lockett won his opening two matches of the bracket by a combined score of 19-0. Then he met teammate Kody Routledge in the bracket final, where Lockett won 4-1.

Despite that loss, it was a pretty successful day of wrestling for Routledge. He took out Will Denny 8-7 in the quarters. Denny started at NC State last season and made it to the blood round at the NCAA Championships.

Down at 57 kg (about 125 pounds), Ronnie Ramirez had an impressive run Friday before dropping his bout in the bracket finals ahead of the best-of-three series.

He won four matches on his way to the bracket final, a run that included a win against Dom Munaretto, a Top 20 recruit in the 2026 class who is headed to Ohio State, and a win against Hayden Schwab, a Top 25 prospect in the 2027 class who is committed to Northern Iowa.

Ramirez’s loss came to Grey Burnett, the No. 6 wrestler in the 2027 recruiting class who is committed to Penn State, with the future Nittany Lion winning 3-2.

Also of note in the 57 kg bracket, incoming OSU freshman Rocklin Zinkin didn’t compete despite reportedly registering. So, we didn’t get a Cowboy vs. Cowboy bout at that weight.

Incoming freshman Mikey White took fourth in the bracket at 86 kg. Both of his losses were to Jarrett Wadsen, who was a freshman at South Dakota State last season. Fun fact: Wadsen was a classmate of Robideau’s at St. Michael-Albertville in Minnesota.

Then David Taylor had two 2027 commits in the 92 kg bracket, with Tanner Hodgins going 1-2 and Ladd Holman going 0-2. They didn’t wrestle each other.

U23s Get Going Saturday

More Cowboys will wrestle in Geneva on Saturday as part of U23 Nationals. Here’s a list of Cowboys expected to scrap:

57 kg — Troy Spratley
61 kg — JJ McComas
61 kg — Jake Hamiti
70 kg — Beau Hickman
70 kg — Kolter Burton
70 kg — Cutter Sheets
74 kg — Casey Swiderski
74 kg — Ishmael Guerrero
86 kg — Bennett Berge (incoming South Dakota State transfer)
92 kg — Austin Johnson

Oklahoma State dropped its Regional opener to USC-Upstate 8-5 on Friday, pushing the Pokes to the loser’s bracket in Tuscaloosa.

OSU had a chance late, loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth with one out before back-to-back looking strikeouts ended the game. That was one of three times the Cowboys left them loaded, with 13 Cowboys being stranded overall.

Ethan Lund has probably been the most consistent piece of the Cowboys’ pitching staff this season, but he didn’t have his best stuff Friday.

The Spartans had two runs before even putting a ball in play. Lund walked the first four batters he faced, a stretch that included runners scoring on a wild pitch and then a passed ball.

Lund then forced a double-play, but another run scored in that process to make it 3-0 in the top of the first. Then a wild pitch with a runner on third in the top of the second gave Upstate a 4-0 lead.

The Cowboy offense would respond. The Pokes plated four in the bottom of the second.

The first run came via an Evan Saunders single to left that scored Campbell Smithwick. Saunders got the start at third base because, as the broadcast noted, Aidan Meola suffered a hand/wrist injury in practice leading up to the Regional. Meola is one of the Cowboys’ best players but has dealt with a ridiculous amount of injuries in his college career.

After Saunders’ single, freshman Remo Indomencio sent the first pitch he saw over the fence in right. It was a three-run shot that tied the ballgame at 4.

That’s Amore@RemoIndomenico with the no-doubter#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/fBBFSgPKLK

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 29, 2026

But Lund’s rough day would continue as he gave up a single and hit a batter in the second, which ended his day. The Cowboys brought Stormy Rhodes out of the bullpen with two down in the top of the third, but he gave up an RBI single on his third pitch, giving Upstate the lead back at 5-4.

That run counted on Lund’s stat line, as he finished his outing giving up five runs on four hits while walking three and hitting another in 2 2/3 innings.

The Spartans made it 6-4 in the fourth before the Cowboys got back on the board in the bottom of the fifth off a Garrett Shull double.

But then Upstate got some insurance in the eighth with a two-RBI single to left.

Rhodes did good to get through the game, as the Cowboys will need all the fresh arms they can get with now a longer road to Supers because of the loss. He threw 6 1/3, giving up three runs on four hits while hitting one and striking out six.

The Cowboys will play the loser of Alabama and Alabama State at 1 p.m. (Central) on Saturday in a do-or-die game.

Whether college football gets there or if that kind of expansion is even good for the sport remains heavily debated.

It might be surprising, but that kind of expansion makes a lot of sense for the conference (more on Oklahoma State specifically in a bit).

Here’s what a 24-team playoff would have looked like the last two seasons broken down by conference:
SEC — 14 (9 top 12 seeds)
Big Ten — 11 (7)
Big 12 — 9 (3)
ACC — 7 (2)
G6 — 5 (1)
Notre Dame — 2 (2)

From an overall representation standpoint, the Big 12 is somewhat surprisingly close to the Big Ten given the gap in resources. That gap makes itself more widely known when looking at which teams would receive a top 12 seed, and in theory be favored to advance to round two in most formats.

Importantly for the conference, the Big 12 holds a slight edge on the ACC in both overall teams and in top seeds. So the current lineup can currently claim third place on the shrinking mountain top of power conference football.

So that could explain why the coaches voted the way they did, but would this move actually help Oklahoma State more than other schools?

That depends largely on if you think Eric Morris can get the Pokes back on track to the level they were playing at before things derailed in 2024.

It’s true that playoff expansion will help almost every team make the playoffs more, but history says few programs benefit like OSU.

Sporting News mapped out how many playoff appearances every team would have if the 24-team playoff started when the four-team format began back in 2014. From there we can calculate that 10 teams would have cracked the field an additional four-plus times, including Oklahoma State.

Note: All the numbers below pretend that the 12-team format began in 2014. For example, we know Oklahoma State didn’t go to the playoffs when they finished ninth in 2021, but since the chart is trying to show who benefits more from 24 compared to the current system, it pretends OSU has one CFP appearance.

The Cowboys also finished inside the top 19 of the BCS rankings, but outside the top 12 during four of the last six years of that system (2008-13), so it seems safe to say the Pokes would have likely made the field each of those seasons as well as 2011 when they finished third.

Although the format of a 24-team playoff remains undecided, the Big Ten started this conversation and is proposing a model which grants the top eight seeds a bye while seeds 9-16 would host the first round. Then the top eight would host the second round.

While this look in the rearview mirror doesn’t mean anything to Oklahoma State in 2026, it does potentially highlight what Morris could build in Stillwater. In this alternate universe the Cowboys would have hosted seven times between 2008 and 2023 with the second-round pairing in 2011 being especially sweet for OSU fans.

Here’s a look at what Oklahoma State’s 11 playoff games might have looked like dating back to 2008 starting with the most recent.

2023
No. 20 Oklahoma State (9-4) at No. 13 LSU (9-3)
Winner gets: No. 4 Alabama (12-1)

2021
No. 9 Oklahoma State (11-2) hosting No. 24 San Diego State (11-2)
Winner gets: No. 8 Ole Miss (10-2)

2020
No. 21 Oklahoma State (7-3) at No. 12 Coastal Carolina (11-0)
Winner gets: No. 5 Texas A&M (8-1)

2016
No. 12 Oklahoma State (9-3) hosting No. 21 Tennessee (8-4)
Winner gets: No. 5 Penn State (11-2)

2015
No. 16 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 18 Houston (12-1) [avoids rematch with No. 17 Baylor]
Winner gets: No. 1 Clemson (13-0)

2013
No. 13 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 20 Fresno State (11-1)
Winner gets: No. 4 Michigan State (12-1)

2011
Second round: No. 3 Oklahoma State (11-1) hosting winner of
No. 14 Oklahoma (9-3) vs No. 19 Houston (12-1)

2010
No. 14 Oklahoma State (10-2) hosting No. 19 Utah (10-2)
Winner gets: No. 3 TCU (12-0)

2009
No. 19 Oklahoma State (9-3) at No. 14 BYU (10-2)
Winner gets: No. 3 Cincinnati (12-0)

2008
No. 13 Oklahoma State (9-3) hosting No. 20 Pittsburgh (9-3)
Winner gets: No. 4 Alabama (12-1)

OSU Bullets

• The Tuscaloosa Regional starts today. Oklahoma State plays USC-Update at 1 p.m. (Central) on ESPN+. Scott Wright wrote this excellent piece on Josh Holliday to preview the Regional. [The Oklahoman]

• And the Cowboy golf team starts its journey to repeat as national champs. The Golf Channel is releasing a cool video today where the 2025 Cowboys duke it out with OSU’s 2018 national title-winning team in match play. [PFB]

• With the WCWS starting Thursday, Bill Haisten provided an update on OSU’s softball facility. In short, a plan for a new facility remains in tact, but in the modern landscape of needing money for everything, it won’t be easy. [Tulsa World]

“There is no timeline on anything yet, but we still plan to do something for softball. As always, funding is the key piece.” — Chad Weiberg to the Tulsa World

Non-OSU Bullets

• I don’t want to talk about last night’s game, so here are some of Steven Adams’ top career plays to provide good vibes for Game 7.

• Texas Tech is apparently willing to buyout its Week 1 game against Abilene Christian and Texas’ Week 1 game against Texas State to play the Longhorns to start the season. This comes after Texas coach Steve Sarkisian made comment that his twos and threes could go undefeated with Tech’s schedule. [ESPN]

Isaiah Coleman announced where he’s headed on Thursday, meaning all of the Cowboys’ outgoing transfers from this past season have found new homes.

Of the Cowboys’ six outgoing transfers, half ended up at high-major programs (Power Four + Big East), and just about all of them headed east. Here’s a quick breakdown of where each guy ended up.

Jaylen Curry ➡️ Virginia Tech

There were games this past season where Curry was the Cowboys’ best player, and after one year in the Big 12, he’ll try his hand in the ACC.

Curry averaged 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game during his season in Stillwater. He dropped 30 on Nicholls State early in the year and scored in double figures in seven of his final eight games as a Poke.

The Hokies went 19-13 this past season. Next season will be Virginia Tech’s eighth under Mike Young. He’s led the Hokies to the NCAA Tournament twice, most recently in 2022.

Robert Jennings ➡️ Maryland

A lingering hip injury ended Jennings’ season just about before it started.

One of the few holdovers from Steve Lutz’s first OSU team, Jennings played in just three games this past season where he averaged 3.7 points and four rebounds a contest. For a team that struggled with defense as much as the Cowboys did, Jennings’ absence was big.

Maryland went 12-21 this past season, Buzz Williams’ first as the Terrapins’ coach. Jennings is part of what looks to be a strong portal class for Maryland, joining Arkansas transfer DJ Wagner and Tennessee transfer Bishop Boswell.

Vyctorius Miller ➡️ Georgetown

Miller scored at least 20 points in four games as a Cowboy this past season, including dropping a season-high 30 against Prairie View. Only a sophomore last season, the start to Miller’s year was stronger than his close, scoring in double figures once in his final eight games.

This transfer acts as a quasi trade, as the Cowboys are also adding Julius Halaifonua from Georgetown.

The Hoyas went 16-18 last season, Ed Cooley’s third year with the program. Miller joins a strong portal class headed to the nation’s capital, adding to Kansas transfer Elmarko Jackson and Kentucky transfer Jaland Lowe.

Isaiah Coleman ➡️ UTSA

The latest former Poke to announce his new threads, Coleman didn’t have the season many expected in Stillwater.

After dropping 30 on Auburn in that exhibition game, Coleman closed the year having averaged 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds a game after averaging 15.6 points the season before at Seton Hall. He still had his moments in Stillwater, though, like when he had 13 points and nine rebounds in a big win against Texas A&M.

UTSA went just 5-25 last season, the program’s second year under Austin Claunch, who previously led Nicholls State to two Southland titles.

Andrija Vukovic ➡️ George Washington

Vukovic and Miller will be on different campuses in Washington D.C.

A late arrival and an early injury set Vukovic’s first season in Stillwater back quite a ways, but he took steps forward in Year 2, finishing the year averaging 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds a game. According to Lutz, he was playing on a torn meniscus late in the year before they finally shut him down.

The Revolutionaries went 19-16 this past season, the program’s third under Chris Caputo.

Daniel Guetta ➡️ Bnei Herzliya (Israel)

After a year in the states, Guetta is headed back to Israel, having already returned to action with Bnei Herzliya in Israel’s Basketball Premier League.

Guetta took part in 11 games as a Cowboy, averaging two points a game. He played a big role in the Cowboys’ NIT win against Davidson. Playing a season-high 21 minutes, Guetta scored 11 points and added two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

The Golf Channel is releasing a video at 4 p.m. Friday on its YouTube channel that pins the two national title-winning squads against each other in match play at Oak Tree National.

Can the “old” guard keep up with the young guns in the Battle of the Cowboys? Tune in to find out!

⛳️ — Golf Channel’s YouTube page

📆 — Friday, May 29

🕚 — 4 p.m. (CST).#GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/MFnRV3Qyae

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) May 28, 2026

Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Austin Eckroat, Sam Stevens, Kristoffer Ventura and Zach Bauchou will represent the 2018 squad.

Preston Stout, Ethan Fang, Eric Lee, Gaven Lane, Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson and John Wild will represent the 2025 team.

That 2018 squad was looked at as an all-time group while it was dominating the college scene, but time has made that group look all the more impressive.

The group has combined for 17 professional wins, and only two of those guys are older than 30. Four of those six are in the Top 200 of the World Golf Ranking. You know it’s a crazy good team when the guy ranked lowest in the OWGR (Wolff) won an individual national title in college.

Hovland is the group’s star to this point in their professional careers, having won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the 2023 Tour Championship.

But these current Cowboys are nothing to sneeze at.

In their title-winning 2024-25 school year, the Pokes won seven tournaments as a team, closing that season by winning the Haskins Award Invitational, the Mountaineer Invitational, the Big 12 Championship, the NCAA Urbana Regional and the NCAA Championships back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. On top of that, OSU has won four tournaments this school year.

Stout has won three straight individual Big 12 titles to start his college career after winning again at Prairie Dunes last month. He became the first player to ever win three Big 12 individual titles.

This video dropping comes on the day that the NCAA Championships start at the Omni La Costa North Course. The tournament will go on until Wednesday where we’ll find out if the 2025 Cowboys can do something that the 2018 Cowboys couldn’t — go back-to-back.

OSU Bullets

• The Big 12 announced kick times for Oklahoma State’s nonconference games. The Cowboys and Ducks will kick early in Week 2. [PFB]

 

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• Could the Protect College Sports Act bring back Bedlam? [PFB]

• David Taylor is taking a big group of wrestlers to Ohio this weekend, including some guys shifting weights. [PFB]

• OSU officially announced the addition of UCF transfer stretch forward Jordan Burks. [okstate.com]

“Jordan gives us another experienced, versatile piece with size, athleticism and scoring ability. He can play multiple spots, stretch the floor and make shots in big moments. You can see the growth in his game from year to year, and we’re excited about the way he fits with how we want to play.” — Steve Lutz

Non-OSU Bullets

• The Thunder has a chance at a closeout tonight. Here’s how they took Game 5. [ESPN]

• This is super longform, so maybe pop a headphone in while you’re doing something. But, I thought this was an interesting interview with comedian Nate Bargatze.

And the truth is I have no idea.

For starters, the bill, or at least how it’s understood, seems likely to change. I’m no lawyer, but the current wording seemed pretty questionable where rivalry games are concerned. So instead of explaining what the bill says must happen regarding traditional rivalries like Bedlam, it probably makes more sense to explain how the bill defines a rivalry and what the bill seems to want to happen.

But first, it’s important to know that the bill allows schools and conferences to opt into a shared pool pertaining to media rights. If 75% of current FBS schools choose to do so, then media companies like ESPN and Fox will have to negotiate for a piece of one giant college football package instead of doing a bunch of smaller deals.

In theory, it sounds like a more level playing field for everyone so why would the Power Conferences care? Doing so grants them increased legal protection but one of the “costs” is the protection of rivalries.

Finally, we can talk about Bedlam.

The bill defines “traditional rivalry” as one between two teams who:

1. Opt into the agreement outlined in the bill
2. Compete in different conferences
3. Rank amongst each other’s top 10 all-time opponents in games played

Oklahoma State’s No. 1 opponent all time is the Sooners with 118 games played. It was hard to confirm where the Cowboys rank on OU’s list, but Texas’ top all-time opponent is also the Sooners (120 games), so it’s almost a certainty that the Cowboys are well inside the top 5, likely even second overall.

Assuming the Big 12 and the SEC opt into this agreement, which is no guarantee the way the “just means more” conference is talking lately, then both schools would check every box for “traditional rivalry.”

Oklahoma State’s top 1011 rivalries by games played:

Also it’s worth noting that Texas just missed the list at 38 games played.

Although Tulsa’s all-time records also weren’t listed in available media guides online, Oklahoma State did rank inside the top 10 for all the other non-conference schools including the Longhorns.

The Cowboys ranked seventh on Missouri’s list, eighth for Texas, ninth for Nebraska and 10th for Arkansas.

There’s some confusing language surrounding whether any of those teams and the Cowboys would have a legal obligation to play. The bill uses the word “opponents” without any seeming clear definition.

If “opponents” requires those teams to have played a game on the football field (my initial interpretation), then based on my understanding of the legislation, those clauses wouldn’t kick in for Bedlam since the rivalry is currently dormant (but again, I’m not a lawyer or a politician).

However, if opponents just mean other schools competing for resources, essentially everyone, then Oklahoma State would be required to face one of OU or Tulsa each season should all three schools opt into the agreement outlined by the bill which discusses playing traditional rivals twice in a four-year span with one game against a top-five all-time rival each year.

It’s a bit hectic keeping up with non-conference schedules these days, but the Cowboys are actually ahead of the curve here. The annual series against TU runs through 2031, and the Pokes have three more games against the Razorbacks coming up in 2027, 2032 and 2033. A home-and-home with Nebraska is currently scheduled for 2034 and 2035.

The bill also requires conference opponents who fall inside each other’s top 10 to “preserve, to the maximum extent practicable,” games against all current conference opponents. That would definitely qualify for Oklahoma State and would seemingly make it difficult for those teams to change conferences, effectively keeping the band together.

The bill proposes several other things including:

• A one-time transfer rule without sitting out unless certain conditions are met, (graduate school, coaching departures, etc.)
• Prevents head coaches and key personnel from leaving until season concludes (apparently known as the “Lane Kiffin rule”)
• Oversight on agents and a cap on their fees at 5%
• More legal limitation and enforcement on NIL

The Big 12 released kickoff times for the first three games of Oklahoma State’s season:

at Tulsa — 2:45 p.m. Sept. 5 on ESPNU
vs. Oregon — 11 a.m. Sept. 12 on ESPN
vs. Murray State — 6 p.m. Sept. 19 on ESPN+

The league also announced that OSU’s Big 12 opener against West Virginia will be televised on either FOX or FS1 on Sept. 26 in Morgantown.

Although many of the players and coaches have changed on the OSU side, the Cowboys will be looking for revenge against Tulsa to start the year after the Golden Hurricane went to Stillwater and beat the Cowboys 19-12 last season. Tulsa coach Tre Lamb fueled that fire a little more earlier this offseason, telling a TU basketball crowd, “We’ll beat their ass again,” in reference to the Cowboys.

Oregon absolutely smacked the Cowboys in Eugene last season, winning 69-3. The Ducks would go on to finish 13-2 and played three games in the College Football Playoff. Oregon will be good again in 2026, so this will be a solid measuring stick for the Pokes as it pertains to the new era. If you’re an OSU fan, you’re probably not too mad that this game kicks at what would be 9 a.m. local time for the Ducks.

An FCS squad, Murray State went 1-11 last season, including a 1-7 record in the Missouri Valley. OSU is 32-0 against FCS opponents all time.

The United States U20 World Team Trials and U23 Nationals take place this weekend. By our count, there are 19 wrestlers who are either on OSU’s roster or committed to be Cowboys who are registered to compete this weekend.

The different age divisions sort of mean different things. On the U20 side of things, there will be a bracket wrestled at each weight with the winner of that bracket wrestling a best-of-three series against the winner from the U.S. Open. So, for instance, Landon Robideau will sit until the best-of-three final after winning at the U.S. Open. The rest of the Cowboy U20s will have to get through the bracket and the person sitting out. The winners of those best-of-three series will represent the U.S. at the U20 World Championships in August in Slovakia.

The U23 World Team process is a little more complex. The winner of the massive U23 national brackets won’t necessarily earn a spot on the U23 World Team, as the first rights to those spots go to those involved on the Senior National Team. It’ll take some figuring out even after these brackets are wrestled.

Let’s start by taking a look at those registered with ties to OSU before getting into some potential storylines.

U20

57 kg — Ronnie Ramirez
57 kg — Rocklin Zinkin (incoming freshman)
70 kg — Landon Robideau
74 kg — Dee Lockett
74 kg — Kody Routledge
86 kg — Michael White (incoming freshman)
92 kg — Ladd Holman (2027 commit)
92 kg — Tanner Hodgins (2027 commit)
125 kg — Dreshaun Ross (incoming freshman)

U23

57 kg — Troy Spratley
61 kg — JJ McComas
61 kg — Jake Hamiti
70 kg — Beau Hickman
70 kg — Kolter Burton
70 kg — Cutter Sheets
74 kg — Casey Swiderski
74 kg — Ishmael Guerrero
86 kg — Bennett Berge (South Dakota State transfer)
92 kg — Austin Johnson

Ramirez at 57 kg

After wrestling at 61 kg at the U.S. Open, it appears Ronnie Ramirez is on the descent, a move that makes a lot of sense.

Ramirez wrestled at 133 pounds for the Cowboys during the college season but redshirted with the midseason addition of Jax Forrest. With Forrest and the Raney twins on OSU’s roster, Ramirez’s best shot at a spot in the lineup over the next few seasons is likely down at 125. For reference, 57 kg is 125.7 pounds.

But the 125-pound spot in OSU’s lineup isn’t just there for the taking either. Troy Spratley will make his return to the freestyle stage this weekend at U23s. He’s been an All-American for the Cowboys at 125 the past two seasons, including his second-place finish in 2025. Then Rocklin Zinkin is also in that U20 bracket. Zinkin was the No. 8 pound-for-pound wrestler on MatScouts’ final rankings for the 2026 class. If those two meet up, it could be a preview for a roster spot battle to come.

Swiderski Moves Up

An All-American last season, Casey Swiderski appears to be in a similar boat to Ramirez.

Swiderski wrestled at 149 pounds for OSU in 2026, but jumps up to 74 kg —  about 163 pounds — for U23 Nationals. Swiderski was sandwiched between two freshmen national champions in OSU’s lineup last season in Sergio Vega and Landon Robideau, but there has been chatter about Vega needing to go up to 149. That would suggest that Swiderski’s best chance at a spot in the lineup could be all the way up at 165 pounds. He wrestles a physical style, and it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the extra weight.

Ross Seeks Rematch with Merrill

It looks like incoming freshman Dreshaun Ross will be the Cowboys’ heavyweight starter next season, and he’ll wrestle for a chance to get another shot at who has become his biggest rival — Coby Merrill.

Ross has, for the most part, gotten the better of Merrill over recent years, but Merrill, the younger brother of OSU wrestler Cody Merrill, beat Ross at the U.S. Open to earn the right to sit out to the final this weekend.

Merrill is a tank, winning that match with a lot of step-out points by essentially shoving Ross off the mat. Ross started to get some takedowns late in that match but ran out of time. We’ll see if those adjustments he made still work in Geneva.

Merrill will wrestle at Iowa State, so this is a rivalry that could just be getting started.

First Look at Cowboy Bennett Berge

David Taylor took just two transfers out of the portal this offseason, and one will wrestle this weekend.

Berge finished fourth at NCAAs in 2024 at 184 pounds. He was a national qualifier this past season up at 197 and will wrestle at 86 kg (about 190 pounds) this weekend.

It seems the most likely that Berge will compete for the Cowboys’ 184-pound spot in the lineup come the season.

Where to Watch

The action gets started at 9 a.m. Friday and will be streamed on Flo.

OSU Bullets

• Had fun writing this piece on Kollin Ritchie about him heading into this NCAA Regional after breakout during last season’s NCAA Regional. [PFB]

• Sad news — former OSU athletic director Terry Don Phillips passed away. [PFB]

“Terry Don’s vision for our athletic department inspired a new and greater belief in what we could be. He played a significant role in moving Oklahoma State Athletics forward and we will be forever grateful.” — Chad Weiberg

• The Cowgirl golf squad fell in the first round of match play at the NCAA Championships.

The start of something special in Stillwater 🧡

The Cowgirls’ historic season comes to a close in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals. We’ll be back and better soon!#golfschool | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/GoTn7zG5oa

— OSU Cowgirl Golf (@OSUcowgirlgolf) May 26, 2026

• And the Cowboys are headed that way (in style).

The defending champs are en route. See you soon, Carlsbad! #GoPokes | #golfschool pic.twitter.com/qmvGb2KGVG

— OSU Cowboy Golf (@OSUCowboyGolf) May 26, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• OKC gets it done in Game 5.

SGA fades away for two 👌

Create separation.
Step back.
Score.

He’s got 13 PTS as the Thunder lead by 9 in Q2 of Game 5! pic.twitter.com/sdjrTcAHWv

— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2026

• The NCAA denied Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s reinstatement. There’s still plenty of legal mumbo jumbo to get through before we find out if he plays or not. [ESPN]

Phillips served as Oklahoma State’s AD from 1994 to 2002. He was hired in October of 1994 but got to OSU in August of ’95 after completing his second year of law school at Arkansas.

Some of his OSU legacy includes leading the way for a fund-raising campaign that resulted in Gallagher-Iba Arena being renovated, plans for updates to Lewis Field, the construction of Cowgirl Stadium and starting OSU’s equestrian program. Phillips hired Les Miles in 2001, which started to turn the fortunes of the football program.

“Terry Don’s vision for our athletic department inspired a new and greater belief in what we could be,” current OSU AD Chad Weiberg said. “He played a significant role in moving Oklahoma State Athletics forward and we will be forever grateful.”

Ten OSU student-athletes earned individual national titles under Phillips’ leadership — a tenure that also saw the men’s basketball team make the Final Four in 1995 and the Elite Eight in 2000 and the men’s golf team win national titles in 1995 and 2000.

Phillips was a football player at Arkansas in the 1960s and didn’t immediately get into the administrative side of things. He was a graduate assistant at Arkansas before being the defensive line coach and defensive front coordinator at Virginia Tech.

He got his first AD job at Liberty in 1980 before moving to Southwestern Louisiana in 1983. He returned to his alma mater as the senior associate AD in 1988 before taking the job in Stillwater.

He left Oklahoma State in 2002 for a job at Clemson. He’d spend 10 years running the athletic department at Clemson, where he promoted Dabo Swinney to the program’s coach, who would go on to lead the Tigers to a pair of national titles. Phillips retired in 2012.

“He had the vision to know what we needed to do before we did,” said OSU senior associate athletic director Larry Reece. “He showed us through the renovation of Gallagher-Iba Arena that we could do big things here. Terry Don is the reason we all wear orange. Before his arrival, we seem to wear every color but orange. His message was ‘next time I’ll wear orange.’”

STILLWATER — Kollin Ritchie had a solid sophomore season in 2025, but the end of it was a prelude of what was to come.

Ritchie stepped into the spotlight at the Athens Regional last season, hitting .538 with 10 RBIs, six runs scored and five home runs across four games, leading the Cowboys to the brink of a Super Regional appearance.

“It was good to finally get in some good positions and show myself that I can get in those positions a lot,” said Ritchie of last season’s Regional. “Helped the team out quite a bit late last year, so it kind of gave me some confidence going into this year that I can be one of those guys, especially last year we were gonna lose Shooby (Nolan Schubart). So, just being able to realize that I can help the team out and be a player like he can helped me out a little bit.”

“I think everybody kind of has that belief in themselves that they can be that guy, when they can help the team out in any way, but I guess definitely getting out there and doing it helps.”

A year removed from that breakout weekend, Ritchie will head to another SEC school for an NCAA Regional, as Oklahoma State will take part in the Tuscaloosa Regional with Alabama, USC-Upstate and Alabama State. But this year, Ritchie is already hanging out in the spotlight.

He is hitting .335 as a junior this season, leading the Cowboys in runs scored (75), home runs (29), RBIs (73) and slugging percentage (.828). That home run total is good for third nationally, while his runs scored tally is tied for eighth and his RBIs are tied for 13th.

“He’s uniquely strong — that’s real strong,” said Holliday back on May 1 after a game Ritchie went 4-for-4 with three home runs. “He was like that when he got here. He got like that his senior year of high school. He became a man two years before most kids. A lot of guys, by the time they’re sophomores, they start to get man strength. His senior year (of high school), he was man strong. …

“As time has gone on, he has gained a greater working knowledge of the art of hitting. He’s now become a two-sided hitter. He can hit both to the left and right, you saw that on display tonight. He’s also become a multispeed hitter. He can now hit both hard and soft pitches, and he’s learned how to be a focal point, meaning people are really trying to keep him from beating them and yet he’s still finding ways to not miss the pitch he gets. And he might only get one an at-bat. So, it’s a lot of things — it’s all of those things together.”

Holliday went and got Ritchie out of Atoka. For those unfamiliar with Oklahoma geography, that’s a town of about 3,000 in the southeast portion of the state. In his senior year as a Wampus Cat, a mascot that is a nod to Cherokee mythology, Ritchie hit .531 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs.

When recalling Ritchie’s recruitment, Holliday noted that not a lot of people knew about him, but the attention started to tick up a bit late. The Baltimore Orioles ended up taking him in the 19th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, but Ritchie elected to stick with his college commitment.

He had a strong freshman season, playing in 53 games and making 37 starts in 2024. He hit .271 with seven home runs before taking a step forward during his sophomore season ahead of his big breakout at last year’s Athens Regional.

“If you go try to get that guy out of California, you’re gonna fight UCLA and USC for him,” said Holliday on April 3 after a game Ritchie hit a three-run home run in. “If you go try to get that guy out of Texas, you’re fight Texas and Texas A&M for him. If you go try to get him out of the south, you’re gonna fight the entire SEC for him. What I’m trying to say is when you try to get physically gifted players who can do something like boom, one pitch, boom, 440-foot home run, you either one, have to go get them, which they’re hard to get. Or, two, you have to build them, which means you better be patient, and nobody in the world even knows what the word patience is anymore.

“You get those guys when you can, right? Ritchie, he’s a find. That’s a 6-foot-1, 225-pound country strong, tough, powerful dude who is becoming a hell of a baseball player. But, it took a little time, and now we’re getting to enjoy watching, I think, a fabulous baseball player.”

Ritchie has started to creep up in an OSU record book that is tough to climb given some of the baseball giants who have played at Oklahoma State.

His 29 home runs this season tie for the fourth-most in a season in program history alongside Pete Incaviglia’s 1984 season. Ritchie is one homer away from tying Lamont Matthews (1999) and Monty Fariss (1988) for second all-time. He’s already six home runs ahead of any player Josh Holliday has coached in his 14 seasons leading the Cowboys.

“When you play baseball at OSU, to do anything that’s the most of anything, you gotta be pretty good because the dudes before us set a standard I’m not sure anyone will ever touch,” Holliday said. “Whether it’s what Pete did, or what Robin (Ventura) did, or what the guys on this wall did, or what many, many others did, that’s our history. We cherish it. So, we celebrate when somebody does something special.”

Oklahoma State’s season and Meylan’s career came to an end this weekend with the Cowgirls going 0-2 in the Lincoln Super Regional. Meylan, a two-time All-American in two seasons in Stillwater, will go down as an all-time Cowgirl.

She shared this message via her X account on Sunday:

“I don’t really know what to say other than thank you,” Meylan wrote. “Thank you to Oklahoma State University. Thank you to Coach G (Gajewski), Carrie (Eberle Parker), (Vanessa) Shippy and Bergy (Greg Bergeron). Thank you to my teammates. Thank you to our fans. Thank you to Stillwater.

“I could not be more thankful for my two years spent here. The best two years of my life. I made the most incredible memories, found my best friends, and met the love of my life. All while doing what I love.

“I’m overwhelmed with so much joy and so much sadness. I never wanted this career of mine to come to an end, but I can proudly say I gave this program everything I have. The tank is emptied.”

Despite being in orange and black for only two seasons after transferring from Washington, Meylan’s name is littered throughout the Cowgirl record book.

Here’s a look at some of the major lists she’s on.

Pitching Appearances (Season): T4th

Meylan stepped in the circle 45 times this past season, more than any Cowgirl since 2014 (Simone Freeman), meaning no Gajewksi Era pitcher has more appearances in a single season.

After making 43 appearances last season, Meylan joins Jessica Hoppock (2004 and 2006) and Kat Espinosa (2013 and 2011) as the only three Cowgirls with two seasons in the top 10 of OSU’s season pitching appearances list.

Pitching Wins (Season): 2nd

Meylan went 29-9 in 2026. The only OSU pitcher with more wins in a season was Melanie Roche (32) back in 1992.

That means this season saw Meylan win more games than all-time OSU arms Lexi Kilfoyl, Carrie Eberle, Lauren Bay, Michelle Smith, Sam Show and Kelly Maxwell ever did across one season.

Innings Pitched (Season): 6th

It was rare Gajewski would get out of a news conference this season without fielding a question of Meylan’s workload, and here’s why.

The 244 2/3 innings Meylan pitched this season are the most a Cowgirl has thrown in one campaign since Freeman threw 249 in 2014.

The 209 innings Meylan threw last season now rank 17th in program history. The next-closest Gajewski Era pitcher on that list is Show throwing 200 1/3 innings in 2019.

Winning Percentage (Career): 11th

Meylan finishes her OSU career with a record of 50-19. That .725 winning percentage ranks 11th all-time (among pitchers with at least 25 decisions) and puts her right among some of the all-time greats of the Gajewski Era:

1. Eberle (.878)
3. Kilfoyl (.808)
9. Maxwell (.763)
11. Meylan (.725)
14. Show (.688)

Strikeouts (Career): 10th

Again, only two seasons and Meylan is in the Top 10 in terms of career strikeouts.

She struck out 458 batters in her two years in orange, which is the second-most among Gajewski Era pitchers, trailing only Maxwell (746).

OSU Bullets

• The Cowboys are headed to the Tuscaloosa Regional alongside Alabama (duh), Alabama State and USC-Upstate. [PFB]

The Cowboys are headed to Tuscaloosa. pic.twitter.com/U0quVcFl8Q

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) May 25, 2026

• The Cowgirl Golf team is headed into Tuesday’s match play, where they’ll square off against Arkansas.

Took care of business!

For the first time since 2021, the Cowgirls are headed to match play at the NCAA Championship 🤠#golfschool | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/srwzG2tfMH

— OSU Cowgirl Golf (@OSUcowgirlgolf) May 26, 2026

• Tyler looked at the football schedule through the lens of betting odds. [PFB]

• Carson and Colby reacted to diamond sports postseasons and the ESPN article detailing Eric Morris’ rebuild. [PFB]

Non-OSU Bullets

• Finals basketball will be back in Madison Square Garden for the first time since the turn of the century. I, personally, hope the Thunder join the Knicks in the Finals.

NEW YORK STAND UP 🔥

THE KNICKS ARE BACK IN THE NBA FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ’99 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/tSL95djozl

— ESPN (@espn) May 26, 2026

• Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. [ESPN]

Oklahoma State earned the 2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional, it was announced Monday. The Cowboys will open the tournament against USC-Upstate at 1 p.m. Friday, with those two teams joining Alabama and Alabama State in the Regional.

Let’s get to know the Regional participants.

Alabama

Record: 37-19
Conference (SEC) Regular Season Finish: 4
Team Batting Average: .253
Team ERA: 4.28

The Crimson Tide went one-and-done at the SEC Tournament, but they enter this Regional having not lost back-to-back games since April 24. Since, Alabama swept Vanderbilt and South Carolina before taking two of three off Ole Miss.

Alabama has three pitchers (Myles Upchurch, Zane Adams and Tyler Fay) who have thrown at least 64 innings this season and all have an ERA of 4.70 or better.

Neal Brady leads the way at the dish, hitting a team-best .328 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs.

Oklahoma State

Record: 37-20
Conference (Big 12) Regular Season Finish: 5
Team Batting Average: .280
Team ERA: 6.24

Battling through various injuries around the diamond throughout the year, the Cowboys have been coming into their own of late. They’ve won 13 of their past 17 entering this regional.

The Cowboys clobber baseballs, entering the NCAA Tournament second nationally in home runs with 137. Kollin Ritchie is the star man in that aspect with 29 homers on the year, which puts him third nationally.

OSU leadoff man Alex Conover has also had a fantastic year, entering the Regional hitting a team-best .383 with 14 homers and 36 RBIs.

The Cowboys’ pitching staff has had its ups and downs this season — with some of that being the fault of the aforementioned injuries. How that group can piece together a weekend will be big for the Cowboys’ hopes of advancing to Supers.

USC-Upstate

Record: 33-28
Conference (Big South) Regular Season Finish: 5
Team Batting Average: .291
Team ERA: 5.89

Upstate finished fifth in the Big South before winning the conference tournament, shutting out top-seeded High Point in that process.

The Spartans have played some good teams close — even going so far to beat Clemson 6-3 earlier this month. They also have a 7-2 loss to Clemson on their resume along with a 4-2 loss to Tennessee, three losses to Texas and a loss to Georgia.

Driving in runs has been a group effort for Upstate this season, as five players have at least 50 RBIs.

Henry Zenor leads the squad with a .346 batting average to go along with eight homers and 51 RBIs. Wylie Waters and Johnny Sweeney are tied for the team lead with a dozen home runs apiece.

Alabama State

Record: 34-21
Conference (SWAC) Regular Season Finish: 4
Team Batting Average: .281
Team ERA: 6.05

The Hornets enter this tournament on an eight-game winning streak with their last loss coming on May 9.

Finishing 20-10 in SWAC play earned Alabama State the 4 seed in the conference tournament, where the Hornets went on a run of four straight wins to book a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama State has played host to Alabama twice this season, losing 2-1 in February and 13-4 in March.

Miguel Oropeza leads the way for the squad at the plate. Having started all 55 of Alabama State’s games this season, Oropeza is hitting .366 with 78 hits, 19 doubles, 11 homers and 65 RBIs.

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It feels like genuine optimism surrounds the football program headed into the summer months. Of course that should be the minimum expectation when change is made at the top, especially considering Oklahoma State’s struggles in football during the last two seasons.

FanDuel Sports has something of a mixed message for OSU fans given the odds listed online.

The Sportsbook has the Cowboys win total wager set to 5.5 wins this fall with the OVER listed as a decent favorite (-178, as in it would cost $178 to make $100 profit). That is partly influenced by the Pokes’ first home opponent of the season, Oregon, which is favored to win in Stillwater by 17.5 points.

Of course, considering FanDuel has Oregon fifth overall in national championships odds (+800, as in a $100 bet would pay out $800), it’s hard to view that line as being super disrespectful.

The sportsbook has the Cowboys ninth to win the Big 12 (+2,500), behind favorites Texas Tech, of course (+110). That placement and the odds say a lot about what the sportsbook thinks of OSU as a dark horse candidate likely to attract bettors.

Tenth-place Kansas sits at +3,000 and five teams have odds of +4,000 or longer, culminating in the conference’s longest of longshots Cincinnati and Colorado which boast odds of +10,000.

Avoiding the Big 12’s basement for the third-consecutive season would be a nice change of pace for the Pokes. To that end, the sportsbook has the Cowboys facing the conference’s 11th toughest strength of schedule based on win totals.

Oklahoma State’s nine conference opponents win totals add up to 59.5. For context, the easiest possible schedule in the league would add up to 50.5 while the toughest would equal 70.5.

Here’s a look at Oklahoma State’s week-by-week Big 12 schedule in 2026 with win totals included for context:
Sept. 26 at West Virginia (5.5)
BYE
Oct. 10 vs UCF (5.5)
Oct. 17 at Houston (7.5)
Oct. 24 vs Colorado (4.5)
Oct. 31 at Iowa State (5.5)
Nov. 7 at Kansas State (8.5)
Nov. 14 vs Texas Tech (10.5)
Nov. 21 at Arizona State (6.5)
Nov. 28 vs Kansas (5.5)

If the Cowboys are going to make some noise in the conference and push for a bowl game, they probably need to win at least three of their first five Big 12 games, though the schedule seems well set up to start the conference slate 4-1 with an overall record of 6-2 should Oklahoma State get a favorable bounce and start hot under the new coaches.

Road trips to Kansas State and recent Big 12 champion Arizona State sandwich a home date against the conference’s heavy favorite in Texas Tech. It’s a low bar to clear, but that game should be much more competitive than last year’s blowout in Lubbock.

Regardless of how things go in that difficult stretch, Oklahoma State has a great chance to wrap up the regular season on a high note with a home game against the Jalon Daniels-less Jayhawks, who happen to be one of the conference’s softer 5.5-win teams according to FanDuel.

Coach Eric Morris proved just last year that he’s more than capable of shocking the nation by exceeding modest expectations. So it’s possible Oklahoma State could far shatter this win total and record a few all-time signature wins in 2026, not to mention beat Kansas.

Still, given everything the program has been through in the last two seasons, the mood around town would be much better if Oklahoma State could secure bowl eligibility before setting out on that final four-game stretch.

Big 12 win totals (strength of Big 12 schedule):
10.5 wins: Texas Tech (15th, they can’t play themselves so that makes some sense)
8.5 wins: Utah (15th); BYU (T13th); Kansas State (16th, easiest draw)
7.5 wins: Houston (T9th); Arizona (3rd)
6.5 wins: TCU (1st, tied for hardest draw); Arizona State (T5th); Baylor (T9th)
5.5 wins: Oklahoma State (11th); UCF (T13th); West Virginia (T5th); Kansas (T7th); Iowa State (T7th); Cincinnati (1st, tied for hardest draw)
4.5 wins: Colorado (4th)

OSU Bullets

• After OSU’s season ended, ace Ruby Meylan sent out this message to Cowgirls Nation. 

🧡 @cowgirlsb @theAUSLofficial pic.twitter.com/kLL4Rohe7y

— Ruby Meylan (@rubymeylan) May 24, 2026

• Kenny G on two of his other stars.

Tony Lindsay took the reigns as QB for @CowboyFB as a freshman in 1997 showcasing his athleticism. He led the Pokes to their first 6-0 start in 52 yrs including a win over Texas that is still one of the most exciting in program history and the first bowl game since 1988 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/QtXWAH2dB1

— Dustin J (@405pokefan) May 24, 2026

• The Cowboys are projected as 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament by multiple outlets. It’s quite the accomplishment that involved OSU to finish the regular season on a 19-8 run. The selection show kicks off Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.  

• Nearly 30 years ago, and I feel so old. 

Tony Lindsay took the reigns as QB for @CowboyFB as a freshman in 1997 showcasing his athleticism. He led the Pokes to their first 6-0 start in 52 yrs including a win over Texas that is still one of the most exciting in program history and the first bowl game since 1988 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/QtXWAH2dB1

— Dustin J (@405pokefan) May 24, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• On how the Thunder have become the most hated team in hoops. [Vox]

• Earth is weird. 

JOHNNY MANZIEL JUST FINISHED BOB MENERY IN ROUND 1 😭 #BrandRisk14 pic.twitter.com/cq9DtK8C9T

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 24, 2026

OSU Bullets

•  Ruby Meylan saw pitches get knocked around the field yesterday, while the Cowgirls saw a great season end with a 9-1 loss to a quality Huskers team (PFB)

• Steve Lutz filled a hole in the middle of his lineup with a solid, in-conference transfer yesterday – a 6’9″ forward with a penchant for scoring (PFB)

• Eric Morris added what appears to be a really solid in-state defensive back yesterday – check out this offer list Broken Arrow player Bryson Brown had:

(Brown) picked OSU over offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and others. [PFB]

• The Pokes lost to the eventual Big 12 champ on Friday – but it was closer than the score showed it to be:

Don’t let the final score of this game fool you, for the first six innings, this was just a two-run game with Kansas leading 3-1. But in the eighth inning, that’s where things started to turn quite a bit.

Oklahoma State put a run on the board at the top of that inning to pull within one. However, the Cowboys would need much more than that because the Jayhawks went on a scoring spree. [HCS]

• Cowboys are still projected as two-seed after losing in the Big 12 semifinals:

#OkState still projected as a 2-seed in Florida State’s regional, per @d1baseball’s latest projections. The super regional pairing might be more noteworthy. https://t.co/sIoft0ffTb pic.twitter.com/g3Ans2fYuc

— Daniel Allen (@bydanielallen25) May 23, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• The African lake turning animals into stone • Stop keeping score (faith-based) Thunder blue glasses are stuck on my face but this was so nice to hear:

Chuck has had enough with this Wemby narrative 😆 pic.twitter.com/Lh1yIBlVsk

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 24, 2026

Unfortunately for the Cowgirls that will officially mark her goodbye to the program following the team’s 9-1 loss in five innings to Nebraska in the Lincoln Super Regionals.

She left the circle in the middle of the fifth inning after the Cornhuskers loaded the bases following a home run which gave Nebraska what was then a 3-1 lead. Oklahoma State had two outs at the time and had given up a solo homer followed by two hits and one walk before Oklahoma State pulled its ace.

Meylan’s final entry for the Cowgirls was hardly reflective of her tenure as she gave up seven hits, six earned runs and two walks while striking out two of 24 batters faced.

RyLee Crandall replaced Meylan. She hit the first batter, then gave up a 2-RBI single before giving up a home run which put the game in run-rule territory.

Senior Audrey Schneidmiller recorded her lone hit in the bottom of the inning to give OSU some hope, but Nebraska pitcher Jordy Frahm (formerly Bahl) struck out Aubrey Jones and Karli Godwin to end the game.

Rosie Davis scored Oklahoma State’s lone run of the game in the first inning after an RBI single from senior Lexi McDonald. Fellow senior Amanda Hasler was responsible for the Cowgirls only other hit in a game that saw Nebraska record nine strikeouts.

Speaking of which, Meylan started the game with her 800th career strikeout, a mark that would rank third-all-time among Cowgirls if they all came during her Oklahoma State career. Still, in two seasons Meylan struck out 389 batters to rank 13th all-time in program history.

Meylan ended her career with 392 innings pitched for the Cowgirls which would rank 16th in program history.

Broken Arrow defensive back Bryson “BB” Brown announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Saturday. He joins Pryor receiver Cooper Hooker as in-state pledges to pick the Pokes this week, and both join Iowa Colony (TX) quarterback Carson White as the Cowboys’ three commitments.

Listed at 6-feet, 186 pounds, Brown is the No. 731 player in the Rivals Industry ranking, which tabs him as the No. 80 safety in the 2027 class and the No. 13 player from the state of Oklahoma. He picked OSU over offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and others.

MaxPreps had stats for eight of Brown’s games during his junior season, where he had 31 tackles and a tackle for loss playing at a more traditional safety spot and some work at nickel.

Brown will also bring track speed with him to Stillwater. Athletic.net credited Brown with a 10.90 100 meters at his regional track meet earlier this month, and he has a 10.8 time on his X profile.

The OSU staff prioritized Brown early. Eric Morris was posing for a photo with Brown at his school on Jan. 21, not too long after Morris got the job. Brown announced in early March will take an official visit to Stillwater from June 4 to June 6. Two days after he made that announcement, he was posing with OSU defensive backs coaches Jordan Malone and Julian Wilson for a photo. Then earlier this week Malone, Wilson and defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity visited Brown at his home.

So, the Cowboys’ class sits at three, but will only continue to grow over the coming months as official visits get rolling. The Cowboys’ staff seems to be after another Broken Arrow DB in Noah Gillespie, who this week also shared a photo of Cassity, Wilson and Malone visiting him. On top of that, four-star athlete Hunter Haug included OSU in his Top 5 earlier this week.

The Cowboys have added a second transfer from within in the Big 12.

UCF transfer forward Jordan Burks announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Saturday. Listed at 6-foot-9, 205 pounds, Burks played at UCF this past season, where he averaged 13.3 points and 4.8 boards a game while shooting 37% from 3 on nearly five attempts a contest. He joins Andrija Grbovic (Arizona State) as Big 12 transfers.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jordan Burks (JB) (@jbxrks)

“Jordan gives us another experienced, versatile piece with size, athleticism and scoring ability,” Steve Lutz said in OSU’s release. “He can play multiple spots, stretch the floor and make shots in big moments. You can see the growth in his game from year to year, and we’re excited about the way he fits with how we want to play.”

247Sporst considers Burks the No. 85 player in the portal and a four-star portal prospect.

Burks started his college career at Kentucky, appearing in 20 games as a freshman where he averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 boards in about seven minutes a game.

Then he spent the 2024-25 season at Georgetown alongside fellow OSU portal commit Julius Halaifonua, though Halaifonua was injured most of that year. With the Hoyas, Burks played in 34 games, making 11 starts, where he averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 boards a game before getting more shots in Orlando this past season.

He scored in double figures 23 times this past season. He scored a season-high 24 against BYU in February, a game he went 4-for-7 from 3 in. That was one of five 20-point performances Burks had this past season.

The analytics like what Burks brings on the offensive end of the floor in particular. His Offensive Rating/Possession Usage (tracked via KenPom) ranks in the top 320 players nationally, a stat he ranked fifth in Big East play in during his year with the Hoyas.

From Decatur, Alabama, Burks was a three-star prospect coming out of the Overtime Elite league, but his recruitment took a sharp upturn late. He had initially signed with Ole Miss before a coaching change saw him reopen his recruitment. Kentucky then scooped him up in the summer going into his freshman year of college.

Burks becomes the sixth portal pickup Steve Lutz and Co. have made this offseason, and he fills OSU’s second-to-last roster spot. Thus far, the Cowboys’ portal haul is Burks, 6-6 combo guard Luke Bogavac (North Carolina), C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Kashie Natt (Sam Houston), promising young point guard Jacob Walker (Sam Houston) and stretch forward Andrija Grbovic (Arizona State).

Three Thoughts

• Tough loss for the Cowgirls, dropping 8-1 to the host Nebraska squad – Cowgirls have to win back-to-back to advance to the college world series (PFB)

• In a similar spot, the Pokes lost in the semifinals of the Big 12 baseball tournament, 9-2 against the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks (OKState.com)

• CBS picked the Pokes in the middle of the Big 12 this fall with one key phrase: 

 The Cowboys finished in the Big 12 basement last season, and jumping eight spots may not even be enough…The Cowboys were also aggressive in the transfer portal, adding numerous linemen with Power Four pedigree. [CBS Sports]

Two Quotes

• Spencer Sanders’ DC Defenders squad dropped a close one last night> 

AIRING IT OUT 🎯

Sanders ➡️ Coutee 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oE80m4adNW

— DC Defenders (@UFLDefenders) May 23, 2026

• Cowgirls are in shooting distance at the golf championships through day one: 

Strong start for the Cowgirls 💪

OSU grabs a podium spot after the NCAA Championship’s opening 18 holes. Back to work tomorrow ‼#golfschool | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/7OsHRPLGnO

— OSU Cowgirl Golf (@OSUcowgirlgolf) May 23, 2026

One Question

• What’s more likely to happen – do the Cowboys make it to a super regional or do the Cowgirls get to the WCWS?

Non-OSU Bullets

• Extravagant football recruiting trips may be ending • Great Thunder v. Spurs article from The Ringer before last night’s game

Plan your future in detail. Imagine it. Break it into goals. Make them tangible. Write them out. Now, pick the 3 most important goals and break them into timelines: 10 years, 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day. Every night, look at what progress you made toward these 3 goals and write down the one thing you can do tomorrow to make progress toward each. Repeat. Goals set direction, but only execution moves you closer. [FS]

Nebraska won the first game 8-1 on Friday in a game that felt mostly decided after three innings.

The Cornhuskers roughed up Ruby Meylan, scoring three runs in the first and another four in the third before she was pulled. She didn’t get an out in that third, meaning her final line was two innings pitched where she gave up seven runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out two.

The game resumed in the bottom of the first inning with a runner on first. A single on the restart put two on before Jesse Farrell sent a three-run home run to left-center.

Even in the second where the Cowgirls didn’t allow a run, Meylan got in some trouble, giving up back-to-back singles to start the frame before getting out of the jam with three straight outs.

She had no such Houdini act in the third. She issued a walk before Ava Kuszak doubled, putting two runners in scoring position for Farrell, who sent the first pitch of her at-bat back up the middle to score both. Another Nebraska double ended Meylan’s day, as RyLee Crandall came in and forced two RBI groundouts and a fly out to finally end the inning. It was 7-0, Nebraska.

The bright spot about this getting a bit out of hand early was that the Cowgirls could sit Meylan, who they’ll need in Game 2 if they want to fight back.

With Meylan in the dugout, OSU gave Nebraska all sorts of looks. Crandall threw two scoreless innings (the RBI groundouts went on Meylan’s stat line). Then freshman Makala Smith made her collegiate debut, throwing 1 1/3 where she gave up a run on four hits while walking two. Then freshman Preslee Downing came in and got the final two outs.

The Cowgirls scored their run in the sixth when Karli Godwin hit a solo home run to the left. Godwin is on a hot streak, having homered in four of her past six games.

HR No. 🔟 on the year for Karli 🚀

📺 ESPN2 #GoPokes | @karligodwin2 https://t.co/vbX8gaFFXI pic.twitter.com/9VcsWgRwkX

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 22, 2026

So, it’s do or die for the Cowgirls on Saturday. Game 2 of the series will get rolling at 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2. With Game 1 getting pushed from Thursday to Friday, there aren’t yet details available on a would-be Game 3.

The past week has seen an in-state receiver commit to OSU, an in-state linebacker announce an OSU offer and an in-state defensive back set a commitment date. Well, now OSU is in the top group for a touted prospect from the Lone Star State, and the Cowboys’ staff is in pursuit of another in-state DB.

OSU in Top 5 for Four-Star Athlete Hunter Haug

Hunter Haug is the No. 217 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking for the 2027 class, and he released a Top 5 on Thursday: Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and Arkansas.

#agtg #gofrogs #WOOPIG #GoPokes #WreckEm #SicEm@CoachTreW @AAFrogDC @RSilverfield @CoachCWilford @RSilverfield @CoachMalone18 @CoachSkyCassity @__CoachMorris @CoachRGreene @jkbtjc_53 @JoeyMcGuireTTU @CoachKlanderman @CoachOrloffBU @Rivals @247recruiting @SV_RangerFB pic.twitter.com/7xSqXMNDlo

— ℋ𝓊𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇 ℋ𝒶𝓊ℊ (@HunterHaug05) May 21, 2026

Listed at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Haug is out of Smithson Valley High in Spring Branch, Texas (northeast of San Antonio). As a junior, he accumulated 1,156 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns while making 57 tackles, seven pass breakups and a pick as a defensive back.

Smithson Valley went 15-1 on the year, winning a Texas 5A-1 state title.

OSU has been active with Haug since Eric Morris got to town.

Haug announced his OSU offer back on Jan. 30, accompanying that offer announcement with a picture of him and Morris at his school. Haug was up at OSU’s Junior Day in March, and at the beginning of this month, OSU DC Skyler Cassity and DBs coach Jordan Malone went down to visit Haug in his home. According to 247Sports, Haug will be in Stillwater for an official visit on June 9.

Haug has speed. Last month at his area track meet, Haug ran a 10.65 100 meters. Back in February, he also recorded a 21-foot, 3-inch long jump.

In-State DB Noah Gillespie Receives Home Visit

Broken Arrow defensive back Noah Gillespie shared a photo to social media on Wednesday with Cassity, Malone and corners coach Julian Wilson all visiting Gillespie at his home.

Great Home Visit Last Night ‼️ @JWilson_2 @CoachSkyCassity @CoachMalone18 @__CoachMorris @CowboyFB @THillBAFootball @TheCoachJoShow @CoachReed_ @coachtwin_84 @VYPEOK @OSUAthletics @OKStateRivals @PokeOkc @6starfootballOK pic.twitter.com/TWRl7dVTzr

— I_amNoah (@amnoah_i) May 20, 2026

Listed at 5-11, 180, Gillespie is the No. 737 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking, which tabs him as the No. 72 corner in the class and a Top 15 player from the state of Oklahoma.

MaxPreps only had stats for seven of Gillespie’s games from 2025, but in that stretch, he made 31 tackles, a tackle for loss and two interceptions.

Gillespie ran a 10.89 100 meters in April, according to Athletic.net.

OSU offered Gillespie in February, and he attended a Junior Day in March. He has an official visit scheduled in Stillwater for the end of the month.

Gillespie also has offers to Kansas State, UCLA, Arizona, TCU, Auburn, Iowa State and others.

PFB+ Sale: ⁠PFB+ subscriptions are 25% off when using this link

OSU Bullets

• Cowgirl Softball saw game one postponed in Nebraska until today due to weather – the Cowgirls will have their hands full with the top-ranked Cornhuskers (PFB + HCS)

• The Pokes advanced to the Big 12 seminfianls after beating UCF yesterday, 12-6 (PFB)

• Eric Morris added a commitment yesterday from an in-state receiver that plays undersized in the slot – sound familiar? (PFB)

• The Cowboys draw top-seeded Kansas at 4pm today in the Big 12 tournament (Big12Sports)

•  99 days and counting:

100 DAYS UNTIL COLLEGE FOOTBALL RETURNS🍿 pic.twitter.com/nrGIFTPsk3

— On3 (@On3) May 21, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Strangers rent my house – is it worth it?

• Developing a taste for God’s Word (faith-based)

A rainy night in Lincoln meant the teams only managed to get four outs into the Super between Oklahoma State and Nebraska. The game is tied at 0. The weather delay lasted about two hours before they called it.

The game will resume at 4 p.m. Friday and be televised on ESPN2. They will not play another game Friday, as Game 2 will now take place at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Oklahoma State beat UCF 12-6 on Thursday in the quarterfinal of the Big 12 Tournament. The Cowboys advance to play the winner of Baylor and Kansas at 6:30 p.m. (Central) on Friday.

Thursday’s game was a back-and-forth affair until the Cowboys busted things open late.

Tied at 5 going into the eighth, the Cowboys rattled off five runs in the top of the inning with some plate discipline and some timely hitting.

With runners on second and third and one out, the Knights elected to intentionally walk superstar slugger Kollin Ritchie to load the bases. Then Aidan Meola drew a seven-pitch walk to score a run before Campbell Smithwick lifted a ball to right-center, with the sacrifice fly making it 7-5.

Avery Ortiz then drew a walk to load the bases before Colin Brueggemann thumped a ball into right center that clear them and make it 10-5.

Bruegge delivers

A 3-RBI 1B… and another milestone#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/39FuZVCL1C

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 21, 2026

The Knights clawed one back in the bottom of the inning, but then the Cowboys added two more in the top of the ninth.

The first run of the final inning came off Alex Conover’s bat, as he tripled to right. It scored freshman Danny Wallace, who was hit by a pitch to start the frame.

Doing what he does@AlexConover36 with an RBI 3B to add to our lead in the 9th#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/M8Sf4drSvO

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 21, 2026

The Cowboys used a heady play to get their final run across. After another hit-by-pitch and back-to-back strikeouts left Conover on third, OSU used a delayed steal to get Brock Thompson caught in a rundown between first and second while Conover scurried in from third.

Things got a little dicey for the Pokes in the home half of the inning, as Noah Wech loaded the bases with no outs. But after a mound visit to clear his head, Wech forced an infield pop up and then a double-play ball to secure the win.

OSU is a team known for its power. The Cowboys entered Thursday second nationally in home runs with 137. Well, the Pokes scored a dozen runs Thursday without a homer. That’s a good sign.

Another solid sign, though it might not exactly sound like it, is that the Cowboys scored 12 runs with Ritchie and Meola, two of their better hitters, combining to go 1-for-8 at the dish. The duo did, though, draw a pair of walks and accounted for an RBI and three runs scored. So, even without those two mashing baseballs out of the park, the Cowboy offense was productive.

Brueggemann probably gets the Player of the Game nod. The Cowboys’ senior fist baseman went 2-for-3 at the dish with four RBIs and a run scored. Conover, Thompson, Ortiz and Shull joined Brueggemann as Cowboys with multiple hits.

Pitching is important all the time but especially in a tournament setting where you want as many fresh arms as possible. The Cowboys used three hurlers Thursday, starting with Hudson Barrett.

Barrett was in the rotation at the start of the season but after missing time with injury, he had been coming out of the bullpen. He threw five innings against the Knights, giving up five runs (only one earned thanks to a fifth-inning error) on five hits while walking one, hitting another and striking out four.

Barrett made way for Mario Pesca in the sixth. Pesca would get the win to move to 6-4 on the year after throwing three innings where he gave up a run on three hits while walking one and striking out four before Wech closed in that ninth inning.

Pryor wide receiver Cooper Hooker announced a commitment to Oklahoma State on Thursday. Listed at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, Hooker picked the Pokes over offers from Texas State, Arkansas State, East Carolina and others.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cooper Hooker (@coophook1)

Hooker will play his senior season at Pryor after starring at Salina. He caught 50 passes for 850 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior while scoring 22 total touchdowns and leading Salina to a 10-2 record and the second round of the 2A-II playoffs. That came after Hooker missed his sophomore year with a leg injury.

His breakout on the recruiting trail seems to have been an Under Armour camp in St. Louis in March. There, he ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and clocked a 4.38 shuttle.

40 , drill work , 1o1s from UA Camp ‼️

4.44 laser 40@derekrasmussen @TheUCReport @Bdrumm_Rivals @samspiegs@DemetricDWarren @coach_hadac @UANextFootball @FriedmanAdamm @ParkerThune @JimNagy_Sooners @Sooner7v7 @CoachDavisWR@CoachTMcKnight @CoachSJordan @CoachGMcDonald… pic.twitter.com/zBj2a4BWI4

— Cooper Hooker 3⭐️ (@coophook1) March 29, 2026

OSU moved quickly. Hooker announced his OSU offer on May 11, set up an official visit on May 13 (the visit is the 29th through 31st) and then pledged to the Pokes all in quick order.

The major recruiting services recently ranked Hooker. Rivals considers him the No. 1,059 player in the 2027 class, a Top 150 receiver in the class and a Top 20 player from the state of Oklahoma. 247Sports tabs him as the No. 180 receiver in the class and a Top 20 player in the state.

Morris has mentioned he likes multisport athletes, which is something that also applies to Hooker. He was a switch-hitting shortstop for Salina as a junior, where he hit .467 with five homers.

Hooker becomes the second pledge in Oklahoma State’s 2027 class, joining quarterback Carson White.

“That’s going to be our last game at Cowgirl Stadium for the year, and my last game there ever,” Hasler said. “I’m just now realizing, which is crazy to think about. I think it’s just so awesome that I get to have that memory of that being my last game there.”

If those walls could talk, they’d say Hasler left quite the lasting impression. In the series-clinching win over Stanford on Sunday, she finished 3-for-4 at the plate, including both a double and home run in addition to three RBIs and three runs scored.

It was an impressive weekend overall for Hasler, who averaged .777 across all three regional games, headlined by a team-high seven hits, team-high six RBIs, five runs and two home runs.

On Thursday night at 8, Hasler will take part in the first Super Regional of her career at Nebraska.

“I have no words,” Hasler said. “Like, it’s freaking awesome, and it’s something I’ve dreamt of as a kid.”

Before she arrived in Stillwater ahead of the 2025 season, Hasler played for NC State, where she missed the postseason entirely. The Wolfpack didn’t even qualify for the ACC Tournament during her two seasons there.

Then her first taste of the postseason last year saw the Cowgirls go on the road for the first time since 2018, where they ended their season short of the Women’s College World Series, marking another first since 2018.

“Losing the way that we did, it, it hurt,” Hasler said. “And I think with this year being able to host and being able to go to Super Regionals, like I get to feel this amongst everyone, like amongst everyone who’s been to the World Series, and who’s been there, and you know, I just was grateful I get to (keep playing in the Supers).”

Her father, Jim Hasler, echoed that feeling of gratitude.

“It gives me a lot of joy just because I see how happy it makes her,” he said. “And you know I just enjoy the hell out of watching her so much. … To see her on a stage at this level, just, it just makes me smile every time I see it. And it’s gonna really hurt when the season’s over.”

Hasler’s batting average of .318 this season currently ranks sixth on the team among season-long starters, but her 64 RBIs put her 16 ahead of her closest teammate. The senior also boasts a program-best .695 slugging percentage (among season-long starters), designed to calculate the impact of power hitters.

Hasler is one home run short of tying team leader Rosie Davis at 15 this season and two doubles short of Davis’ total at 12. She has tied Claire Timm at three triples each.

None of which should be a surprise considering Hasler led the team in home runs last season with 16, putting her seven ahead of her closest teammate. She also finished just two hits shy of having the third-best batting average on the team.

But for all her success in the last two years, Hasler struggled at first. After recording a home run in her OSU debut against Florida State, the then-junior went cold. Her first multi-hit game occurred almost one month into the 2025 season.

“I would compare myself to a lot of people,” Hasler said, describing her early Cowgirl career prior to the 2026 season. “And you know, I kind of had imposter syndrome during last season, and it was kind of tough because I’m coming from a, I guess, lower Power Four school into a top 25 school.

“And you know, I was still trying to find my place last season. And I think once I stopped caring, that’s when those numbers came to me.”

Down the stretch, she picked up the pace, culminating in a pair of home runs against UCF that accounted for all four of OSU’s RBIs in the 4-3 win on April 19, 2025.

From a pure softball standpoint, that was her father’s favorite game, but his favorite memories of her time in Stillwater don’t involve a bat or her catcher’s mitt. Just watching his kid gain confidence and have so much fun is enough for him. Although Hasler’s dad has also really enjoyed watching his daughter sign stuff for the kids who show up to Cowgirl Stadium.

“At that moment, those kids are, you know, they’re kind of in awe of these softball players,” he said. “And you know, to see your daughter be one of them, that just, it just makes me smile.”

Jim said his daughter plans to attend culinary school when her softball career ends. She would like to be a pastry chef, but both father and daughter hope there’s plenty of memories left to make this season.

“To be able to do it with these girls who I have bonded with over the course of this whole year, it’s awesome,” Hasler said, reflecting on her remaining postseason opportunities. “Like I have no other words, and you know, I’m just, I’m so grateful I get to make memories with these girls, and even off the field, like I get to hang out with them even more now that our season is still going. Like I get to hang out with them for at least another week, and I think that’s what helps me cherish this so much, is that we’re such a tight-knit team, it just makes it that much better.”

OSU Bullets

• The Cowboys are headed to the NCAA Tournament in golf later this month after finishing second at the Marana Regional yesterday (X)

• The Big 12 had a bit of a quarterback refresh this year – but OSU’s Drew Mestemaker is certainly in the top-tier (PFB)

2026 Preseason Big 12 QB Rankings:

1. Drew Mestemaker 2. Bear Bachmeier 3. Devon Dampier 4. Noah Fifita 5. Conner Weigman 6. Julian Lewis 7. Cutter Boley 8. DJ Lagway 9. Will Hammond* 10. JC French IV 11. Jaden Craig 12. Avery Johnson 13. Alonza Barnett III 14. Michael Hawkins… pic.twitter.com/AivmAcBYf6 — SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) May 20, 2026

• The Pokes have their first game in the Big 12 baseball tournament this morning, some are projecting the Pokes to win the thing:

Give me the Oklahoma State Cowboys to win it all. The Cowboys are one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 right now, having won 12 out of their last 15 games. After a shaky start to the season, they caught fire quickly and have played their way into being a solid two seed when the postseason comes around. [HCS]

• Don’t sleep on the Cowboys’ most recent addition at 174 pounds – he could compete for a starting spot with significant potential:

“I think this is a difference-making addition for Oklahoma State… I think he could be a national champion at 174.” @CPyles8 loves the Lorenzo Norman pickup for the Cowboys#FRL presented by @AthletePS pic.twitter.com/xFBRcbcQSc

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) May 19, 2026

• It appears the Cowgirls will have at least one advantage over Nebraska when they play in softball today – here are three storylines going into the game:

Super Regional teams ranked by average height of the players.

Fun fact: Oklahoma’s average height last year was also 68.05 pic.twitter.com/EwcEjDUqwa — Unusual Softball (@UnusualSoftball) May 18, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• America’s fastest-growing cities are (far out) suburbs • Spaghetti again? (faith-based)

“Often we fail to improve our lives simply because things don’t get bad enough. If your new job is hell, you’ll leave it, but if it’s just unsatisfying, you’ll likely grind it out. Thus, small problems often threaten our quality of life more than big ones.” Gurwinder Bhogal

Oklahoma State will be in Lincoln taking on Nebraska in an NCAA Super Regional. The action gets started at 8 p.m. Thursday night on ESPN2.

Nebraska is 49-6 this season and rolled through the Big Ten, going 23-1 in conference games. With the Big Ten not being a softball power, the Cornhuskers were given the 4 seed nationally, but they rank as the nation’s No. 1 team in various polls, something OSU coach Kenny Gajewski agrees with.

“We’re getting to face another great team,” said Gajewski after OSU’s Regional. “I voted them No. 1 the last couple weeks — I think they are that. They’ve been doing everything that they’ve been asked. They’ve played as tough a schedule as anybody. I know (the Big Ten) might not be the highest-rated league, but like, they walked through that league. And they played the schedule in the beginning, and they came here when they didn’t have to. They’ve done things and played well, and their staff is another great staff. I can’t wait to go compete there. I saw their games on TV, and ah man, the crowds look awesome. It’s gonna be fun. Our girls will relish that. We can’t wait.”

Here are three storylines to keep in mind as the Super Regional round gets going.

1. Ruby Returns Home, Enters Elite Pitching Matchup

Two Nebraska girls will step into the circle in Lincoln this week, but only one will advance to Oklahoma City.

Newly minted three-time All-American Ruby Meylan attended Skutt Catholic in Omaha.  A two-time national champ at OU, Jordy Frahm (formerly Bahl) is out of Papillion-La Vista. Here’s how the two statistically match up this season:

2. The Series Is Already Even

The Super Regional round is a best-of-three series, but from a season perspective, we’ll find out who wins in a five-game series.

Nebraska came to Stillwater back in February as part of a multi-team event that also saw the Cowgirls host Southeast Missouri and South Dakota State.

The Cowgirls won the first of those games via an 11th-inning walk-off home run from Rosie Davis. If you need more evidence of how elite the pitching will be this weekend, that game went 11 innings and ended 2-1.

ROSIE DAVIS WALK OFF WINNER🤠 https://t.co/LWIetGB7Pk pic.twitter.com/pOyhHdJ7T2

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) February 27, 2026

Two days later, the teams met again. This time Nebraska pulled out a 4-3 win, with Frahm — also a hitter — pulling out a two-RBI single in the sixth to pull the Cornhuskers ahead.

They were supposed to meet again the next day, but weather meant Nebraska had to head up to Lincoln early. Now the score will be settled with a trip to OKC on the line.

3. Can OSU Get Back to OKC?

Speaking of OKC, the Cowgirls didn’t make it to softball’s biggest tournament for the first time since 2018 last season, snapping a five-season streak (the WCWS didn’t happen in 2020).

It was the longest WCWS streak in program history, as before the Gajewski Era, the Cowgirls had only ever made back-to-back seasons in Oklahoma City.

The Big 12 has gone through quite the quarterback refresh entering 2026 with a little more than half the league handing its offense’s reigns over to a new passer.

To make this a little more fun, we’ve broken this list up into different tiers.

Proven Ballers

Noah Fifita (Arizona): Fifita has thrown for at least 2,800 yards the past three seasons, including a career-high 3,328 and a career-high 29 touchdowns in 2025. OSU fans need to look no further than Fifita’s 376 yards and five touchdowns against the Cowboys last season in Tucson to see why he’s in this section.

Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State): You could certainly argue that Mestemaker belongs in the “Transfers Stepping Up” or “Sophomore Surge” sections later in this post, but while he might not be Big 12-proven, leading the country in passing yards as a redshirt freshman has to count for something, right?

Mestemaker threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns at North Texas last season. Two of his top three targets from last season are now with him in Stillwater along with Chris Barnes and Justin Bowick, who OSU fans are rather excited about.

Devon Dampier (Utah): I struggled with where to put Dampier, but the more I looked into it, I think this is where he goes.

His 2,490 passing yards last season ranked 10th in the conference, but that comes with the caveat that Dampier threw 24 touchdown passes, which ranked sixth in the league. Meanwhile, his five INTs were a Big 12-low among starters. Then on top of that, Dampier ran for another 835 yards and 10 touchdowns. So, 34 total TDs, limited INTs and the Utes won 11 games last season? It’s time for me to stop sleeping on Dampier.

Sophomore Surge

Bear Bachmeier (BYU): For a lot of the same reasons Dampier is in “Proven Ballers,” you could argue that’s where Bachmeier belongs, as well, but I think he better fits here.

As a true freshman, Bachmeier threw for 3,033 yards (fourth in the Big 12), but his touchdown-to-interception ratio could use a bit of work, throwing 15 TDs to seven picks. But he’s also a threat to run, scooting for 11 more TDs.

It was an outstanding freshman season, but what should be exciting for BYU fans is that he’ll likely only get better.

Julian Lewis (Colorado): Lewis was a Top 50 recruit in the 2025 class but had an up-and-down first four games in Boulder. It looked as if he might take the starting job from the jump, but Kaidon Salter ended up emerging as the Buffs’ starter.

In four games (two starts), Lewis threw for 589 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions. Colorado wasn’t quite OSU bad last year, but the Buffaloes went 3-9. It’s hard to put too much of that on a true freshman who played in only four games, but it goes to show that not everything around Lewis was working properly.

If Colorado can clean some other things up, look for Lewis to take a step forward given his talent and the fact that he has a better idea of what college football is all about.

Prove-It Year

DJ Lagway (Baylor): It’s hard to deny the ability DJ Lagway has, but it never quite came all the way together in his two seasons as Florida’s starter.

In those two seasons, Lagway threw for 4,179 yards and 28 touchdowns to 23 interceptions. He also ran for 237 yards and another score.

He’s closer to home at Baylor, where his father Derek was a running back for the Bears in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Lagway is also just a true junior, so north of 4,000 yards and nearly 30 TDs as an underclassman isn’t too bad a resume. Still, given some of the expectation of being Florida’s starting quarterback, it didn’t exactly go to plan, but he has all the potential to breakout in the Big 12.

Avery Johnson (Kansas State): The Avery Johnson hype train lost some steam in 2025, but there’s reason to believe it could pick back up in 2026.

Johnson threw for 2,385 yards and ran for 477 last season — a drop of 455 total yards from his standout 2024 sophomore season. On top of that, the Wildcats went from going 9-4 in 2024 to 6-6 in 2025.

New head coach/play caller Collin Klein should help unlock Johnson after Klein returned to his alma mater following two seasons being the OC at Texas A&M.

If Johnson could be a more consistent version of the breakout sophomore he was back in 2024, look out.

Michael Hawkins Jr. (West Virginia): Hawkins could still need to get past Scotty Fox to be the Mountaineers starter, but from the outside, it seems like that’s the way things are headed. Hawkins spent the past two seasons at Oklahoma but wasn’t able to take a firm grasp on the Sooners’ starting job.

OU had all sorts of quarterback troubles in 2024, Hawkins’ true freshman season. He played in seven games that year, making four starts and throwing for 783 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. With John Mateer transferring to Norman in 2025, Hawkins was a firm backup, playing in two games where he threw for 167 yards and three scores.

Transfers Stepping Up

Alonza Barnett III (UCF): James Madison won 21 games across the past two seasons as Barnett was the Dukes’ starter. Those two seasons saw Barnett combine the throw for 5,404 yards and 49 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. He ran for another 1,031 yards and 22 scores.

JC French IV (Cincinnati): Playing under Clay Helton, French led Georgia Southern to bowl games the past two seasons. In that stretch French threw for 5,760 yards and 37 touchdowns to 19 picks. He ran for 564 yards and eight more touchdowns in those two seasons.

Jaylen Reynor (Iowa State): Reynor started at Arkansas State the past three seasons, totaling 8,694 passing yards, 52 passing touchdowns, 28 interceptions, 1,183 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

Jaden Craig (TCU): Having graduated from Harvard, Craig joins the Horned Frogs after throwing for 6,074 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at the FCS level. How does that experience translate in the Big 12? I guess we’ll find out.

Things Could Get Weird

Houston: Coming off a 10-3 season, Houston football looks to be surging entering Year 4 in the Big 12. It’s in such a good spot, that Willie Fritz and the Cougars landed Keisean Henderson — the No. 1 prospect in all of the 2026 class.

But Conner Weigman is also set to return for his senior season after leading the Cougars to that 10-2 record last season while throwing for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns and running for another 700 yards and 11 scores.

It was an outstanding year for Weigman, but the most popular guy on a football team is often the backup quarterback — especially when that backup quarterback is labeled the best high school player from the last class.

I think Houston is legit, but should things start to get rocky for a bit, how loud will the noise be to let the freshman get some run?

Things Already Got Weird

Texas Tech: Unless you live under a rock, you probably already know about the QB situation in Lubbock. The Red Raiders brought in Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati, but Sorsby has been in the center of a gambling controversy over recent weeks.

Now Sorsby is filing a lawsuit against the NCAA to try to play in 2026. Will it work? I’m not sure. It seems like it shouldn’t, but the NCAA’s record in court of late has been as bad as the Cowboys’ record on the football field.

If Sorsby is unable to go, it looks like the job will fall to sophomore Will Hammond. In the past, Hammond was solid in some spot work for an injured Behren Morton. Hammond played in eight games, throwing for 680 yards and seven TDs to three picks. He tore his ACL late in the year, though. ESPN reported this week that he is expected to be cleared on Aug. 21 — about two weeks before the Red Raiders open their season against Abilene Christian.

Still Battling

Arizona State: Having lost Sam Leavitt to LSU, Kenny Dillingham will break in a new QB in 2026. The two most-likely candidates are probably Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley and Michigan transfer Mikey Keene.

Boley played 11 games at Kentucky last season, throwing for 2,160 yards and 15 touchdowns to 12 INTs. Keene didn’t play in his lone year at Michigan last season but has previously played at UCF and Fresno State. In 39 career games, Keene has thrown for 8,245 yards and 65 touchdowns to 28 INTs.

Kansas: It feels like it’s been a decade sine KU went into a season without Jalon Daniels. Now two of his backups are doing battle to takeover.

It looks like it’ll be either Cole Ballard or Isaiah Marshall taking snaps in Lawrence.

In 15 games across three seasons, Ballard has completed 55% of his passes for 445 yards, three touchdowns and four picks.

In nine games last season, Marshall threw for 28 yards on three attempts while running for 160 yards on 15 attempts.

OSU Bullets

• Eric Morris has more talent on his roster than he did in front of his historic run at North Texas (PFB)

• The Pokes are solidly in second at the men’s golf regional at Marana (AZ) through the second round. The host Arizona Wildcats shot a -24 in the second round (Clippd)

• Stillwater is home to two of the Big 12’s hottest bats (both are first-team All-Big 12) and one is now credentialed by the league for the honor of best slugger (X)

2026 Baseball Yearly Honors ⚾️🏆

Slugger of the Year | Alex Conover ( yes you read that correctly .416 😲 )#Big12BSB🤝 @OSUBaseball pic.twitter.com/GutBpYw31B — Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 19, 2026

• Take a look at what regionals the Cowboy Baseball team is projected for going into the Big 12 tournament this week (PFB)

• A little in-state round-up on players the Cowboy Football team has offered and their commitment dates approaching quick (PFB)

• Ruby Meylan is (no-brainer) first-team All-American:

No-brainer. Ruby has been named a First Team All-American by @SoftbalAmerica 💫#GoPokes | @rubymeylan pic.twitter.com/smBCUSMdg5

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 19, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• How to just do (some)thing

• Convicting take in “why so many Christians don’t grow up”

After Broken Arrow defensive back Bryson Brown set a commitment date this weekend, newly offered Pryor receiver Cooper Hooker announced Tuesday that he’ll pick his college on Thursday. On top of that, Bixby linebacker Cain Brackney announced he received an Oklahoma State offer on Monday.

We’ve already written on Brown announcing his date, but here’s a little more on the two most recent bits of news.

Hooker Picking Program Thursday

On May 11, Hooker announced he picked up an Oklahoma State offer. Two days later he announced he’d set up an official visit to Stillwater for the end of the month. And now Hooker has announced that 10 days after his OSU offer, he’s going to pick a college.

May 21st . 1pm
Where’s home ?? 🏠🏠@samspiegs @ParkerThune @BrandonHuffman @Hayesfawcett3 @TheUCReport @derekrasmussen @Sooner7v7 @coach_hadac @FriedmanAdamm @UANextFootball @Bdrumm_OUI @PryorTigerFB @Coach_DavisPHS @CoachSaiz10 pic.twitter.com/Fek1GtGCp0

— Cooper Hooker 3⭐️ (@coophook1) May 19, 2026

Hooker will make his announcement at 1 p.m. Thursday. Along with OSU, he has offers to Texas State, East Carolina, Arkansas State and others.

He’s a 5-foot-9, 170-pound speedster who has played at Salina but will play at Pryor as a senior. He has a lasered 40 time of 4.44 and a 4.38 shuttle.

The 247Sports Composite ranking lists Hooker as the No. 1,425 player in the 2027 class, listing him as the top receiver in the state.

Hooker missed his sophomore season with a broken fibula but returned as a junior to the tune of 50 receptions for 850 yards and 15 touchdowns. He scored 22 total touchdowns this past season as Salina went 10-2 and made the second round of the 2A-II playoffs.

Along with his track speed, Hooker is a switch-hitting shortstop. He hit .467 as a junior with five home runs.

Brackney Announces OSU Offer

Brackney committed to UCLA on April 24, but that hasn’t stopped schools from coming in with offers.

Since that commitment, Brackney has announced offers to Colorado, Indiana, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

All Glory To God! After a great conversation with @CoachSkyCassity blessed to say I have a received an offer from the Oklahoma state University! Thank you for the opportunity to pursue my passion for football and further my education! #Blessed #p3 pic.twitter.com/E46dBsezah

— Cain Brackney (@BrackneyCain) May 19, 2026

Listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Brackney is the No. 1,104 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking, with 247 listing him as a Top 100 linebacker in the class and a Top 15 player from Oklahoma.

He played at Union last season, finishing the year with 102 tackles, a dozen tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

That’s a big reason they are in Stillwater now, but how long will it take Morris and company to rebuild that foundation at Oklahoma State?

Although there’s been plenty of positive buzz this offseason, FanDuel Sportsbook is currently booking win total bets for the Cowboys at 5.5 wins. Although the specific odds suggest FanDuel favors OSU to clear that bar and become bowl eligible. In fact, where win totals are concerned, the Cowboys winning six games is the biggest favorite in the conference.

While North Texas’ ascent to the near top of the American Conference and national relevancy feels obvious now, that wasn’t the case around this time last year when some oddsmakers set UNT’s win total at 6.5. Talk about a steal! North Texas had seven wins before Halloween.

Morris accomplished that with a team that featured only seven full-time returning starters and four guys who contributed enough in 2024 to be worth consideration as returning part-time starters.

Although fans will recognize a handful of returning Cowboy faces this fall, the true returning starters from a development standpoint are guys like quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who followed their coaches from UNT this offseason.

That list includes eight full-time starters and five part-time starters, which helped Morris turn North Texas into a national storyline.

The level of competition for those guys increased this offseason, but Oklahoma State’s coaches arguably have an even better foundation this season than they had at UNT.

The biggest difference between the two groups of returners is the split between offense and defense. Last season, UNT returned five full-time starters (four of whom are now Cowboys), including two safeties (Quinton Hammonds and Evan Jackson), two linebackers (Ethan Wesloski) and one defensive lineman (Fatafehi Vailea).

This season, OSU returns three full-time starters from UNT in Hammonds, Wesloski and defensive lineman Saadiq Clements. They also return three part-timers in Jackson, corner Kollin Lewis and edge rusher Keviyan Huddleston.

From a personnel standpoint, the situation Oklahoma State’s offensive playcaller faces is so much more positive than what he had before. In 2025, Morris built his record-setting offense around a group that included only two full-time returning starters, both offensive linemen (Braydon Nelson and Johnny Dickson, who are now at OSU), and four part-timers, comprising of three wide receivers (including both Wyatt Young and Miles Coleman) and one offensive tackle.

This season, Morris gets to flex his muscles with five full-time returners: Mestemaker, Young, Nelson, Dickson and running back Caleb Hawkins, in addition to two part-timers in Coleman and lineman Desmond Magiya.

While not all of these guys are expected to start for the Cowboys in 2026, it seems safe to conclude that anyone who beats these guys out for playing time this fall has truly impressed the coaches.

Here’s a brief look at all 13 “returning starters” with key 2025 stats:

QB Drew Mestemaker: Led nation in passing yards (4,379) and passing yards per attempt (9.46) while finishing top five in a number of other key stats.

RB Caleb Hawkins: Scored an all-time NCAA freshman record 29 touchdowns

WR Wyatt Young: 1,246 receiving yards ranked third in the nation

RG Johnny Dickson: PFF Run-blocking grade of 72.6 ranked second among UNT OL

LT Braydon Nelson: 961 offensive snaps, second-most on team

S Quinton Hammonds: Five tackles for loss and one sack

LB Ethan Wesloski: Team-high 113 tackles (team-high 59 solo)

DL Saadiq Clements: 11 total pressures created (seventh most on team) on 165 attempts

WR Miles Coleman: Third on team in receptions (47) and yards (550)

LT Desmond Magiya: Topped 50 snaps in four games while splitting time between left guard and left tackle

S Evan Jackson: Two interceptions and two pass breakups

CB Kollin Lewis: Team-best 42.1% completion percentage against him (min. 200 snaps in coverage)

Edge Keviyan Huddleston: Team-high five sacks

Oklahoma State enters as the Big 12’s 5 seed and will take on 4 seed UCF at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Knights swept the Cowboys in Orlando earlier this year, but OSU has gotten hot since then. That UCF series was OSU’s first Big 12 series of the year, but the Pokes closed the year having won four conference series in a row.

That late-season resurgence pushed the Pokes back into the national picture. They enter the week ranked 19th nationally, according to D1Baseball. The Cowboys rank 29th in RPI.

This week will play a part in what OSU’s postseason looks like. D1Baseball and Baseball America both released updated projections for the NCAA Tournament field this week, with both having the Cowboys as 2 seeds in a Regional.

D1Baseball has the Cowboys going to Tallahassee in an NCAA Regional that features Florida State, Kentucky and Binghamton. It projects Florida State as the 11 seed nationally.

The Seminoles are 38-16 and the 3 seed at this week’s ACC tourney. OSU played in an NCAA Regional in Tallahassee back in 2004, going 1-2.

Baseball America has the Cowboys heading to an old conference foe in the College Station Regional with Texas A&M, Louisiana and Saint Joseph’s. Baseball America has the Aggies as the 8 seed nationally.

The Aggies are 39-13 this season. A&M is 2-0 against Big 12 competition this year, beating Arizona State 9-3 in March and Houston 10-2 in April. OSU fans might be somewhat familiar with how OU is doing this season, given the Cowboys have played the Sooners twice, splitting those games. A&M went 1-2 in an SEC series against OU in Norman in mid-March.

The Cowboys and Aggies haven’t met in NCAA Tournament play since 1987, when they played three times at the Mideast Regional in Starkville, Mississippi. OSU went 2-1 in those games, making the College World Series.

The two outlets are just about in lock step when it comes to Regional hosts at this point. Here’s a look at the 16 schools each outlet has as hosts going into the conference tournaments.

So, if right now the Cowboys are projected somewhere to travel to face somewhere between the 8 seed or the 11 seed, that also puts hosts Southern Miss and Florida in play.

If the Cowboys go on a run in the Big 12 Tournament, a tournament they’ve won three times since 2017, including 2024, then the Cowboys could see themselves going to Nebraska or Mississippi State. An early exit and some tournament runs elsewhere could see the Cowboys going to Auburn, Alabama, North Carolina or Texas.

OSU Bullets

• Cowboy Golf is tied for the lead through day one at the Marana Regional at -11 (OKState.com)

• Cowgirl Softball takes on Nebraska in a pitcher’s duel on Thursday at 8pm on ESPN2 (HC)

• With Sunday’s win over Arizona, the Pokes locked in the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 tournament and a Thursday bout with No. 4 seed UCF (PFB)

2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament presented by Allstate Bracket Announced

next stop ➡️ Surprise, AZ ⚾️ ℹ️ https://t.co/Of8WmH4VX9 🎟️ https://t.co/k5zu1QFBS9 pic.twitter.com/8HVuoA8GFf — Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 17, 2026

• How Jacie Hoyt built a roster from one player (PFB)

• Cowboys are being projected as a two-seed in the Tallahassee Regional currently:

#OkState (36-19, 18-12 Big 12) is projected as a 2-seed in Florida State’s regional according to @d1baseball’s latest Projected Field of 64. This would be a *loaded* Tallahassee Regional. https://t.co/Atu8sIZ1cZ pic.twitter.com/zwdmonVkCJ

— Daniel Allen (@bydanielallen25) May 18, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• 15 tiny mindset habits to change

• Do you know how to behave on a flight? Take this quiz.

• Which college majors offer the best ROI?

With a fun Spider-Man themed graphic, Broken Arrow’s Bryson Brown announced that he’ll pick a school on Saturday. He didn’t announce a Top X number of schools, but Brown has offers to Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Kansas, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma and others.

May 23rd ‼️🤙🏽@THillBAFootball @TheCoachJoShow @CoachJuiceDixon @CoachReed_@GregBiggins@AllenTrieu @MikeRoach247 @Josh_Scoop @CoachSmith_31 @Liltwin_84@ChadSimmons @TomLoy247@DemetricDWarren @mfarrellsports@TheUCReport @adamgorney @samspiegs@CoachReed_ @dhglover… pic.twitter.com/ROmBtcaODf

— 𝑩𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏”𝑩𝑩”𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 (@iam_bb4) May 18, 2026

He has announced official visits to Arkansas (May 29-31), Oklahoma State (June 4-6) and Kansas (June 19-21), so those schools would probably be considered the front runners.

Rivals lists Brown as the No. 685 player in the 2027 recruiting class, pinning him as the No. 14 player from Oklahoma and the No. 74 safety in the cycle.

He’s listed at 6-feet, 186 pounds. MaxPreps had stats for eight of Brown’s games from his junior season, tabbing him wit 31 tackles and a tackle for loss while lining up at a more traditional safety spot and at nickel.

New OSU coach Eric Morris seems to be putting a premium on track speed, something Brown provides. Athletic.net credited Brown with a 10.90 100 meters at his regional track meet earlier this month. Brown also boasts a 10.8 time on his X profile.

The Cowboys have seemingly made Brown a priority in the cycle. Not long after Morris got the job, he was posing for a photo alongside the Tiger DB, with Brown sharing this picture on Jan. 21.

Thank you for stopping by @__CoachMorris 🤠‼️ #Reoffered #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/2f0fXVPFpj

— 𝑩𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏”𝑩𝑩”𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 (@iam_bb4) January 21, 2026

Brown announced he was locking in an OSU official visit on March 5. Then on March 7, he was posing for a photo alongside OSU defensive backs coaches Jordan Malone and Julian Wilson.

All love today 🤠!!@CowboyFB @__CoachMorris @CoachMalone18 @JWilson_2 @CoachSkyCassity @THillBAFootball @TheCoachJoShow @coachtwin_84@coachwvde @CoachJuiceDixon @polk_way @hellstarsports @GregBiggins @AllenTrieu @MikeRoach247 @Josh_Scoop @ChadSimmons @TomLoy247@DemetricDWarren… pic.twitter.com/WuMQDuXDX6

— 𝑩𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏”𝑩𝑩”𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 (@iam_bb4) March 8, 2026

The Cowboys have one commitment in their 2027 class to this point in quarterback Carson White.

“‘Hey Coach, are you still interested?'” Hoyt recalled. “I’m like, ‘Hell yeah I’m still interested.’ This is amazing. I think we’re gonna get Liv, and now Audi is texting me.”

Hoyt said she had a great conversation with Crooks when she first hit the portal but things went dark for a little bit from both sides — something Hoyt said is common in the speed dating that is the transfer portal. Hoyt said she was starting to think Crooks just wasn’t interested. Again, something that happens when you’re looking to fill basically an entire roster.

From there, they set Crooks up with a visit to Stillwater. Hoyt said when she picked Crooks up at the airport it felt like she had known Crooks her whole life.

Although it hasn’t been exactly that long, Hoyt said she did recruit Crooks back when she was coaching at UMKC before Crooks turned into a two-time All-American at Iowa State.

Any worries of whether Crooks would enjoy life in Stillwater were quickly washed away when Crooks — from Algona, Iowa, a town of about 5,000 — got excited to see the pond in Hoyt’s backyard. Hoyt said the OSU staff made a concerted effort to not make it feel like they were putting on a show with Crooks being in town but rather were just real with her.

It worked. Late on April 19, Crooks announced her commitment to Oklahoma State.

“Audi goes in the portal, and there’s this whole buffet of options and everything sounds really great,” Hoyt said, “but when you get down to the heart of what’s really important to you, I think that’s when she kind of circled back.”

Of the 10 Cowgirls from last season’s roster who could return, only Stailee Heard did. Hoyt said she had a feeling a big roster overhaul was a possibility — even before the Cowgirls went to Los Angeles for the NCAA Tournament.

“I could feel it coming,” Hoyt said. “I’m gonna be honest, I had a lot of conversations with our players on that team that I knew the chance of them leaving was very, very high. I was anticipating it. I knew it when we went out to California, to be honest. It was something that I also felt was hard kinda knowing while I was coaching in the tournament that I’m probably not gonna have this team next year.”

The Cowgirls lost to eventual national champ UCLA on March 23. The portal didn’t open until April 6.

“In that week or whatever it was … that’s a hard time,” Hoyt said. “Because you just have to sit on (the fact that only one player is on the roster). You’ve got a lot of thoughts and what-ifs going on, but my staff was really great. And we just stuck together like we always do, and then when the portal opened and you start to have those conversations, it was so refreshing and so energizing and felt so good to hear the feedback from other kids and what their perception of us is.

“That was very therapeutic, honestly, once the portal opens just to have those conversations with kids who want to be here. I want kids who want to be here, and every single one of our kids that we have on this roster, they want to be here for very specific reasons and they’re very motivated. I’m really excited about that.”

Crooks’ commitment was the exclamation point, but Hoyt and her staff were killing in the portal even before that. Various outlets listed the Cowgirls’ portal haul as the best in the country.

Along with Crooks, McGill — a point guard transfer from Florida — averaged 22.5 points a game as a sophomore in the SEC last season.

Rutgers transfer Nene Ndiaye broke out to the tune of 14.8 points a game last season in the Big Ten.

Lindenwood transfer Ellie Brueggemann averaged 14 points a game last season while shooting 44% from 3 on 218 attempts.

LA Sneed was a five-star prospect who averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 assists a game as a freshman at Utah last season, bringing more Big 12 experience into the fold.

Talexa Weeter is the reigning Division-II Player of the Year after averaging 27.5 points a game at Fort Hays State.

One after another, they felt like massive pieces the Cowgirls were adding. Hoyt said her portal experience helped prime her to make such a run. Her first OSU roster after being hired ahead of the 2022-23 season had just five holdovers on it, as Hoyt went and snagged the likes of Naomie Alnatas, Lior Garzon and Terryn Milton out of the portal and made a run to the NCAA Tournament. She just about had to do the same the next season with much of that first group being seniors.

With all the excitement around this offseason’s additions, it can be easy to forget that the roster also features Heard, who has been the most impactful player of the Hoyt Era. Entering her senior season, Heard already ranks in the Top 10 in program history in career points, rebounds, assists, steals and double-doubles.

“Stailee and I are one in the same — we’re connected at the hip,” Hoyt said. “We both knew what was coming this offseason before our season even ended, and we were in sync and in stride together every step of the way.

“The great thing about her, whether it’s on the court or off the court, is she has this maturity that she can think like a coach. So, I just told her, ‘I’m gonna need your help recruiting, and I’m gonna tell you who we’re talking to and how these conversations are going. I’m gonna need help on visits, and I need you to help me. I need to you to tell me if someone’s not a good fit or what you’re feeling or sensing.’ She was able to do that. She was basically a part of the coaching staff this offseason.”

So, now Hoyt gets to put it all together.

Hoyt said McGill fits “like a glove” into OSU’s style of play. A lot has already been said about how exactly Crooks will fit into Hoyt’s up-tempo style. It doesn’t sound as if the Cowgirl coach is all that worried about it.

“I think that’s the obvious thing that people think immediately, but Audi came here because she wanted to be a part of our style,” Hoyt said. “And I don’t intend on changing that. Am I gonna need to make some tweaks here and there? Of course. You have to do that every year, but Audi is very motivated to play in a system that she feels can help her go to the next level. …

“I think she’s excited to fit into us. We’re not changing everything for Audi, and Audi doesn’t want that. Audi wants to be pushed. She wants to be in a system that is gonna help develop her and push her in ways that she hasn’t been pushed, and that’s the goal for all of us.”

OSU Bullets

• The Cowgirls are headed to the Super Regionals this weekend – the hosting Cowgirl squad took out Stanford yesterday, 11-5 to move ahead in the playoffs (PFB)

• Cade Cunningham’s Detroit Pistons lost in game 7 yesterday – here’s what they need to evaluate to help him get to the conference finals next year (CBS Sports)

• The Cowboy secondary added reinforcements this weekend – landing a Miami (Fl) safety yesterday and a Youngstown St. cornerback on Saturday (PFB) • Big 12 5k winner is a Poke (X)

• If we were 12 years deep into a 24-team playoff, you would have seen plenty of orange and black in the playoffs:

What would it look like long term if there were a 24-team CFB Playoff? *IF* the CFP had been 24 teams from the start in 2014, 80 different teams would’ve made an appearance over the last 12 seasons. pic.twitter.com/xWPOACMDWg

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) May 16, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Americans bought European houses for a pound, here’s how it’s going • OKC Thunder’s SGA was named MVP yesterday, the 14th player to earn the award back-to-back

Oklahoma State beat Stanford 11-5 on Sunday to win the Stillwater Regional and advance to a Super Regional against Nebraska in Lincoln next week.

The Cowgirls were already up 5-2 when senior Claire Timm stepped to the plate in the fifth with the bases loaded, but then she sent a ball through the windy Stillwater sky to right-center. The grand slam essentially made the rest of the game a formality.

Everything everywhere all at once 🗣️

Claire’s second career grand slam, the team’s 67th dinger of the year AND the Cowgirls are up by 7⃣

📺 ESPN #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/RicaOUpXTV

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 17, 2026

The Timm Reaper nickname is something that has stuck with Timm, now a senior, for a while. She doesn’t sound the most in love with the nickname, but it was more than appropriate on Sunday.

“I’ve kinda gotten used to it,” Timm said before the regional. “Not my favorite, but I think other people like it so I just kinda take it.”

The inning before ended on a down note for Timm. Kyra Chan got a ball through the right side, and then it got past Timm. In her defense, the wind was ridiculous inside Cowgirl Stadium on Sunday. As the ball started to get through the right side, a gust brought a lot of dust from the now-delapidated Allie P. Reynolds Stadium next door. The umpire had been calling time when he could to avoid the dust storms, but this one started to kick up when the ball was already in play.

That run would score, cutting OSU’s lead to 3-2 after four.

The Cowgirls made no excuse of the wind Sunday and even said it probably helped them because they’re used to these gusty Oklahoma days.

Before Timm’s fifth-innning grand slam, Amanda Hasler hit a two-run shot — her  second home run of the Regional. It also scored Lexi McDonald, who doubled to start the inning.

Everything everywhere all at once 🗣️

Claire’s second career grand slam, the team’s 67th dinger of the year AND the Cowgirls are up by 7⃣

📺 ESPN #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/RicaOUpXTV

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 17, 2026

Hasler said she had a celebration in mind, but the ball was close to being foul so she holstered it.

“I was actually thinking about bat-flipping,” Hasler said. “But I was like, ‘That might be foul. That’ll be really embarrassing if I do that.’ But I was watching it the whole time. I almost missed first base, so I didn’t know if it was going to stay fair. …

“It wasn’t going to be a (bat) flip, it was gonna be more of a slam. I’ll save it for another time.”

Hasler nearly hit for the cycle Sunday. She finished with half of the Cowgirls’ six hits, singling in the second inning, doubling in the third and then ripping that homer in the fifth.

Although OSU didn’t have a crazy number of hits, the Cowgirls were disciplined at the plate, walking 11 times and killing the Cardinal on the basepaths. It resulted in more runs than Ruby Meylan needed.

The Cowgirl ace threw all seven innings. She almost needed only six but gave up a two-run home run with two outs in the sixth. Had they gotten that out (which Jayelle Austin nearly robbed), the game would’ve ended then via run-rule. Meylan put her hands on her head as it went out but then came back in the seventh and put the side down in order.

It was a bit of an interesting spot for Gajewski and pitching coach Carrie Eberle Parker. There’s no denying this team is much better when Meylan is pitching, but had the Cowgirls lost Sunday, they would’ve had to play again right after. So, do you go with your ace and try to end it early? Or do you play it a little more cautiously in case you have to play anther seven innings?

It was a decision that lingered in the hours leading up to the game.

“Carrie wants to have answers at nighttime,” Gajewski said. “I don’t always like to have answers at nighttime. She was wearing my phone out, and I kept dodging her calls. So, we finally talked about 9:30 and she just kind of walked me through some scenarios, and I just told her, I said, ‘We’re going with Ruby. That’s what we’re gonna do. There’s no need to even think about anything else. We’re going to win the first game. That’s the way that we gotta go.’

“No disrespect to anybody else on our pitching staff, but I think if we didn’t throw Ruby in the first game, these guys (the players) may have come after me.”

This Regional was a show of just how far the Cowgirls have come over the span of a season. They played Stanford twice at the very beginning of the year. The Cardinal won the first game 4-2 and the second 10-0 in five innings.

Those teams met twice in Stillwater this weekend, with OSU winning both games by a combined score of 18-7. The Cowgirls outscored their three opponents a combined 34-7 this weekend. That 27-run differential is a program-best for OSU in an NCAA Regional.

“This team is a much different team (from the start of the season),” Gajewski said. “I think we are a much different team than we started out at. I think if I go back and look at what I had, like when I look back and saw the box scores and saw a little bit of our games, I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ Like, we look different. I mean, we look different as players, and swing-wise, and pitching, and defense. It’s nuts.

“So, that’s what’s cool. And that’s why you love coaching because it’s the journey. We left (Stanford) kind of upset we didn’t play better, and now you look back, I would trade that every time to have this, right?”

Cowgirls Match Up with Nebraska in Supers

The Cowgirls’ Super Regional in Lincoln won’t be short on storylines.

For starters, these teams met twice in Febuary, splitting those games. OSU won the first, 2-1 in 11 innings while Nebraska took the second, 4-3.

It’ll also be a homecoming of sorts for Meylan as the Cowgirl ace is from Omaha.

The Super will feature an elite pitching matchup between Meylan and OSU’s former Bedlam rival Jordy Frahm (previously Bahl). Frahm enters the Super with a 1.15 ERA.

The Cowboys’ secondary just added some speed and experience.

Former Miami safety Markeith Williams is expected to transfer to Oklahoma State, according to a report by 247 Sports. Williams also posted this to Instagram on Sunday from his visit to OSU.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Onee Dinero (@oneedinero)

The 6-foot-, 170-pound safety is a three-star prospect according to 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings and the No. 104 ranked safety. He should come to Stillwater with two years of eligibility remaining.

A four-star prospect out of Orlando, Florida, Williams signed with Miami over offers from the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia a couple dozen other schools. He was consensus Top 300 prospect in the 2022 class and a Top 25 safety according to 247 and ESPN. He also ran track in high school.

Williams saw action in four games a true freshman before taking a redshirt in 2022 but appeared in 11 games as a redshirt frosh and 13 games as a sophomore in 2024, totaling 17 tackles, a tackle for loss and two passes deflected. He announced that he was entering the transfer portal in September of 2025 and did not appear in any games for the Hurricanes.

OSU Bullets

• The Cowgirls beat Stanford and will rematch with the Cardinal Sunday for the Stillwater Regional Final. [PFB]

Job’s not finished. #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/Urn1KcuRWh

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 17, 2026

• Great stuff from Ruby Meylan after the win.

Ruby Meylan…Feeling Good is Overrated! I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff! Well, WOW…Looked pretty DURNED good to me! #gopokes #okstate pic.twitter.com/s5xmfoo3aJ

— OState Daily (@Ostate_Daily) May 17, 2026

• The Cowboys capped the regular season with their fourth-straight series win, topping Arizona 7-5 on Saturday. [PFB]

• Eric Morris & Co. landed a speedy cornerback by way of the portal. [PFB]

• Was a fun one. 

Posting a classic college football game every day until college football is back!

2021 Fiesta Bowl – Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State (Jan 2, 2022) https://t.co/ilX53xJBO0 pic.twitter.com/YTpKegEMxN

— College Football Zone (@CollegeFBonX) May 14, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• Crazy. 

• These are pretty great.

Introducing Street Fighter: CLE!

🕹️ 2026 Schedule Release pic.twitter.com/aFvc1vMGKx

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 14, 2026

More studies on how doom scrolling is affecting our brains. [Nat Geo $$]

Oklahoma State beat Arizona 7-5 on Saturday in the teams’ rubber match. The game saw four balls leave the yard, and three of those came off the Cowboys’ bats.

The Cowboys entered the day with 130 homers on the season, which was good for second nationally behind only Georgia (142).

With the Cowboys down 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Saturday, Colin Brueggemann got the home run party started, as the senior sent a solo shot to right on Senior Day. It was his 16th of the season. It was crushed, landing 437 feet from home plate with a 106-mph exit velocity.

Bomba numero 16 for Bruegge 💣#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/TvXgEuOKJg

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

That seemed to crack the seal for the Pokes, as later in the inning, freshman Remo Indomenico hit his first career home run. It was a two-run shot that put the Pokes back in the lead.

When the ball hits the sky, like a big pizza pie, THAT’S A REMO 🤌#GoPokes | @RemoIndomenico pic.twitter.com/T5NFVCJenF

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

Then later in the fourth, senior Aidan Meola hit a three-run shot off the scoreboard. Had the scoreboard not been there, that ball might still be airborne. It was his 17th of the year. All of a sudden, the Pokes led 7-3.

Somebody check on the scoreboard 😬

Meola goes yard for the third home run of the inning#GoPokes | @aidanmeola1 pic.twitter.com/kt1YJouGEf

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

Kollin Ritchie entered the day in solo second nationally in round-trippers with 28. Although he didn’t add to his tally Saturday, he was still productive.

He went 3-for-4 at the dish with two of those hits going into a heavy shift, with Ritchie making it look like target practice.

Then he went the other way, doubling to left-center in the sixth. It looked like a single off the bat, but Ritchie took advantage of some lackadaisical fielding and booked it to second.

He’s a stand-up guy 🤠

A stand-up double is hit No. 3 for @RitchieKollin #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/rU8BmwrMtU

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

Arizona elected to intentionally walk Ritchie in the eighth to a chorus of boos from those in attendance at O’Brate Stadium.

Sophomore right-hander Stormy Rhodes got the start on the bump and gave the Cowboys a solid outing. He threw seven innings, giving up five runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out six.

He handed the ball to Noah Wech in the eighth, who made quick work of his lone inning, using just nine pitches to retire three Wildcats. Two of those outs came via strikeout.

Then Mario Pesca entered to close. The senior righty from The Bronx struck out the first batter he faced before giving up a single. But he left the tying run at the plate twice — first with a lineout to left then with a flyout to the warning track.

After transferring in from St. John’s ahead of last season, Pesca made it known Saturday how grateful he is for the opportunity for these two seasons in orange.

“I love this place more than you could ever imagine,” Pesca said. “… I wish I was a Cowboy for a few more years. I wish I had more time here because I love this place. I love Coach (Josh) Holliday. I will forever be indebted to him He gave me the opportunity to be a Cowboy, and that’s something that I’m so grateful for. I’m so grateful to be here and be able to help or try to win some games, however they see fit. Just the fact that I can put the jersey on and play for him is one of the best things that I can do. I’m super thankful for him.”

Cowboys Secure 5 Seed in Big 12 Tournament

OSU closes the regular season at 36-19 and 18-12 in Big 12 play. That secures the 5 seed at next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Arizona. The tournament starts Tuesday, but with the 5 seed, the Cowboys won’t open until Thursday, where they’ll play 4 seed UCF to start.

Josh Holliday’s Postgame News Conference

Youngstown State transfer corner Jeremiah Piper committed to Oklahoma State on Friday after visiting, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. Piper played in just one game with the Penguins this season but had previously played at Western Illinois and Western Michigan.

Listed at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, Piper boasts a 4.3 40-yard dash on his Twitter profile.

In 2024 while at Western Illinois, he made 28 tackles, picked off a pass and broke up four. PFF noted that Piper was targeted 35 times that season, where he allowed 21 catches.

He appeared in 14 games at Western Michigan from 2020 to 2023.

Before that, he was a two-star prospect coming out of the 2020 recruiting class by way of Southfield, Michigan. He picked Western Michigan over offers from Akron, Ohio and Toledo. He played quarterback in high school, running for 1,300 yards as a senior while also intercepting a pass and making 50 tackles as a defender.

He adds to a deep portal haul Morris has had to bring in ahead of his first season of the Cowboys’ coach. North of 80 players on the Cowboys’ roster are new. But, the Pokes are a little light at corner, with just six currently listed on the roster: returner LaDainian Fields, returner Kobi Foreman, Texas Tech transfer Mo Horn, North Texas transfer Kollin Lewis, freshman Maliek Bracy and freshman Marrel Davis III.

When Saturday’s game ended, Oklahoma State beat Stanford 7-2, almost exclusively based off their home run hits, and only one single homer separated the two across their entire careers.

“Ahhh, DANG IT!” Godwin shouted when she found out Davis led her by one home run in the postgame press conference. “Now there is (going to be some trash talk) now that you told me.”

Davis, OSU’s season-leader with 15, is tied for fourth all-time alongside former Cowgirl Julie Ward (2009-12) on Oklahoma State’s career home run list with 32 total.

Both juniors have a chance to catch third place this season, as Tiffany Mikkelson (2013-16) only hit 35. It’s not a certainty that either or both current Cowgirls will ever catch first place, as both Kiley Naomi (2019-23) and Sydney Pennington (2018-22) hit 47 homers, but they are nearly on track to do so.

“I think the reason they get along so well off the field as well is because they’re different,” Oklahoma State coach Kenny Gajewski said. “And they can kind of balance each other out. Rosie is pretty chill, she’s competitive now, but she’s pretty chill, and so I think that’s good for her. And I think her (Godwin’s) mentality, the way she goes about things, kind of keeps Rosie from getting too chill. So you can kind of see that balance.”

Davis struck first on Saturday, giving the Cowgirls an early 1-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the first when she sent a ball 259 feet over left field.

Godwin then delivered a first-pitch homer to put three more runs on the board during her second at-bat. Seconds later, Davis threatened to pad the lead even more when she sent a missile toward the fence, but it lacked the distance and resulted in an out.

Fellow junior Tia Warsop hasn’t exactly kept pace with her classmates, entering Saturday’s game with only one career homer, but on Saturday, she held her own, hitting a 3-run bomb that landed in an OSU fan’s hands at the wall with two outs on the board to extend the lead even further.

Stanford finally responded with a two-run homer from Kyra Chan in the seventh. The final inning changed the way ace pitcher Ruby Meylan’s day looked on paper as she gave up three hits, including a double and Chan’s bomb.

“I think it was probably good for her, to be honest, to give up those runs,” Gajewski said. “Because she can lose focus at times, and it just helps you to reset and go. I can’t lose focus on any pitches.”

Meylan nodded along when her head coach said that, and she also agreed when Gajewski said she didn’t have her best stuff.

“I didn’t have my best stuff,” Meylan said. “We knew yesterday I didn’t have my best stuff, and I don’t know if that’s. I mean, just sometimes you just don’t have it, like that’s life. So that’s working through it. … sports psychologist, Ken Ravizza, I heard him say, ‘you don’t have to feel good to play good, you’re not that crappy of a softball player that you have to feel good to play good,’ so like feeling good is overrated.”​

As critical as Meylan and Gajewski were of her performance, Oklahoma State’s ace had impressively only given up one hit and one walk throughout the first six innings, and at one point recorded all of her strikeouts at once when she sent three straight Stanford batters back to the dugout.

Similar to other comments Meylan made this season, the pitcher said she wouldn’t have been capable of responding the way she did on Saturday earlier in her career.

“If I didn’t have a good bullpen before the game, it was, it’s going to be a bad day,” she said. “And yesterday didn’t feel great, but I just kind of worked through it this morning.

“Still didn’t feel great, but it was like this is like what we have to do to win, and I’m 230-some innings in. If you think I felt good every time, you’re wrong. Like, it’s about 50-50 to be honest with you. So, it’s, it’s cool to feel the (personal) growth.”

Meylan and the other Cowgirls can now enjoy the rest of the day while waiting to meet whoever emerges from Stanford, Princeton and Eastern Illinois for Sunday’s region finals set to start at 3 p.m. Oklahoma State only needs to win one game to advance to the supers, and the team will have two chances to get it on Sunday, if needed.

The favorite on paper to advance is Stanford, which only has to win one more game on Saturday, while the other teams must win back-to-back games.

“They’re all good and I hope they play 10-12 innings in each game,” Gajewski said. “Wish them the best of luck. … I told our team, you guys earned this, you earned the right to go home and watch everybody duke it out, but we need to make sure we stay focused and stay where our feet are, and come out tomorrow, and whoever we play, just take them to the deep end, and that’s all we want to do.”

Three Thoughts

• Jax Forrest wins the World Team Trials – is he everything we assumed Daton Fix would be? Obviously an incredible wrestler… but maybe not the GOAT (PFB)

• The Cowgirls smoked Eastern Illinois, 16-0 in five innings, to set up a rematch from earlier in the season against Stanford today at noon in the Stillwater Regional.
On a related note, the Cowboys evened up their weekend series against Arizona in a 13-1 win on Friday (PFB)

A day for the program record books.

Our 1️⃣6️⃣ runs were the most in Stillwater Regional history and provided OSU’s largest margin of victory in a postseason game in the NCAA era 🤠 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/0rvMxEnfjF

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 16, 2026

• It’d be fascinating to see how the experience on this squad compares to previous Cowboy Football teams: 

MAKE NO MISTAKE: Oklahoma State is in win-now mode in Year 1. No other Power 4 program added more experience via the transfer portal this offseason than Oklahoma State. In fact, nobody else came close.

This new-look squad imported 495 career starts and more than 36,000 career snaps of Division I experience among its 60 transfer additions. Only one other Power 4 program — Colorado — has added more than 400 Division I starts to its roster this year. [ESPN]

Two Quotes

• I think we all know OSU would be up there twice if wrestling was included: 

GOAT school in each sport. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/PfxWeGrGAs

— Not Top 25 (@NotTop25) May 13, 2026

• Cade had a legit game for the Pistons to force game seven: 

SMOOTH. OPERATOR.

Cade Cunningham and the Pistons force Game 7 🔥 pic.twitter.com/f7VKXUyuVo

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 16, 2026

One Question

• If you had to guess now – who makes a deeper run in the postseason: Cowboy Baseball, Cowgirl Softball, Cowboy Golf, or Cowgirl Golf?

Non-OSU Bullets

• Embracing the Costco lifestyle

This schedule release is terrific: 

Wow: The Tennessee Titans had the BEST schedule release video of the year and it’s hilarious.

The social media team walked around Nashville to find people who looked like their opponents’ coaches and players.

😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/HqlSaV4oC5

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 15, 2026

No one tells you running is 10% cardio
and 90% negotiating with the voice begging you to quit.

— David Dack (@DavidDack) February 7, 2026

Oklahoma State dispatched of the Wildcats 13-1 in just seven innings. The Pokes went 17-for-34 (.500) at the dish with four home runs, a triple and a double.

The Cowboys also got an outstanding outing from sophomore lefty Ethan Lund. He threw all seven innings, allowing the one run off two hits while walking two and striking out 13.

He allowed a lone base runner in the final four innings while striking out eight across that stretch.

The side = STRUCKOUT 🔥

Lundy’s got double-digit Ks six times this season#GoPokes | @EthanLund36 pic.twitter.com/LjVJTA2NRH

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

The Cowboys scored early and often.

They plated five in the first, an inning that included a homer from leadoff man Alex Conover and a three-run shot from Colin Brueggemann.

Con with another leadoff BLAST

Pokes up early, 1-0#GoPokes | @AlexConover36 pic.twitter.com/gwkAG4qema

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 15, 2026

Fair enough 😮‍💨

Bruegge hits the second 💣 of the inning #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/3C9quLRFVK

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 15, 2026

The Wildcats got their lone run in the top of the second, but the Cowboys poured on three more in the home half of the inning.

The first of those came via Kollin Ritchie’s 29th home run of the season. That ties him with Pete Incaviglia’s 1984 season for the fourth-most in a season in program history. He’s one home run away from tying Lamont Matthews (1999) and Monty Fariss (1988) for second.

Ritchie 🚀#GoPokes | @RitchieKollin pic.twitter.com/ubEGDaxyyi

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 15, 2026

The other runs in that inning came off a Brueggemann single and a bases-loaded walk.

Brueggemann continued his massive day with an RBI single in the fourth. The OSU first baseman finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs.

Garrett Shull hit his 14th home run of the season two batters later. The solo shot made it 10-1.

Left side or right side ⁉️

Either way @gshull_8 is going YARD#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/safl6ZpaAX

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 16, 2026

An RBI single from Brock Thompson and a two-RBI single from Aidan Meola moved that lead to 13-1, where Lund would close it out.

The series rubber match will be at noon on Saturday and is the Cowboys’ regular season finale. The Big 12 Tournament starts Wednesday in Arizona.

OSU is 35-19 overall and 17-12 in league play, which has OSU in fifth in the Big 12. The Cowboys could still climb to fourth with a win Saturday and an Arizona State loss to Houston.

“It was freaking awesome. … Just it being the first pitch, you’re like yeah we got this in the bag,” Oklahoma State senior Amanda Hasler said. “It was insane to watch.”

Regardless of which quote you pick, Hasler pretty much summed up Oklahoma State’s 16-0 five inning run-rule win over Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the Stillwater Regional.

Godwin went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk and finished with four runs scored and one RBI and kicked off a particularly dominant foursome as the junior and the three players following her in the lineup (Rosie Davis, Lexi McDonald and Amanda Hasler) combined to finish with 11 of the team’s 17 hits, 7-of-13 RBIs and 4-of-6 walks.

Within moments of congratulating Godwin for her early home run, Davis doubled right to center field and finished 3-of-4 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI.

McDonald walked after fighting through eight pitches. She doubled twice and walked twice en route to four runs scored and two RBIs.

Of the four, Hasler had to wait the longest to record a hit, but she made the most of it, securing her 13th home run of the season in the second inning. She matched Godwin, going 3-for-3 with one walk to go along with two runs scored and a game-high three RBIs.

“I remember it being so loud,” Hasler said, recalling her visit during OSU’s 2024 home Super Regional against Arizona. “And I was like, I want to play under that, like I want to play on the field and hear that surrounding me. And I feel like that’s what I felt today, especially, you know, in the dugout, in the first inning, I was like, wow, like, this is this is a different environment, and it’s just so exciting to be in.”

While those four stole the headlines, pretty much every Cowgirl who picked up a bat performed well as 10-of-14 Cowgirls who stepped up to the plate recorded a hit while eight of them finished with an RBI.

A lot of extra players got to see game action on Friday, but perhaps none as significant as pitcher RyLee Crandall, who replaced ace pitcher Ruby Meylan after only two innings and 44 thrown pitches.

“We love seeing RyLee out there,” McDonald said. “Like we told her one time, ‘we don’t want to see anyone else succeed more than we want to see you succeed.’ And I feel that way about her. So, seeing her succeed just like makes my heart smile, and I love it. And we love it for her, and just seeing everyone succeed has been awesome, and we just love each other.

“Like, generally, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team that loves each other more than we do. So, it’s really cool getting to see everybody succeed.”

Considering the Cowgirls will need Meylan at her best not just once, but almost certainly twice against Stanford, getting her out of Friday’s game early was a huge win for the team’s chances this weekend.

Gajewski actually thought his ace looked a little rusty after she walked one player and struck out three of the seven batters she faced.

“She needed to throw in this first game,” he said. “And like I said, she’s just, too many pitches, too many full counts. … I think she wants and she feels like she wants to have the weight of the world on her. She doesn’t have to. These guys are good. We’re gonna score runs.”

Crandall held things down, limiting Eastern Illinois to three hits while striking out two of the 12 batters she faced. Her season-long ERA currently sits at 5.47 and increased in four of her last six games ahead of Friday’s game.

“She looked like a different kid here today, that’s all I’m gonna go off of,” Gajewski said. “Like I’ve been telling her the whole time, like I tell all these kids, that you can have the greatest year up to this point, and you know, if you don’t finish good, you’re going to remember that part right now. As you get older, you can appreciate the season and all that kind of stuff, but we tend to remember the end, so it’s cool to see that, and it should give her some confidence.”

Up Next

Oklahoma State advances to play Stanford at noon on Saturday in Cowgirl Stadium. The winner of that game advances to Sunday’s Regional final. The loser would play again at 5 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Eastern Illinois and Princeton.

OSU and Stanford met twice at the start of this season at the Stanford Invitational. The Cardinal won both of those games.

Kenny Gajewski News Conference

Forrest teched Davino 11-1 on Friday in Louisville. It’s the third time in three months the two have wrestled a high-profile match, starting with Forrest’s NCAA final win before Davino got the better of the Cowboy at the Open. But now Forrest is back on top.

A big issue Forrest ran into in that U.S. Open bout was that he got down early, and Davino’s strong defense was too much for Forrest to overcome. That wasn’t the case Friday, as it was Forrest who secured an early takedown, scoring on a double-leg that Forrest was able to hold onto through the takedown and score a turn to go up 4-0 about a minute into the match.

The next scoring exchange came in the second period when Davino got in on a leg, but Forrest hit a crotch lift, taking the Buckeye over for another two points. The two rolled and Davino got on the board with a reversal to make Forrest’s lead 6-1.

Forrest had a slick go behind shortly after the two were brought back to their feet. Forrest didn’t rest on his laurels, though, as he pushed for the tech, getting in on a leg and eventually finishing.

The win in Louisville means Forrest will wrestle Penn State’s Marcus Blaze, who won the U.S. Open, at Final X on June 19 in Newark, New Jersey. The winner of that best-of-three series will represent the United States at the Senior World Championships in October in Bahrain.

Forrest will join Wyatt Hendrickson and Zahid Valencia as Cowboy RTC athletes competing for a World Team spot at Final X.

Robideau Beats Williams for Third

Forrest isn’t the only Cowboy leaving Louisville with some senior-level glory.

Reigning 157-pound NCAA champ Landon Robideau beat former OSU wrestler Jordan Williams 7-0 to take third in the 70 kg bracket. This weekend was Robideau’s first wrestling at the senior level after winning the U20 U.S. Open last month.

Robideau scored four points in the first period — all via step-outs. Then he opened the second period with another step-out point to go up 5-0.

Needing a lot of points, Williams turned up the pace late, but an errant shot saw Robideau land on top for the match’s first and only takedown.

At the end of this month, Robideau will wrestle at the U20 World Team Trials, where he has a bye to the final after winning the Open. Should he win the best-of-three series against whomever comes out of the bracket, Robideau would have the opportunity to represent the United States at the U20 World Championships in August in Slovakia.

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OSU Bullets

• The Cowgirls open their hosted-Regional tournament today against Eastern Illinois at 3:30pm CST – Kenny Gajewski talked about his looming pitching decisions (PFB)

• Wrestling update: the Pokes landed a potential starter at 174 pounds from the ACC yesterday, Jax Forrest is headed to the World Team final at 133 pounds (PFB)

• It’s wild to think about how, by going to OSU, Eric Morris got the opportunity to keep coaching Drew Mestemaker – something surely impossible at North Texas.

The Mean Green were one win away from reaching the College Football Playoff last season with a roster that cost just under $1 million… At Oklahoma State, he started with a fully funded revenue-sharing budget for football of around $15 million with support to fundraise that total up to $20 million or more. Now that Morris had the funds, could he pay for his North Texas stars — especially Mestemaker — to stick with him? [ESPN]

• The Pokes dropped the first game of the series to Arizona last night, 7-4 (OKState.com)

• A couple of Cowgirls made the squad:

All-Region Cowgirls 🤠

📝 https://t.co/YqF72Y2LKR#GoPokes | @rubymeylan | @_RoseDavis2023 pic.twitter.com/csydQTrPWI — OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 14, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• 7 days inside the Thunder’s basketball utopia

• Formation happens when we don’t get what we want (faith-based)

Love that OKC is a reference point for rebuilding:

NEW: Manny Diaz to @AndyStaples on handling QB Darian Mensah transferring to Miami: “My overriding emotion is gratitude, and I really mean that. I am thankful Darian Mensah came to Duke.” Diaz later added: “It’s happened before and the best franchises respond. We talked to our… pic.twitter.com/oUhFwgdxUH

— On3 (@On3) May 13, 2026