The Cowgirls continued their run through the Shocker Invitational with a pair of wins on Friday

No. 16 Oklahoma State topped No. 18 Nebraska 1-0 before the Cowgirls rallied late to beat Missouri 4-3. OSU went 4-0 in Wichita and leaves on an eight-game win streak. Here’s how it went it down.

OSU 1, Nebraska 0

BOXSCORE

The Cowgirls only needed one swing of the bat to beat the Huskers, and it came in the fifth inning when Megan Bloodworth (2-for-3) homered to left-center. It was her fourth home run in the Cowgirls’ past six games after Bloodworth had four home runs all of last season. She was the only Cowgirl to record a hit against former OU pitcher Jordy Bahl, but, again, she was all they needed on offense.

Ruby Meylan will be a fan favorite before the fans ever see her throw a pitch in Stillwater.

A day after earning two wins in relief, the Washington transfer continued to her impressive early season success, starting and pitching a complete game shutout. She moved to 6-0 on the year and 3-0 on the weekend. In seven innings, Meylan allowed just two hits and a walk and struck out nine Cornhuskers. She would make another appearance in the later game.

OSU 4, Missouri 3

BOXSCORE

In the second game, the Cowgirls fell behind early, but their bats rallied late. And, once again, their bullpen locked it down.

Missouri went up 2-0 in the first on a throwing error by OSU catcher Audrey Schneidmiller that sent two Tigers across home plate. They padded that lead with a solo home run from Madison Walker in the third, her seventh of the season.

But the Cowgirls’ offense came to life in the fifth with a trio of runs starting with a Tallen Edwards (1-for-1) sac-fly followed by a Rosie Davis (1-for-4) RBI double. Karli Godwin (1-for-4) tapped an RBI single to left field to tie it up at 3.

Then in the seventh, Megan Delgadillo (2-for-3) bunted to send pinch runner Tara Vandewater home. She stepped in to run for Schneidmiller after her single to start the scoring effort off.

Again, it came down to a dramatic win in the circle.

Kyra Adcock got the start but gave up two runs in two innings. Katie Kutz took over for three and a third innings, allowing two hits, walking three, striking out three and allowing a run. She also logged an error. Then Meylan came out for her fourth appearance in the Cowgirls’ four games in Wichita.

Meylan got a groundout to get out of the sixth and then went groundout, strikeout, foul out to seal the win. In one and a third innings, Meylan walked one and struck out one. She moves to 7-0 on the season 4-0 in Wichita. Her 1.67 ERA is fifth among Big 12 pitchers, as of writing.

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With these two wins, the Cowgirls move to 12-4 on the season and have won eight straight. They’ll get a day off before they open Cowgirl Stadium for the season with a doubleheader on Sunday. OSU hosts Drake at noon on Sunday and before hosting Tulsa at 2:30 p.m.

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Carson Cunningham and Colby Powell recap OSU basketball’s week, including a signature win against Iowa State. Plus, they recap the wrestling dual at Iowa, the NFL combine and much more.

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STILLWATER — Steve Lutz and the Cowboys picked up a signature win on Tuesday night when they upset No. 9 Iowa State.

Oklahoma State is headed down to Waco this weekend for a game against Baylor, with the Pokes in search of their first Big 12 road win of the season. Lutz met with reporters Thursday to give updates on the team and preview the game. Here are three things that stood out from his news conference.

Two-Foul Participation

When a player on a Steve Lutz team gets two fouls in the first half, he sits down.

Oklahoma State has the lowest two-foul participation in the country (364th out of 364) with starters playing with two first-half fouls just 0.6% of the time. For further context, Baylor, a team the Cowboys will play Saturday, comes in at No. 4 nationally in that stat at 62.7%.

“I’ve always believed in just not playing with two fouls,” Lutz said. “And I know that the analytics say differently. I know that you’re probably better off playing them, but I was raised that way. So, I’ve always been that way. I’d rather have you in the second half when the game’s on the line. It’s just kind of my thing I guess.”

Lutz wasn’t kidding when he said he’s always been like that. All four of the teams he has been the head coach for have been in the 300s in the stat, but this 0.6% season is his most extreme example. In the early parts of the season Lutz mentioned that this team has a similar skill level from a depth point, and that might play into why it’s been so extreme this year.

“Having an abundance of good players allows you to have faith in everybody,” Lutz said. “I still think that deep down inside that those guys know that they’re going to come out with two fouls, that if they’re really team players and they’re about the right things, they’re gonna make sure they play good defense and they don’t foul.

“Now, with that being said, that hasn’t always been the case this year, but maybe it’s something I’ll reevaluate in the spring and the summer because obviously at the end of the year, you’re always reevaluating some of the different things you do within your program. But, I’ve read all the results and the stories and the analytics and all that say that it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Brantley-Dean Practice Battles

Arturo Dean and Khalil Brantley are two smaller, quick guards. Dean excels on the defensive end — evident by his seven steals in OSU’s win against Iowa State. Brantley probably has the best handle on the team — evident by him making a Cyclone fall over.

That begs the question, what do their battles in practice look lie?

“We picked up early in the year 94 feet every single game, and we’ve backed that off a little bit,” Lutz said. “But when they were picking each other up 94 feet, there were some days where it was heated. I think I told y’all this story the one day where Arturo’s running his mouth and talking about ‘I’m real,’ and this and that and the other. Well, they get to a timeout, and Arturo can’t get it past halfcourt because he pissed Khalil off. So, I turned it on him, ‘Where’s that real guy?’ Those are fun moments that we’ll always remember.

“But the battle between them, it’s good. It’s not always fun. It’s not always fun because there’s days where they don’t like going against each other and competing at that level, but the days where they do, it’s fun to watch. I think it’s helped both of them, especially moving up a level. When you move into the Power Five ranks, there’s definite differences, and that’s toughened both of them up.”

Lutz on Court Stormings

Steve Lutz has been on both sides of court stormings, and he said it’s a lot more fun when you’re on the team that won.

OSU students rushed the floor after the Cowboys’ Tuesday night win against the No. 9 Cyclones. Court stormings have been a hot-button topic of late, with fines being levied out and safety being a big talking point. Lutz said he understands the importance of keeping opposing players and officials safe, but he also noted how these types of situations are important to the college basketball experience.

“I know I probably should not say this — I think it’s great,” Lutz said. “It’s the reason we play the game is so you can have interaction with the fans, and you can create memories for a lifetime. With that being said, I do think that there needs to be precautions to protect the referees and the opposing team. There’s been issues where people haven’t done that across college athletics, and I don’t ever want to have anybody hurt. But, man again, I say it all the time, you listen to people around here talk about Gallagher-Iba being full, 13,611, great memories that my friends and I made. Well, these are part of those memories. These are part of those memories. So, I’m happy to No. 1 win and have the situation but more importantly have these kids get to enjoy it.”

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STILLWATER — As a high schooler, Robert Jennings II was told that if he went the homeschool route, he’d be mid-major at-best. Well, he went that route and has since started 42 games in the toughest conference in America across the past three seasons.

A 6-foot-7 junior forward at Oklahoma State, Jennings was homeschooled for his final two years of high school. The COVID pandemic played into the decision, as what high school basketball was going to look like was uncertain, and he said his mother, Carolyn Jennings, was big on grades. Jennings was still able to play as part of the Texas Alliance of Christian Athletes, but it was a big decision to make.

“I took a step out on faith, and I trusted God,” Jennings said. “I prayed about it. Me and my mom sat down and talked about it. Me and my coaches talked about it. They were like, ‘If you believe in yourself and you put the work in, anything is possible.’ So when they told me that, I was like, ‘Oh, all I gotta do is my part.’ I went in and I did my part.

“I dedicated a lot of time. I was in the weight room. I changed my body, changed my eating habits, started working out more. From there, it was just like go out on the court and perform. The homeschool did a great job of giving me a schedule. I played everybody that I could think of. I played (DFW power) Duncanville — like I’ve seen all of them schools. They put me on a platform to be successful.”

In more ways that one, the move helped jump start Jennings’ basketball career. Jennings said he wasn’t even able to get Division-II scholarships before making the switch. By the end of his high school career, Jennings had offers from Texas Tech, SMU, LSU, Houston, Texas A&M, TCU, Penn State, Ole Miss and others.

He signed with the Red Raiders and made an instant impact in Lubbock, playing in 30 games as a true freshman and breaking into Tech’s starting lineup four times. Tech made the NCAA Tournament in Jennings’ sophomore season (Tech’s first under Grant McCasland), and Jennings played in 31 games and made 10 starts.

Jennings said the homeschool schedule helped him transition into college because it was similar to what he was already doing. He was even taking some college courses as a high schooler. He said he’d have class in the morning before heading to the gym and then doing his homework. Then he’d rest, recover and do it again the next day.

“The worst part is probably just, coming from a public school, you don’t get to interact with as many people,” Jennings said. “It’s kinda just you, school, you have a few other people that’s being homeschooled. But it’s kinda just you have your teammates. You don’t get to interact. You don’t get to have the little lunch where you meet up with all your homies. It’s nothing like that.

“The best part probably just being able to find myself, and then it also gave me the time to sit down and dedicate some time to the game, find my love for the game and make the decision on what I really wanted to do. I feel like when I went homeschooled, it really opened my eyes, like, ‘OK, I can really do this.’ It gave me more time to workout. It gave me time to put into my body, less distractions. That was the best and worst part of it.”

Jennings transferred to Oklahoma State this past offseason. He joins Bryce Thompson as the only Cowboys to start all 28 of OSU’s games thus far. He’s averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, which are both career-highs. He’s shooting 84% from the foul line after shooting 71% at the stripe across two seasons at Tech. Jennings has scored in double figures five times this season, with his best performance being his 16-point, 11-rebound double-double against Florida Atlantic in Charleston.

Not bad for a guy who was struggling to pick up Division-II offers and was told the best he could do if he was homeschooled would be playing mid-major basketball.

“I went homeschooled and I was put in a different light,” Jennings said. “I was forced to become a leader. I was forced to put myself in uncomfortable positions. When I went to the gym and stuff, I was actually working on stuff that I was actually having to translate to the game. As I got older and I matured, homeschool helped me mature. I went back and looked at my film, and I realized I really wasn’t the player that I thought I was. That’s what really grew me. I looked at where I came from and where I was, and I was like, it’s the dedication and the work. Simple as that.”

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The Cowboys have two more chances at picking up a Big 12 road win this season, and Saturday they’ll have a shot against a team that has lost its past three contests.

Oklahoma State plays Baylor on Saturday night in Waco. The Cowboys enter the game off an upset win against No. 9 Iowa State. The Bears have dropped three on the bounce to Arizona, Colorado and Cincinnati. Here’s a preview for Saturday’s game.

Viewing Info

Time: 7 p.m. Saturday
Location: Foster Pavilion in Waco
Watch: ESPN+

Team Stats

	Oklahoma State	Baylor
Record	14-14	16-12
NET	95	31
Points Per Game	73.1	78.1
Opponent Points Per Game	76.4	70.2
Field-Goal Percentage	43%	45%
Opponent Field-Goal Percentage	47%	44%
3-Point Percentage	32%	36%
Free-Throw Percentage	72%	75%
Rebounds Per Game	35	35.8

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Last Game Starters

Oklahoma State	Class	Height	PPG	RPG	APG
Arturo Dean	Senior	5-11	7.2	2.7	3.2
Jamyron Keller	Sophomore	6-3	5.3	2.3	1.3
Bryce Thompson	Senior	6-6	12.4	2.8	1.9
Robert Jennings II	Junior	6-7	5.9	3.7	0.3
Abou Ousmane	Senior	6-10	12.3	5.4	0.8

Baylor	Class	Height	PPG	RPG	APG
Robert Wright III	Freshman	6-1	11.9	2.2	4.5
VJ Edgecomb	Freshman	6-1	14.8	5.2	3.4
Langston Love	R-Junior	6-5	9.6	2.9	1.3
Jalen Celestine	Senior	6-7	7.9	3.5	0.8
Norchad Omier	Senior	6-7	15.8	10.4	1.6

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Series History (OSU Leads 57-37)

Season	Winner	Score	Location
2023-24	Baylor	75-70 (OT)	Stillwater
2022-23	Baylor	74-68	Stillwater
2022-23	Baylor	74-58	Waco
2021-22	Baylor	66-64 (OT)	Stillwater
2021-22	Oklahoma State	61-54	Waco
2020-21	Oklahoma State	83-74	Kansas City
2020-21	Baylor	81-70	Waco
2020-21	Baylor	81-66	Stillwater
2019-20	Baylor	78-70	Waco
2019-20	Baylor	75-68	Stillwater

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Big 12 Standings

Team	Big 12 Record	Overall Record
Houston	16-1	24-4
Arizona	13-4	19-9
Texas Tech	12-5	21-7
Iowa State	11-6	21-7
BYU	11-6	20-8
Kansas	10-7	19-9
TCU	8-9	15-13
Baylor	8-9	16-12
West Virginia	8-9	16-12
Utah	7-10	15-13
Kansas State	7-10	13-15
Cincinnati	7-10	17-11
Oklahoma State	6-11	14-14
UCF	6-11	14-14
Arizona State	4-13	13-15
Colorado	2-15	11-17

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The Cowboys are in a good spot heading into the Big 12 Championships.

The NCAA Division-I Wrestling Committee on Thursday released its third coaches’ ranking of the season, which featured all 10 of Oklahoma State’s starters. Seven Cowboys are ranked in the top six of the rankings. The committee also released its second RPI and pre-allocations for the NCAA Championships.

First, the rankings (full rankings here).

Coaches’ Ranking (RPI)
125: No. 3 Troy Spratley (5)
133: No. 17 Reece Witcraft (-)
141: No. 6 Tagen Jamison (7)
157: No. 11 Caleb Fish
165: No. 6 Cameron Amine (4)
174: No. 2 Dean Hamiti Jr. (1)
184: No. 3 Dustin Plott (1)
197: No. 6 Luke Surber (2)
HWT: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson (1)

Sixteen coaches (two from each conference) vote on these rankings. They can only consider the designated starter from a school at each weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division-I matches in their weight class to be considered with at least one of those matches coming in the past 30 days.

As for the NCAA Championships allocations, the Big 12 received 61 pre-allocations. That’s the second-most of any conference trailing only the Big Ten (87). The ACC is the next closest with 38 pre-allocations. The allocations represent the amount of Big 12 Championships placers who will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships.

Here is how the Big 12’s pre-allocations break down (full pre-allocations here):

125: 7
133: 6
141: 7
149: 6
157: 7
165: 7
174: 6
184: 7
197: 4
HWT: 4

If the Coaches’ Rankings are anything to go by, all 10 Cowboys would automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Upsets happen, though, and if a Cowboy is to get upset in Tulsa, there are 43 at-large qualifications available — at least four in each weight class. Each weight class at the NCAA Championships will have 33 wrestlers competing.

The Big 12 Championships are March 8-9 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Big 12 seeds and brackets are set to release on Monday.

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STILLWATER — After a Tuesday night court storming, the Cowboys are headed down to Waco for a game against the Bears at 7 p.m. Saturday. Steve Lutz, Robert Jennings II and Khalil Brantley met with reporters Thursday to give updates on the team and preview Saturday’s matchup.

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