ATHENS, Ga. — If you weren’t watching live, you might not believe how it ended. Down by two runs in the ninth, Oklahoma State did what Oklahoma State does best—they made it dramatic. And then they made it count.
It started with Kollin Ritchie stepping to the plate, already with three homers in the regional and a bat that was smoking hot. He made it four in a big way, crushing a solo shot to start a four-run ninth inning that stunned No. 7 national seed Georgia, sending them packing with an 11-9 loss on their home turf.
And then because of course there had to be a “then” true freshman Brock Thompson wrote himself into Cowboys lore. With one out and the winning run on first, Thompson drove a two-run homer the other way. Walk-off. Bedlam in the dugout. Georgia, just like that, was out.
“I’m still trying to process it,” said OSU head coach Josh Holliday, visibly emotional after the win. “These guys never gave up. It didn’t matter who was in that other dugout. We just kept swinging.”
Swing they did. That was Oklahoma State’s 15th home run of the regional yes, you read that right. Fifteen bombs in a single weekend. Ritchie’s was his fourth. And Thompson’s? It was about as storybook as it gets. A freshman who hadn’t hit a home run all tournament. Bottom of the ninth. Win or go home. And boom game over.
Let’s rewind for a second.
Oklahoma State was facing elimination. They had to beat Georgia to stay alive in the Athens Regional. Georgia came in 29-4 at home and hadn’t looked all that interested in letting that number change. The Bulldogs looked to be in control for much of the game, flexing their power early and holding a 9-7 lead heading into the final inning. Then came Matthew Brown.
The reliever entered in the top of the ninth with Georgia threatening again two runners on, one out. Brown calmly struck out the side. That doesn’t even really do it justice. He owned the inning. The kind of performance that doesn’t show up in the highlight reel as much as the home runs, but without him, there’s no comeback to talk about.
“He gave us life,” Ritchie said of Brown’s ninth. “You see a guy go out there and lock it down like that, you want to pay it off. That’s what we were thinking heading into the dugout.” They paid it off, alright.
Ritchie’s solo shot pulled OSU within one. Then came a single, and a bloop. Runners on. The tying run came across thanks to a fielder’s choice and some heads-up baserunning. And then Thompson stepped up.
The pitch was outside. A lot of guys probably take it or foul it off. But Thompson stayed on it, sent it the other way, and just kept watching. The ball barely cleared the right field fence, and the party was on.
“I didn’t even feel it off the bat,” Thompson said. “Just a blur. Once I saw it land, I just blacked out. Unreal.”
Oklahoma State moves on to face Duke in the regional final. They’ll have to beat the Blue Devils twice to make it out of Athens and into the super regionals. Not an easy task, obviously. But then again, nothing about this team’s path has been easy. And here they are.
Let’s not forget the game Georgia played, either. They were up 8-5 at one point. They were getting contributions from their whole lineup. They were loud, energetic, and riding the home crowd. But momentum’s a funny thing in baseball it flips fast. And when a team like Oklahoma State starts believing, good luck stopping them.
It’s hard to overstate how big of a win this was for the Cowboys. Beating a national seed on their field, in that kind of fashion? It’s the kind of win that builds belief, that makes a team feel like it can take on anyone. For now, the Pokes will regroup, catch their breath, and get ready to try to beat Duke. Twice. But whatever happens next, this one’s going to be remembered for a long, long time.
