Oklahoma State Baseball Preview: Cowboys Face Jayhawks in Big 12 Semifinals

For Oklahoma State to host a home NCAA Tournament regional, the Cowboys probably need to win the Big 12 Tournament. To do that, they'll have to beat the regular season champions on Friday in Surprise, Ariz.

The Cowboys (37-19) beat UCF, 12-6, on Thursday in the first game of the day. Then they watched No. 1 seeded Kansas walk off a victory over No. 8 seeded Baylor in the 10th inning. It was a game that the Jayhawks in hand before they lost a big lead.

Oklahoma State and Kansas played each other in a series last month. The Cowboys won the first game, 13-2 in eight innings, before losing the next two by scores of 13-3 and 9-6. With Kansas projected as a Top 16 national seed right now, a win over Kansas on Friday would push the Cowboys a little closer to making the NCAA Tournament committee’s life difficult when it comes to determining where to seed OSU.

Here is a preview of Friday’s game, with the schedule, TV information and more.

2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament Schedule

𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭𝟬 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲

With this swing, Colin Brueggemann drives in 3 runs and moves into 10th place on our all-time list with 200 career RBIs#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/wS1WpfsBiq
— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 21, 2026

At Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Ariz.

All times central

Tuesday’s Results

Game 1 – No. 9 BYU 18, No. 12 Texas Tech 8 (Texas Tech eliminated)

Game 2 – No. 11 Kansas State 9, No. 10 Utah 5 (Utah eliminated)

Wednesday’s Results

Game 3 – No. 8 Baylor 13, No. 9 BYU 8 (BYU eliminated)

Game 4 – No. 11 Kansas State 9, No. 7 TCU 4 (TCU eliminated)

Thursday’s Results

Game 5 – No. 5 Oklahoma State 12, No. 4 UCF 6 (UCF eliminated)

Game 6 – No. 1 Kansas 8, No. 8 Baylor 7 (10 innings, Baylor eliminated)

Game 7 – No. 2 West Virginia 4, No. 11 Kansas State 2 (Kansas State eliminated)

Game 8 – No. 3 Arizona State 10, No. 6 Cincinnati 2 (Cincinnati eliminated)

Friday, May 22

Game 9 – No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 1 Kansas – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN+

Game 10 – No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Arizona State – 10 p.m. – ESPN+

Saturday, May 23

Game 11 – Championship Game – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN2

Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (93.7 KSPI-FM) and The Varsity Network App (okla.state/GetVarsity)

Previewing Oklahoma State

The Cowboys beat the Knights, 12-6, on Thursday without hitting a home run. That isn’t a typo. Apparently, the program with the second-most home runs this season can win a game without a long ball.

Oklahoma State busted open a tie game in the eighth inning with five runs and followed that with two more in the ninth inning to ensure that the Knights couldn’t come back. The victory probably helped the Cowboys’ case to host an NCAA Tournament regional but didn't cement it. The Knights, like the Cowboys, were considered a Top 32 seed for the NCAA Tournament. A team needs to be a Top 16 seed to host a regional.

If the Cowboys keep hitting like Thursday, they control their destiny. Alex Conover, Brock Thompson, Avery Ortiz, Colin Brueggemann and Garrett Shull each had two hits. Bruggemann drove in four runs.

OSU went with Barrett Hudson as its starting pitcher on Thursday. The gamble paid off. It’s likely all-Big 12 selection Ethan Lund will get the start on Friday.

Previewing Kansas

The Jayhawks had an incredible season. They won their first regular season conference championship in decades and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. It's been an impressive couple of years under coach Dan Fitzgerald as Kansas has built itself up into one of the best programs in the Big 12.

But it’s baseball so anything can happen. Kansas led, 6-0, after five innings before Baylor rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning. Then, Kansas’ Savion Flowers walked off the victory with the first home run of his career in the 10th inning.

NO BETTER TIME FOR YOUR FIRST HOME RUN OF THE SEASON @sayhey2024!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/1NH1g7J9ax
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) May 21, 2026

Kansas managed to get through this game using just three pitchers. Don’t expect to see reliever Boede Rahe on Friday, who pitched 2.2 innings of relief and claimed the win. But Kansas can produce offense. Tyson LeBlanc, Cade Baldridge, Augusto Mungarrieta and Flowers each had two hits. LeBlanc, Mungarrieta, Flowers and Tyson Owens all hit a home run. Kansas had 10 hits and left 10 on base.

LeBlanc is worth watching. He was an All-Big 12 selection and hit leadoff on Thursday. He sets the tone for the Jayhawk lineup.

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