AP Preview: Arizona at Oklahoma State

ARIZONA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Interstat) — The Arizona Wildcats (19-33) visit the Oklahoma State Cowboys (35-19) in a Big 12 series finale Saturday afternoon at O’Brate Stadium in Air Force Academy, Colorado. First pitch is set for a clear afternoon with temperatures near 74 degrees.

The Cowboys evened the series Friday with a 13-1 seven-inning rout after Arizona took the opener 7-4 on Thursday. Oklahoma State has won six of its last eight conference games, while the Wildcats have dropped seven of their last nine overall.

Arizona right-hander Evan Brandt is scheduled to pitch. Brandt struggled in Friday’s loss, allowing one earned run on no hits in 1⅓ innings with one strikeout. He rebounded from a scoreless five-inning outing against Houston on May 10 (6-5 win) but was lifted after recording only four outs against Kansas on May 2.

Oklahoma State counters with left-hander Ethan Lund, who dominated Arizona on Friday: seven innings, two hits, one earned run, 13 strikeouts. Lund has struck out 33 batters over his past three starts, though he allowed five earned runs in each of his previous two outings against TCU (May 1) and Texas Tech (April 24).

The Wildcats will rely on center fielder Carson McEntire, who homered and drove in a run Friday. For the Cowboys, first baseman Colin Brueggemann drove in five runs on a homer and two singles, while second baseman Garrett Shull went 3-for-3 with a homer and an RBI.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-3 Oklahoma State victory, with the Cowboys holding a 67.5 percent probability to win according to the site’s ELO system.

The series concludes a three-game set. Oklahoma State sits firmly in the NCAA tournament picture, while Arizona needs a strong finish to bolster its postseason resume.