Stillwater, OK - The University of Hartford baseball team (1-6 overall) picked up its first win of the season in impressive fashion, defeating #14 Oklahoma State (14-5 overall) 8-4 for the programs first ever victory over a ranked opponent. The Hawks were led by sophomore righty Weston Szymanski, who went the distance for his first win of the season. Ryan Crowley led the Hawks offense with four hits on five at-bats, while Bill Perry added three hits on five plate appearance with a pair of RBI. Hartford finished the game with 16 hits and only 1 error.
Oklahoma State broke the ice putting a run up on the scoreboard in the first inning. Keanon Simon led off for the Cowboys with a single and advanced to second with a stolen base. Corey Brown then singled up the middle and advanced to second off a Hawks error allowing Simon to score making it 1-0, Cowboys.
The Hawks picked up a couple of hits in the second and third inning but were unable to capitalize. Crowley had a two-out single up the middle in the second while Andrew Dorman had a one-out single in the third and got caught stealing.
In the top of the fourth inning the Hawks ignited their offense with three runs. Hartford started out the inning with three straight hits leading off with a double to left center from Perry. Ben Sobocinski then singled up the middle allowing Perry to score and advanced to second off a Cowboys error. Adam Bowser kept things going with a single to third base advancing the runner and allowing the Hawks to have runners at the corners. Bowser then came up with a steal letting the Hawks have two runners in scoring position. Erik Price then came up with a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Sobocinski to score.
The Cowboys then made their first pitching change of the game bringing in Tyler Lyons for Martin Beno. Crowley was at the plate for Hartford and picked up his second hit of the day with a single to right field advancing Bowser to third. The Cowboys then made another pitching change bringing in Robbie Weinhardt. Bryan Propst then picked up the Hawks second out with a line out to center field. David Grossman than contributed with the Hawks final hit of the inning, an RBI single through the right side bringing the score to 3-1 in favor of Hartford.
Not allowing the Cowboys to pick up any runs in the bottom of the fourth the Hawks started out the top of the fifth much like they left the top of the fourth. Brady Stouffer picked up a double to left center and advanced to third on a passed ball. Perry who led of the fourth with a hit kept things going with an RBI single to right field bringing the score to 4-1. Sobocinski then singled to right field before Bowser would reach base on a fielder's choice. Price would next pick up an RBI infield single to shortstop to make the score 5-1. Crowley then came up with another single for his third hit of the day and picked up two RBI's to make the score 7-1. The Hawks would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
Oklahoma State then picked up one run in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI groundout by Corey Brown. The Cowboys would add two more in the sixth when Ryan Pittman would hit a two-run homerun to make the score 7-4.
The Hawks would add one more run in the eighth off a sacrifice fly to right field from Bowser allowing Stouffer to score to bring it to 8-4.
Hartford will meet with Oklahoma State on Saturday for a double-header starting at 1:00 p.m. in Stillwater.
