Rarely used Chapman ices Pokes (TW)

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By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

5/17/2006

Juco transfer led the Golden Eagles to the largest win over OSU since '78.

STILLWATER -- ORU coach Rob Walton knows his pitching staff. He also seems to know his old team.

Walton on Tuesday picked another little-known junior college transfer out of the bullpen to face his alma mater, and once again that pitcher responded with a masterpiece.

This time it was Chance Chapman who handcuffed Oklahoma State in a 13-2 ORU victory.

The Cowboys came down hard and fast from their weekend Bedlam buzz. An Allie P. Reynolds Stadium season-high crowd of 3,413 sat quietly as ORU built a 7-0 lead after two innings.

OSU coach Frank Anderson acknowledged his team was probably flat after three emotional victories over Oklahoma, "but your pitching in a game like this has to carry you the first three or four innings, and then your team gets into it.

"But if you've got some pride in yourself and you're a baseball player and you like to play, you don't mail it in. And I felt like that's what we did."

It was the most runs scored by ORU against Oklahoma State since 1978, when the then-Titans plated 22, and the fourth-most ever scored by ORU against the Cowboys.

OSU, ranked 17th, fell to 36-14 overall. That included a three-game sweep of rival Oklahoma and 18 victories in its previous 21 games.

ORU improved to 31-14 and has won 21 of its last 24. The Golden Eagles are now 5-2 against teams ranked in the top 25, which includes two victories over Oklahoma State, two over Wichita State and one over Arkansas.

"If we pitch and hit like we're capable of," said ORU slugger Andy Bouchie, "we're unbeatable."

Oklahoma State looked unbeatable in outscoring OU 15-2 and pitching 26 scoreless innings. But that feeling ended when Brendan Duffy singled on the second pitch to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.

After using just four pitchers and one pinch-hitter in three Bedlam victories, the Cowboys used 11 pitchers, three catchers and four pinch-hitters. Seven hurlers completed less than one inning. Anderson said he would have rather used six or seven pitchers, but those he called on weren't getting the job done.

"I've never thrown 11 pitchers, ever," Anderson said. "If things are going right, you use midweek games like this to keep things going. This isn't Little League, where you try to play everybody."

Tuesday's game was a rematch of an April 4 contest at Drillers Stadium, won 5-2 by the Golden Eagles. In that game, juco transfer Chris Ashman made just his third career start but has been a fixture in the starting rotation ever since. In fact, Ashman is now 9-1 with a 1.93 earned run average.

After making just his second start of the season Tuesday, Chapman is 4-1 with a 1.53 ERA. His previous start was at Wichita State on April 12, in which he threw seven shutout innings.

"I enjoy being in a difficult environment. I feed off that," Chapman said. "I like being the guy that's not wanted out there -- the guy that's not liked by the other team."

Walton said there was no correlation between the pitching styles of Chapman and Ashman and the OSU lineup.

"Ash had his coming-out party against them, and Chappy had, what, his second start. But those guys are capable," Walton said. "That's a very good baseball club over there. That's a club that has a chance to go to the College World Series, in my opinion."

Chapman said his stuff Tuesday "wasn't that great" and that "the defense helped me out a lot." He gave up four hits and only one earned run and threw 102 pitches.

ORU's 15 hits was its third-most this season against a nonconference, Division I opponent, and included three doubles in the first inning, a home run in the second inning, a double in the eighth and a triple in the ninth.

Bouchie had three hits and four RBIs (including his 11th home run), Duffy had three hits and two RBIs, Kelly Minissale had two hits and two RBIs, and Chad Rothford had two hits and two RBIs. "They do a good job," Anderson said. "They've got a good club."

Walton saluted OSU's weekend feat, but knows from personal experience the difficulty of playing so soon after an emotionally draining series.

"I don't think they came out flat," Walton said. "But I know how tough it is to play those in-state rivals, like OU-OSU."

While ORU seems to be nearly 100 percent healthy for the first time all season, the Cowboys played Tuesday without first baseman Adam Carr, who broke a bone in his hand during the OU series. Carr has been slumping this season but last season led the Big 12 with 22 home runs and 86 RBIs.