The Jayhawks, 7-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference, tripped No. 12-ranked Oklahoma State, 6-4, on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Cowboys fell to 10-3, 3-1.

“We just needed a Big 12 win,” Kansas coach Bobby Randall said. “We kind of had our hearts broken last weekend and I think everybody thought we were going to get swept again, you know.”

Senior lefthander Pete Smart was brilliant during a seven-inning stint on Saturday. He struck out eight batters while walking two and allowing just three hits.

“I kept the ball down and kept mixing it up because they like to hack at the ball,” Smart said. “I had good stuff today and it worked.”

KU trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. The Jayhawks tied the score when Jesse Gremminger rapped a run-scoring single off Josh Merrigan.

Gremminger later gave KU a 2-1 lead when he scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

Doug Dreher he made a spectacular catch in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory added a two-out, two-run double which scored Jason Appuhn and Matt Van Alsburg to give KU a 4-1 cushion.

The Jayhawks added single runs in the sixth and seventh to go up, 6-1. Oklahoma State mounted a late comeback off KU reliever Doug Lantz. Sophomore Jose Virgil tagged a home run to right field to cut the OSU gap to 6-2. After a KU error, junior Rob Watson clubbed a home run to make it 6-4. Lantz finished strong, however, retiring sophomore Zach Cates to end the game.

“We played a good baseball game,” Randall said. “We didn’t do everything perfectly, but, we’ll get better. I thought we battled hard. We fought off some tough pitches at the plate and Pete did a wonderful job on the mound.”

KU faces OSU at 4 p.m. today at Hoglund. The teams conclude the series at 1 p.m. Monday. KU’s Justin Wilcher today will be opposed by Nick McCurdy.