Cowboys Use Big 8th Inning to Take Down Mountaineers

#23 Oklahoma State Cowboys: 9

West Virginia Mountaineers: 5

In a game that West Virginia (18-12) (3-5) took control of early, sloppy defense and poor pitching out of the bullpen came back to bite the Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon as the Cowboys (19-10) (6-2) took the lead for good late.

Tevin Tucker and Austin Davis, both true freshmen, put WVU up 3-0 in the 2nd inning after each hit RBI singles and Tucker scored on a wild pitch to Tyler Doanes.

Kevin Brophy extended his team lead in RBI’s (24) on Saturday as he picked up 2 more on a home run to center field that put WVU up 5-0.

Jackson Wolf coasted through the first 4 innings, but surrendered a RBI single to SS Andrew Navigato in the 5th to get the Cowboys their first run of the game.

In the 6th, OSU loaded the bases after Tucker committed his 4th error of the season on an exchange with Doanes. Wolf walked the next batter to force a run home. Another fielder’s choice, extended by an error by C Paul McIntosh allowed 2 more runs to come home and bring OSU to within 5-4.

Wolf finished with 7.0 innings, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 runs (just 1 earned) and 7 strikeouts on 117 pitches.

Coach Mazey decided to go to Sam Kessler early for the very difficult 2-inning save, and he simply wasn’t able to get the job done.

After a leadoff single to CF Trevor Boone and a 1-out walk to 3B Christian Funk, LF Noah Sifrit hit a RBI single to tie the game at 5. After another walk to load the bases, C Colin Simpson hit a grand slam to put OSU up for good at 9-5.

A disappointing loss on Saturday forces a rubber match on Sunday afternoon at 1 PM. A series victory is of the utmost importance to WVU, as they now sit 3, and perhaps 4 (if Baylor wins today) games back of the conference lead. Tune in here to watch Kade Strowd hopefully lead our boys to a big win in Stillwater tomorrow!