It was not a particularly good day if you are a college baseball fan in Oklahoma. Both the Sooners and Cowboys were eliminated from the Big XII Championship on Friday in Oklahoma City.
Texas got a solid performance from their starter, Cole Green, who went six innings and gave up just three runs against an Oklahoma State team that came into the game hitting .295 as a team, good for second in the Big XII. Texas got the easy victory by a score of 9-3 before just under 5,000 fans at RedHawks field. Texas coach Augie Garrido said it all started with their pitcher, via big12sports.com
"He didn’t waver, flinch or change," Augie Garrido said. "He kept attacking the glove. It showed everybody on the field that he was going to pitch a fearless game no matter what happened."
Texas didn't seem to have much trouble at the plate either as they pounded out 13 hits against Oklahoma State pitchers. Every Longhorns hitter had at least one hit with the exception of their cleanup hitter, Erich Weiss, who finished the game 0-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
Kansas State pulled out a thriller in the nightcap against the Oklahoma Sooners as the Wildcats won 4-3 in a game that had two critical plays that fell their way.
With the bases loaded in the top of the 6th inning the Oklahoma Sooners shortstop Caleb Bushyhead hit into an inning-ending double play because of an interference call at second base that kept the game scored at 4-2 up to that point.
In the top of the 7th inning after Oklahoma had already scored once to bring the score to 4-3, with one out and a runner on second base, Oklahoma pinch-runner Eric Ross was thrown out trying to steal third base by Kansas State catcher Dan Klein. There was only one out at the time with the tying run in scoring position already with the Co-Big XII RBI's leader at the plate for Oklahoma in Garrett Buechele.
It was a welcomed site for Wildcat fans to see the number three hitter for Oklahoma batting with two outs and nobody on in the 7th inning after this questionable play-call.
Kansas State's two, three, and four hitters were a combined 6-10 with all four runs scored on this night. Kent Urban, Nick Martini, and Jason King led the Wildcats to this victory and the opportunity to continue their season on Saturday. Kansas State won all four games against Oklahoma this season, including twice now in this Big XII Championship.