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Oklahoma State Baseball

Texas Tech Comes Back and Walks Off Oklahoma State in Big 12 Opener

March 17, 2023
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(Robert Allen, publisher of Poke Report contributed to this story written by Wade McWhorter of Oklahoma State University athletic media relations.)

LUBBOCK, Texas – Oklahoma State had its 12-game winning streak snapped in its Big 12 opener Friday night as the Cowboys dropped an 8-7 contest to Texas Tech in 10 innings at Rip Griffin Park. The 12th-ranked Cowboys fell to 15-4 with the loss, while the No. 12 Red Raiders improved to 17-3.

Carson Benge led OSU offensively as he went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Nolan Schubart and Aidan Meola each had two hits.

Oklahoma State Baseball Twitter
Hendry gave the Cowboys a quality start.

Brian Hendry started on the mound for the Cowboys and worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs – all of them unearned – and striking out three. Nolan McLean took the loss on the mound as he worked the final 2 1/3 innings and fell to 0-1.

Benge put the Cowboys on top in the first inning. Jaxson Crull led off the game with a walk, and following a two-out double by Schubart, Benge brought the runners home with a single to give OSU a 2-0 lead.

TTU trimmed the Pokes' lead in half in the second, plating an unearned run following a passed ball and an error. But OSU answered in the third, as Benge once again delivered another two-out single to bring home a run and make the score 3-1.

 

The Cowboys doubled their score in the fourth to take a five-run advantage. Meola led off the inning with a double and later scored OSU's first run on an RBI groundout by Chase Adkison.

Following back-to-back walks to Crull and Roc Riggio, Mendham slapped a single through the left side to bring home a run before Schubart smacked a ground-rule double into the left-center field gap to push the lead to 6-1.

OSU padded its lead with another run in the fifth, this one on an RBI single off the bat of Crull, before TTU plated two more unearned runs in the bottom of the inning on a Benge error to make the score 7-3.

The Cowboys held the four-run lead until the eighth when TTU rallied to tie the score. The Red Raiders loaded the bases with one out on a walk, single and hit by pitch. After another walk to bring home a run, McLean came out of the bullpen and gave up two-straight singles leading to three runs and knotting the score at 7-7.

In the decisive 10th, an infield single and throwing error put the winning run on second with one out. Following an intentional walk and a pop up for an out, Gavin Kash doubled to left field to give the Red Raiders the win.

It would be easy to blame the bottom of the eighth or the bottom of the 10th, but it was throughout the game as Oklahoma State gave up the three unearned runs early. A team that had six errors in the 18 games leading up to this one had four tonight and the last fly ball was ruled a hit, but …

The Cowboys had runners on and scoring opportunities they did not take advantage of throughout the game.

The two teams return to action Saturday at 2 p.m.

Discussion from...

Texas Tech Comes Back and Walks Off Oklahoma State in Big 12 Opener

3,159 Views | 11 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by PaloDuroPoke
PaloDuroPoke
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Embarrassing loss. Poor defense and atrocious coaching decisions cost us dearly. Had the Raiders realizing how much better we are and opened the door for a complete swing in momentum. With our closer spent, I expect a sweep from Tech. Hope I'm wrong and will be there suffering through it. We are the much more talented and athletic team this year but discipline and focus wins games. I'm not sure we have what it takes mentally to reach our potential once AGAIN. Orange on in Lubbock with the Hope the pokes come out pissed.
RodeoPoke
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eh... it's not like they shut us out or anything.

how many pitchers did Tech use? Was that their best pitcher, and are their 2nd and 3rd day pitchers any good, or will we blast them from the game?

OSUCWBY
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I am becoming very disenchanted w Coaches Holiday and Walton. We have "the facility to put us over the top". I am hoping but waiting.
Congrats to Coach Gajewski, the softball staff and our our young ladies! Wondering how a new facility will affect them?
RodeoPoke
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OSUCWBY said:

I am becoming very disenchanted w Coaches Holiday and Walton. We have "the facility to put us over the top". I am hoping but waiting.
Congrats to Coach Gajewski, the softball staff and our our young ladies! Wondering how a new facility will affect them?

disenchanted?

Isn't this the best that Cowboy Baseball has been in a long, long, long time? Good golly.

PaloDuroPoke
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Their best pitcher goes today. Tadlock made a great move when we were blasting them by bringing in a off speed pitcher to slow our bats down. It worked. Walton did what he usually does and left our pitcher in too long and then with bases loaded brought in a freshman that promptly walked a run in before getting to our closer. Errors in right and left field cost us dearly and pitching decisions cost us as well. We were trying to eat innings and not use out relievers and it cost us. It will be interesting now because we let them believe they can beat us. Need to battle today and play clean.
RodeoPoke
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"think they can beat us"?

They're 17-3, the best record, and they finished tied with us last year. I think they are fully aware of what they are capable of.

We just need to come out and blast their starter from the mound, and then get on with it.
GumbyFromPokeyLand
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If you give out errors for actual errors, TT only had 3 or 4 earned runs. Our defense has been really good up till last night. While I disagreed bringing in the frosh lefty that walked in a run, I think we'll be alright.
PistolD
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Tech baseball is better than OSU baseball and that is fact. It starts in the dugout and extends to execution on the field. They own us and know it. We oblige by walking batters, making errors, and generally pulling a Poke Choke enough to lose to a team that waits for us to puke it up as we usually do.

It's tough to watch us pull this crap with regularity but the two teams Holliday has a losing record against are Tech and TCU and so far, we start EVERY NEW SEASON as the third best team in the league at best due to this head to head history.
GumbyFromPokeyLand
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Execution in the field? Are you kidding, unless you're basing it on one game.

Going into last night, TT had committed 39 errors. OSU only 9.
Joe Khatib
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RodeoPoke said:

"think they can beat us"?

They're 17-3, the best record, and they finished tied with us last year. I think they are fully aware of what they are capable of.

We just need to come out and blast their starter from the mound, and then get on with it.
Good to see you back Cali, several of us thought something bad might have happened to you health wise!
PaloDuroPoke
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Lol. Yes they (Tech) played yesterday like they knew we were better until we let them have momentum. We are the better team physically all over the field. Not close. I live an hour from Lubbock and have a degree from Tech. Their record reflects their schedule. Tech is young and will get better. This is the best team we've had in awhile if we play like we can. We should be up 2-0 and not even close. We chocked last night. Today they were focused and determined. It was good to see live how they came out today. We need to show up tomorrow.
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