Big 12 Tourney Set and I Like the Cowboys in Their Opener, but Texas Tech Overall

STILLWATER – The seeds are set and Oklahoma State will open the first Big 12 Baseball Championship Tournament on May  25 in Globe Life Field against the Texas Longhorns. The Cowboys (35-18) finished Big 12 play with a 15-9 record and good for a three-way tie for third, but with the tiebreakers Oklahoma State must settle for being the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed Texas (39-17) with their 14-10 conference mark and the early morning 9 a.m. first pitch. Breakfast burritos for the Pokes and the Horns.

Big 12 Conference

2022 Big 12 Baseball Tournament bracket.

The rest of the slate has No. 1 regular season conference champion TCU (35-18) with a 16-8 Big 12 record playing No. 8 seed Baylor (26-26) with a 7-17 league record after losing two of three to the Cowboys the last several days.

In the other four-team bracket No. 2 seed Texas Tech (36-18) faces No. 7 Kansas State (27-27) at 4 p.m., then the nightcap will be No. 3 seed Oklahoma (33-20) squaring off against No. 6 West Virginia (33-20). Texas Tech received the No. 2 seed due to a 4-2 record amongst tied teams at 15-9, followed by Oklahoma’s 3-3 record and Oklahoma State’s 2-4. Texas’ 2-1 record against West Virginia earned the Longhorns the tiebreaker for the No. 5 seed as both teams were 14-10 in Big 12 play.

Oklahoma State Athletics

Osmond was senstional at Texas

I’m going to bet that Oklahoma State starts Bryce Osmond in the opener as the righthander from Jenks did not pitch in the Baylor series and had a stellar start for the Cowboys in the middle game in Austin when they swept the Longhorns. Osmond pitched 5.1 innings and gave up no runs with one hit and he struck out six Longhorns. Texas should counter with Tristan Stevens, who is 5-6 on the season and pitched two-thirds of an inning against Kansas on Thursday and struck out both batters he faced. Stevens started that middle game of the series with Oklahoma State and gave up six runs in the 14-3 Texas loss. He struck out eight Cowboys and was hurt by three walks in the game.

Oklahoma State Athletics

Pokes have struggled (2-3) at Globe Life Field, but won their last two there over BYU.

Honestly, in predicting the tournament. I like the Cowboys to win the opener with Texas and move on to a Thursday showdown with TCU. I have to favor the Frogs there after seeing how the TCU pitching handled the Cowboys in Stillwater in the 2-1 series win. The Horned Frogs hit the ball well on Cowboy pitching except for Justin Campbell on Friday night in the opener. That could be the saving grace for the Pokes and maybe they get into the winner’s bracket ahead of TCU. However, after that the Cowboys pitching is a real struggle right now.

In the other bracket I have to favor Texas Tech as they are playing well right now. The Red Raiders have a knack for going to a higher level of play in postseason.

In the end, I would predict TCU and Texas Tech playing in the Big 12 Championship Game and I give the edge to the Red Raiders.