OKLAHOMA CITY – Parker Scott made his return to the mound for his first start since April 16 at TCU. The dependable Friday night starter for the Pokes had battled injury, reportedly an abdominal muscle strain. He pitched an inning the final regular season game, a 15-0 blowout over New Orleans. His teammates gave him the best gift you can give a starting pitcher with plenty of early run support. By the time Scott went out for the top of the third inning against No. 8 seed West Virginia the Cowboys had an 8-0 lead and were on their way to a 12-2 win to take control of their pool in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. The Cowboys move on to play the survivor of the elimination game between the Mountaineers and Texas at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Oklahoma State needs one win to move on to the championship and they have two opportunities to get it.
Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics
Parker Scott back is a welcomed sight.
Scott gave up a single to WVU lead-off hitter Austin Davis but then settled in. His teammates made it easy when the Pokes came to bat as catcher Max Hewitt walked with one out. Christian Encarnacion-Strand kept boosting his batting average as he hit a single to deep right field. Jake Thompson singled to right scoring Hewitt for the first run of the game. Carson McCusker singled to left and that scored Encarnacion-Strand to make it 2-0. That ended the game for WVU starting pitcher Carlson Reed. He faced just five. Cade Cabbiness greeted new pitcher Jake Carr with a single up the middle and that loaded the bases.
The big swing came from Justin Campbell. The Cowboys ace on the mound in the second half of the season and also a good DH hitting .254 chopped the ball over the head of the third baseman and it bounced into the left field corner and WVU leftfielder Paul McIntosh had it glance off his glove and bounce away from him. It was scored a double with an error, but the real scoring came as Thompson, McCusker, and Cabbiness ran the base paths and all came home. The three-run double made it 8-0 Cowboys.
The second inning was even more exciting with an even bigger blow. Carr was still out there for the Mountaineers as Encarnacion-Strand went two-for-two with a single to left-center. Jake Thompson walked and that brought up McCusker and the 6-8, 250-pound leftfielder crushed the ball into rightfield where it landed on the landing of the stairwell from the first to the second deck. The three-run home run made it 8-0.
“I knew I hit it well, but I didn’t know if it was going to get over that big wall,” McCusker said. “I didn’t see it land. I was running the bases.”
“I haven’t seen that many balls land up on that landing in coaching about 20-years here,” head coach Josh Holliday said of the McCusker home run. “That a long home run for a right-handed hitter. It was a pretty impressive swing from what I consider is a pretty rare talent in Carson McCusker.”
West Virginia got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when with one on and one out, third baseman Alec Burns pounded the Parker Scott pitch into the WVU bullpen in rightfield to make it 8-2.
Oklahoma State answered that back to reclaim an eight-run lead in the bottom of the fifth as Caedon Trinkle knocked Marcus Brown home with a triple down the rightfield line that rattled around in the corner. Trinkle has speed and didn’t need much, he got plenty. Trenkle scored when Max Hewitt hit a bad bounce double past the first baseman Hudson Byorick. Oklahoma State led 10-2.
The play of the game for the Cowboys didn’t come with a bat in their hands, but in the top of the sixth inning, Burns in his next at bat after homering launched a Bryce Osmond pitch deep to the warning track in the alley on left-center and Trenkle moving to his right laid out and made the diving grab earning a standing ovation from the crowd. If there is any justice in Bristol, Ct. that will make ESPN Top 10 plays or at least get shown. It was a big-time play.
Christian Encarnacion Strand is a big-time player and he blooped a single to centerfield in the bottom of the seventh to finish it as the Cowboys saved some pitching, saved some time, will get some extra rest after collecting the run-rule win over West Virginia 12-2.
With the pre-determined pitch count Scott got the win to go 7-1 on the season. Bryce Osmond got the save. Oklahoma State had 18 hits to score the 12 runs and Scott and Osmond held WVU to just four hits and the two runs.
“I thought Parker showed some really good signs as the game went on,” Holliday said of getting Scott back as a starter. “The more pitches he threw the more good ones that he had. I thought Rob (Walton) had a good plan to pitch him in this game. He needs the mound time to get his arm and body back in shape. He is such a big part of our team and to have him built up and ready for next week makes us a better postseason team.”
Oklahoma State is now 34-16-1 heading into the Saturday game. They also know they have another ace on the mound for the upcoming NCAA Regional with Scott back.
