Cowboys Baseball in First Place After Series Opening Win at WVU
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oklahoma won the series opener in a matchup of the Big 12’s two top teams Friday night as the No. 3 Cowboys knocked off 24th-ranked West Virginia, 2-1, at Monongalia County Ballpark. With the win, the Pokes took over first place in the conference standings as they improved to 8-2 in the Big 12 and 25-9 overall. WVU is now 21-11 and 5-2 in the league.
Justin Campbell picked up the win as he hurled seven shutout innings and struck out eight to improve to 5-1. The right-hander allowed six hits and walked just one.
Caeden Trenkle and Nolan McLean drove in the runs for the Cowboys, with McLean homering and also picking up his second save with a scoreless ninth inning on the mound.
OSU took the game’s initial lead in the third. Marcus Brown, who was 3-for-4 on the night, led off the inning with a double, and a two-out single by Caeden Trenkle brought him home.
WVU threatened to tie the score following a leadoff single by Austin Davis in the sixth, but those hopes were quickly dashed. After a Campbell strikeout, Chase Adkison nailed Davis trying to steal second, and a pop up ended the inning.
With Campbell cruising, the Cowboys doubled their lead in the seventh when McLean crushed a solo bomb to left-center field. McLean’s team-leading eighth round tripper of the season made the score 2-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, WVU once again opened with a single. Up next, Braden Barry doubled to left field, but the Cowboys kept the shutout intact as Jake Thompson fired to Brown who relayed to the plate for the out.
WVU got on the board in the eighth as Roman Phansalkar came on in relief of Campbell to open the frame. Davis singled with one out before promptly stealing second and third, and he came home on a sacrifice fly by Victor Scott II to cut the OSU lead to 2-1. Phansalkar escaped further damage with an inning-ending strikeout to strand a runner on first.
In the ninth, the Mountaineers put the tying run on first once again following a two-out walk, but McLean struck out Mikey Kluska on three-straight pitches to end the game.
The two teams return to action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST).