Frogs Keep Cowboys Fielders Busier Saturday as TCU Wins 6-4
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State dropped a 6-4 contest to 10th-ranked TCU Sunday as the Horned Frogs evened the series with the No. 2 Cowboys at O'Brate Stadium. With the loss, OSU fell to 27-12 overall while remaining atop the Big 12 standings with a 10-4 conference mark. TCU is now 26-13 and 11-6 in the league.
Jake Thompson had a big day at the plate for the Pokes, going 3-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBIs.
OSU's bullpen was strong in relief of starter Victor Mederos, who gave up five runs on six hits in two innings to fall to 3-3 on the season, as Roman Phansalkar and Trevor Martin allowed just one run and tallied 11 strikeouts over the final seven frames.
Phansalkar set a career high with six strikeouts, while Martin did not allow a hit and struck out five in four shutout innings.
The Horned Frogs jumped out to an early lead in this one. After the leadoff man flew out in the top of the first, Tommy Sacco snuck a full count pitch just inside the left-field foul pole for a solo home run to give TCU a 1-0 lead.
The Cowboys answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Hueston Morrill drew a one-out walk before Thompson doubled to center field, scoring Morrill from first to even the score at 1-1.
TCU struck for two more runs in the second. A leadoff single and one out double set up runners at second and third. An RBI groundout scored one and was followed by a single that drove in the other to make it a 3-1 lead for the visitors.
The Frogs once again added to their lead in the third. Back-to-back walks led off the inning before OSU made a pitching change. Two batters later, Luke Boyers hit a three-run home run off the batter's eye in center field, extending the Cowboys' deficit to five.
OSU managed another run in the fourth, once again off the bat of Thompson. In a 1-0 count, Thompson golfed a pitch high in the air that clanged off the left-field foul pole. It was his eighth round tripper of the year and second of the series and made the score 6-2.
OSU scored two more in the sixth to keep cutting away at the deficit. Morill reached on a fielding error and Thompson singled for his third hit of the game to begin the inning. A groundout advanced both runners before a wild pitch brought in a run. On the next pitch, Griffin Doersching grounded out to bring in the other runner and narrow it to a 6-4 ballgame.
The Cowboys had chances in the final two innings. In the eighth, they put runners on first and second with no outs before a double play and a groundout ended the threat. The ninth saw them get a one-out triple from pinch hitter Cayden Brumbaugh, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the game.
Sunday's series rubber game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.