Oklahoma State Earns Series Win With 9-3 Final Over Texas Tech
STILLWATER – A 10-strikeout day from Brian Holiday helped propel No. 19 Oklahoma State to a 9-3 victory over Texas Tech Saturday at O’Brate Stadium.
With the win, OSU improved to 34-16 overall and 17-9 in Big 12 play, while the Red Raiders dropped to 30-22 and 12-17 in the league.
Holiday turned in 6 1/3 strong innings for the Cowboys, reaching double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season and allowing only two unearned runs.
Drew Blake picked up the win to improve to 4-0 as the southpaw came out of the bullpen with the score tied 2-2 and one out in the seventh and induced a double play.
Robert Cranz hurled two shutout innings to close the game, fanning five of the six batters he faced, to earn his second save.
Offensively, Carson Benge and Collin Brueggemann both tallied three RBIs for the Cowboys, with Benge and Aidan Meola each blasting home runs.
Austin Green opened the game in the first with a two-run homer for the Red Raiders, but Brueggemann tied the game up on a two-run double to right field in the bottom half of the inning.
The game remained tied 2-2 until the seventh as Holiday and TTU’s Kyle Robinson became locked in a pitchers’ duel.
But in the seventh, OSU’s Tyler Wulfert sparked the club with a leadoff single that came on a 15-pitch at-bat; Wulfert’s effort saw him foul off 10 pitches, including seven in a row, before he slapped a pitch into right field.
Following an out, Zach Ehrhard singled before Benge stepped to the plate and blasted a three-run homer to left-center field, his 15th bomb of the season. Two batters later, Meola delivered a solo shot of his own to give the Pokes a 6-2 advantage.
Texas Tech grabbed a run back in the eighth on a solo home run from Tracer Lopez to make it a three-run contest, but leading 6-3, OSU added three insurance runs in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single from Avery Ortiz, an RBI double from Ehrhard and an RBI walk to Brueggemann.
OSU will look to complete the series sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m.