Holiday and Garcia Pitch Pokes into Big 12 Baseball Bedlam Finale

(This story originated from Wade McWhorter at Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations but was contributed to by Robert Allen of Pokes Report.)

ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma State earned a berth in the Big 12 Championship title game with a 10-1 win over UCF Friday night in the tournament semifinals at Globe Life Field. Prior to the semifinals the Cowboys earned their way into that game with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech to eliminate the Red Raiders and move into the semifinal with UCF. With the wins, the second-seeded Cowboys improved to 39-17 and will face Bedlam rival and top-seeded Oklahoma in Saturday’s championship game at 6 p.m. UCF is now 35-19.

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Schubart was the hitting star in the semifinal win.

Nolan Schubart led OSU with a 2-for-5 effort that included a home run and four RBIs, while Avery Ortiz went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Carson Benge also had three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs.

Brian Holiday tossed his second complete game of the season to earn the win as he improved to 6-3. The right-hander struck out seven and allowed just one run while scattering eight hits.

OSU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning thanks to Schubart’s 19th homer of the season, a two-run blast over the wall in right field.

The Pokes doubled their lead in their second at bat. Following a walk to Kollin Ritchie, he raced home on a double down the left-field line off the bat of Ortiz. Two batters later, Zach Ehrhard ripped a triple off the wall in left to make the score 4-0.

In the fourth, Ortiz got the scoring started with his second RBI of the game on a single, and Benge brought home a run with a groundout. Schubart continued his hot hitting with a two-out, two-RBI single to push the Cowboys’ lead to 8-0.

Holiday kept the Knights off the scoreboard for the first 5 2/3 innings before Danny Neri broke up the shutout with a run-scoring double to cut the UCF deficit to seven.

OSU got the run back in the seventh on Benge’s 17th round tripper of the season, a 433-foot bomb to center field, and added another on Benge’s third RBI of the night, which came on a single in the eighth.

Oklahoma State stayed perfect this season with a fourth win over Texas Tech. Coming off a late night in the first tournament loss to UCF, the Cowboys needed a strong pitching performance and they got it.

Sam Garcia picked up the win to move to 7-3 as he worked a season-high eight innings, racking up eight strikeouts and allowing just three hits.

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Garcia was outstanding.

Offensively, Tyler Wulfert and Lane Forsythe each had two hits, while Nolan Schubart homered and had two RBIs.

OSU took the game’s initial lead in the third. Forsythe led off the inning with a single, and Kollin Ritchie brought him home with a double to right field to put the Pokes up 1-0. 

With Garcia keeping the Red Raiders off the scoreboard, the Cowboys added to their lead in the seventh. Following a leadoff double by Wulfert, Colin Brueggemann singled. Two batters later, Forsythe lined a single into right-center field to put OSU up 2-0.

In the eighth, Schubart smashed his team-leading 18th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center field, to provide the final margin of victory.

Robert Cranz retired three-straight batters in the ninth to seal the win.

Al that is left is getting one more Bedlam win in the Boig 12 Tournament Championship Game.