Cowboy Baseball Drops Finale
FORT WORTH, Texas – Oklahoma State was swept by TCU Sunday as the 10th-ranked Cowboys dropped the series finale to the No. 6 Frogs by a 12-6 score at Lupton Stadium.
The Cowboys are now 21-10-1 on the season and 6-6 in Big 12 Conference play, while TCU is 26-9 and 10-2 in the league.
TCU rallied for seven runs in the eighth inning to secure the sweep, taking advantage of four hits and five walks in the frame in a game that saw six OSU pitchers combine to issue 11 free passes.
Offensively, OSU outhit the Frogs, 13-9, with Jake Thompson’s 3-for-3 day leading a group of five Pokes who had multiple hits in the game. Brock Mathis and Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered for the Cowboys, with Encarnacion-Strand extending his hitting streak to 16 games.
Nolan McLean took the loss in his first collegiate appearance on the mound as he allowed four runs on two hits and three walks in an inning of work.
TCU plated an unearned run in the first inning without the benefit of a hit, scoring on a passed ball. The Frogs held the 1-0 advantage until the fourth when the Cowboys rallied to take the lead.
In that inning, OSU got a pair of two-run homers to go on top, with Mathis’ shot over the wall in right field putting the Pokes up 2-1 before Encarnacion-Strand’s 12th round tripper of the season extended the lead to 4-1.
But the Frogs answered in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of a pair of free bases to open the inning before a triple off the bat of Elijah Nunez made the score 4-3. TCU then tied the score on a sacrifice fly by Luke Boyers.
The back-and-forth affair continued as OSU answered to regain the lead in its next at bat, with Mathis plating the go-ahead run on a single before an RBI double by Caeden Trenkle made the score 6-4.
OSU clung to a 6-5 lead in the eighth, but a bases loaded walk brought home the tying run before a Brayden Taylor grand slam put the Frogs on top. The home team added two more runs in the inning to take a six-run advantage.
OSU returns to action Tuesday when the Cowboys open a two-game midweek series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at O’Brate Stadium. The Pokes return to conference play Friday when they host Texas.