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Oklahoma State dropped 2-of-3 to the West Virginia Mountaineers in a rain-soaked weekend in Stillwater.
The Cowboys are now 16-11 overall, with a 1-5 start to Big 12 play. If the Cowboys want to get back to Omaha this year, they are going to have to start winning ballgames and soon.
Let’s look back on the weekend.
Game 1 - Friday
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West Virginia wore the worst camo uniforms I have ever seen.
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Tyler Buffett pitched a complete-game gem, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and striking out seven batters while issuing no walks en route to the 3-2 Cowboys win.
Garrett Benge led the Cowboys at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a walk.
WVU threatened to chase Buffett from the game early, loading the bases with no outs in the fifth inning. Buffett got out of the inning only surrendering two runs on three straight ground balls.
The Cowboys retied the game on the perfect placement of a ground ball by Garrett McCain.
Cowboys tie it up on a perfectly executed play as @GarrettMcCain delivers an RBI 1B up the middle to tie it at 2-2 in B6! #okstate pic.twitter.com/tRXCysrACn
— Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) April 1, 2017
Colin Simpson followed that up with an RBI single to score the go-ahead run and the eventual game winner.
Buffett moved to 4-2 on the year with the victory.
GAME 2 - SATURDAY
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The Mountaineers needed an extra inning to take down the Cowboys, but they got two runs in the 10th inning to win by a score of 5-3.
Jonathan Heasley pitched five scoreless innings before giving way to the return of Trey Cobb. Heasley allowed seven hits and three walks, while strikings out five batters on the day.
In his return to the mound, Cobb pitched 1.1 innings, allowed one run on one hit and struck out one.
The Cowboys blew a 3-1 lead (sorry I couldn’t help it) in the ninth inning, with Jake Cowan giving up two runs on one hit and two walks to let the Mountaineers claw their way back into it.
In the extra frame, Cole Hearrean allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one batter while the Mountaineers took the lead for good.
For the Cowboys, Colin Simpson had all three RBIs, hitting one over the fence in the fourth inning.
Hearrean absorbed the loss for the Cowboys, falling to 0-2 on the season.
Game 3 - Sunday
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If you are a fan of offense, you would have loved Sunday’s game at the ballpark. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they didn’t quite have enough as they lost the rubber match 9-8.
Starting pitcher Blake Battenfield did not have a good outing, only going 2.1 innings, while giving up six runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out two.
The Cowboys had a home run contest on Sunday, with Colin Simpson hitting two and Garrett Benge and Dustin Williams each hitting one apiece.
The Mountaineers got two runs in the eighth, which proved to be the difference maker in the ballgame. The Cowboys ended the game on a 5-0 run in the last two innings.
Benge hit his home run with two outs to bring the Cowboys within one run, but it wasn’t enough as Simpson couldn’t clobber his third home run of the day. Instead, he popped out to end the game and crush the Cowboys’ hopes of winning the series.
Up next, the Cowboys are scheduled to travel to Wichita to take on the Shockers, however that game may also be rained out. There is a 90% chance of thunderstorms Tuesday, according to the weather forecast.
The next Big 12 series will be at home vs. the Kansas State Wildcats next weekend. KSU is 15-13 on the year and are 0-6 in the conference. This would be a good series for the Cowboys to get back on track and find their winning ways once again.