The postseason is all about the teams who are playing well at that time of the year, rather than the teams who played well all season. Oklahoma State is the team that played well all season, and its first opponent in the Big 12 Tournament was the team with the established history and ability to get hot at any time.
Fortunately for the Cowboys, they played well enough to earn a 5-2 victory over the Horned Frogs in the first round of the tournament. Oklahoma State will play Baylor tomorrow night at 7:30 in the double-elimination style tournament.
Cowboys Win!! With a victory in its #Big12BSB Championship opener, #okstate advances to winner's bracket to take on Baylor Thursday night at 7:30 in OKC #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/YAXWUotvTo
— Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 23, 2019
After a 1-1 stalemate through the first five innings, the Cowboys separated from TCU in the sixth inning. TCU’s starting pitcher Nick Lodolo had struck out eight batters in a row when Cade Cabbiness hit a rocket in the dirt just a few feet in front of home plate. The ball hung in the air long enough for Cabbiness to beat out the throw at first base and give Oklahoma State its first base runner in several innings.
Hueston Morrill would draw a walk to give the Cowboys runners on first and second with nobody out. Christian Funk struck out before Andrew Navigato delivered a two RBI double to give Oklahoma State a 3-1 lead. Trevor Boone added a two-run #BooneBomb to make the lead 5-1, which is all the insurance Oklahoma State would need on Wednesday night.
#BooneBomb in Bricktown! @TrevorBoone_33 launches a towering, no-doubt HR to deep left field to extend the #okstate lead! #GapBand #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/BDgIH20B2Q
— Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 23, 2019
Colin Simpson got the scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning, and TCU would answer with a solo home run from Hunter Wolfe. TCU tried to rally in the ninth inning with a solo home run from Jake Guenther, but that would be the only run the Horned Frogs scored in a ninth inning where they needed to score four times to extend the game.