Cowboys Win Fifth In A Row

Tuesday, March 15

Dallas, Texas

6:30:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

11-6

Dallas Baptist

11-5

Oklahoma State

Dallas Baptist

Tyler Buffett

March 15, 2016 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

DALLAS – Oklahoma State jumped on 26^th-ranked Dallas Baptist early and held on late as the 22^nd-ranked Cowboys emerged 7-6 victors Tuesday night at Horner Ballpark.

With its fifth-straight win, OSU improved to 11-6 on the season, while the Patriots fell to 11-5.

Tyler Buffett was outstanding on the mound as he hurled six innings in his first start of the year to earn the win and improve to 3-1. The junior right-hander allowed just one earned run on three hits and racked up a career-high seven strikeouts.

Blake Battenfield also came up big, keeping the Patriots off the scoreboard over the final two innings and striking out three along the way to earn the first save of his career.

Offensively, OSU was led by J.R. Davis, who recorded a career-best three hits, and Garrett Benge, who was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and was one of five different Cowboys to drive in runs.

The Pokes jumped on the home team early, scoring three runs on three hits in the first inning. Davis led off the game with a single, and cleanup hitter Dustin Williams later brought him home with a single, a hit that extended his hitting streak to five games.

Benge followed Williams with a two-RBI single to quickly give OSU a 3-0 advantage, and the Cowboys extended their lead to 4-0 in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Donnie Walton.

DBU plated an unearned run off Buffett in the third, but the Cowboys extended their lead with another three-run rally in the fifth. In that inning, Andrew Rosa delivered the first run with a single, and Corey Hassel and Walton picked up back-to-back RBIs after being hit by pitches with the bases loaded to make it 7-1.

The Cowboys took a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but that's when things began to unravel.

Michael Mertz came on in relief of Buffett to open the inning but promptly walked three-straight Patriots to load the bases. That brought Remey Reed out of the bullpen, and the righty induced a huge double play ground ball that brought home a run and made it 7-3.

However, Reed couldn't escape further damage as he issued a walk and a hit-by-pitch to again load the bases, then served up a bases-clearing double to Austin Listi to cut the OSU lead to 7-6.

Clinging to the one-run lead with the tying run on second, the Cowboys called on freshman Joe Lienhard to take the mound. And he delivered, striking out Daniel Sweet to get out of the inning.

In the eighth, DBU again put the tying run on via a leadoff walk, but Battenfield came on and struck out Luke Stratman before getting a double play on a strikeout and caught stealing as Collin Theroux gunned down Jameson Hannah at second to end the inning.

Battenfield set down the Patriots in order in their final at bat to seal the win.

OSU returns to action Friday when the Cowboys open a three-game series against 18^th-ranked Michigan at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.