Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Edges Past Harvard, 4-3
April 07, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
The Cowboys opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Kevin Lucas hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded to give OSU an early 2-0 lead. Harvard rallied for a run in the bottom of the second off an RBI single by Eric Binkowski which cut the Cowboy lead to 2-1.
OSU added another run in the top of the third courtesy of a Josh Holliday sacrifice fly giving the Pokes a 3-1 advantage. Harvard was able to cut the Cowboy lead to one in the fifth off a RBI single by third baseman Hal Carey but were shutdown by Smith the rest of the way. Chris Becerra added a sacrifice fly RBI with the bases loaded in the ninth to give the Pokes an insurance run and a 4-2 lead.
Harvard mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth scoring a run off a fielding error by centerfielder Toby Rhodes and cutting the deficit to 4-3. Matt Smith, who threw 138 pitches in the game, struck out pinch hitter Stephen Hopps with a runner at second base to end the game. Smith pitched his second complete game of the season and allowed two earned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts while improving to 5-1 on the year.
Oklahoma State improved to 19-8 with the win while Harvard dropped to 3-6 overall. The victory avenged an earlier 10-6 loss to the Crimson in the first game of the Homestead Challenge on Friday and pushed the Pokes to 3-1 all-time versus Harvard.
Oklahoma State will be back in action Wednesday against Oral Roberts at the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City at 6 p.m.
Oklahoma State 021 000 001 - 4 5 2 Harvard 010 010 001 - 3 4 0 Smith and Holliday, Haggard; Duffell, Lennon (7) and Keck. W- Smith 5-1, L- Duffell 1-1 Sv- None. HRs- None.
