Cowboys Even Series Against Texas Tech With 14-5 Win

May 16, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Oklahoma State collected its most hits in a conference game this season en route to a 14-5 win over Texas Tech Saturday at Dan Law Field.

With the win, the Cowboys improved to 31-22 overall and 8-16 in Big 12 Conference play, while Texas Tech dropped to 24-29 and 12-14 in the league.

OSU racked up 19 hits against the Red Raiders, besting its previous high of 14 against a Big 12 opponent, as all nine Cowboys in the lineup collected at least one hit. Tom Belza led the attack with a 5-for-6, four-RBI performance, while Doug Kroll finished the contest 4-for-4 and also drove in four runs.

Belza has now hit safely in 11 consecutive Big 12 games, and his five hits are the most by a Cowboy this season and the most since Belza had six against Arkansas-Pine Bluff last season.

Tyler Lyons, pitching in his hometown, picked up the win on the mound with an eight inning effort that saw him improve to 6-5 on the season. The junior southpaw allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out seven.

TTU took the game's initial lead in the bottom of the first inning. Willie Rueda led off the frame with a single and took second on a sacrifice bunt. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Rueda plated the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Chris Richburg.

The Cowboys did not trail for long. In the top of the second, Kroll delivered his ninth home run of the season over the wall in right field, a two-run blast with two outs to put OSU up, 2-1. The homer was Kroll's first since April 10 at Kansas.

OSU added to its lead in the third, sending 10 batters to the plate and rallying for four runs on five hits, all of them singles.

Micheal Dabbs led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyrone Hambly. Neil Medchill then delivered an RBI single to make the score 3-1 before Belza's RBI single gave the Cowboys a three-run advantage.

Three batters later, Kroll added his third and fourth RBIs of the contest with a bases-loaded single to put the Cowboys up by a 6-1 margin.

The Red Raiders trimmed their deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Mayo led off the frame with a triple and later scored TTU's second run on an RBI double by Richburg, and Joey Kenworthy made the score 6-3 when he scored on a wild pitch.

OSU added a run in the fourth on another RBI single, this one off the bat of Kevin David that brought home Hambly, who led off the inning with a double.

The Cowboys' next three runs would come via the long ball. In the fifth, Davis Duren's solo homer, his fourth of the season, made the score 8-3, and in the sixth, it was Mark Ginther going deep as he hit a two-run shot to put OSU up 10-3. Ginther's home run was his third of the season.

OSU rallied for another four-run inning in the seventh, the big blow coming on a bases loaded double by Belza that cleared the bases.

Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the Cowboys going for their second Big 12 series win of the season.