Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Missouri State
Cowboys Drop 3-2 Game To Missouri State
March 01, 2011 | Cowboy Baseball
March 1, 2011
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State's three-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium as Missouri State knocked off the Cowboys, 3-2.
A single by Luis Uribe leading off the bottom of the ninth put the tying run on the bases for OSU, but the Cowboys were unable to mount a rally as they fell to 6-2 on the season. The win marked the first ever for Missouri State in six trips to Stillwater as the Bears improved to 5-3.
OSU struggled offensively throughout the contest. The Cowboys had just six hits in the game, with three of those coming in the final 1 1/3 innings.
Senior Andrew Heck was the tough-luck loser in his first-career start on the mound for the Cowboys. The right-hander worked seven innings and racked up eight strikeouts while allowing two runs on seven hits.
Missouri State got both of its runs off Heck in the third inning. With two outs and Bears on first and second, Kevin Medrano tripled to right field to put the visitors up 2-0.
The Cowboys cut their deficit in half in the fourth when Dane Phillips delivered an RBI single to score Davis Duren. OSU suffered a bit of misfortune later in the inning, however, when a two-out hit by Jared Womack bounced over the wall in right field for a ground-rule double that likely prohibited Phillips from scoring the tying run.
MSU added a key insurance run in the eighth off Cowboy reliever Hunter Herrera, getting an RBI single by pinch-hitter Trey Massenberg to make the score 3-1.
OSU finally got back in the scoring column in the eighth. After MSU reliever Nick Petree retired the first two Cowboys in the inning, Duren stepped to the plate and blasted his first home run of the season over the right-field wall to cut the Bears' lead to 3-2.
Up next, Zach Johnson doubled, brining OSU's top hitter to the plate. But Petree got Phillips to ground out to end the inning.
Clay Murphy picked up the win for the Bears to improve to 1-1 on the season, while Petree worked the final four innings for his second save.
OSU returns to action with its first road trip of the season later this week as the Cowboys begin play in the 2011 Dairy Queen Classic Friday in Tucson, Ariz. The Pokes open with a game against Washington State before facing South Alabama on Saturday and closing out the tourney Sunday by battling Minnesota.
