Cowboys' Season Ends Against St. John's

Saturday, June 13

Stillwater, OK

12:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

38-20

St. John's

41-15

Oklahoma State

St. John's

May 31, 2015 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

OSU falls 2-1 in NCAA Regional

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State saw its 2015 season come to an end at the hands of St. John's Sunday afternoon as the fourth-seeded Red Storm knocked off the top-seeded Cowboys, 2-1, in the NCAA Stillwater Regional at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.OSU ends its season with a 38-20 mark and fails to reach an NCAA Regional championship round for the first time in three seasons under head coach Josh Holliday.

St. John's (41-15) plated two runs off OSU reliever Trey Cobb in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend its season. The Red Storm had trailed 1-0 since the top of the third, but the Cowboys were unable to hang on.

"That was a tough ballgame," Holliday said. "I give St. John's a lot of credit -- they showed tremendous grit there in the eighth inning coming up with a really good rally that proved to be the difference. They're a quality team....

"It was a pitchers' day. Pitchers battled. Conor (Costello) pitched outstanding and gave us a fantastic effort. That's the most he's thrown in a game this year, and he was really, really special for us.

"We hit some balls hard, hit a lot of balls in the air, and today wasn't the day to do that. As it turned out in the end, too many in the air and not enough on the ground that found holes."

OSU outhit the Red Storm by a 7-6 count but left six runners stranded on the base paths.

The Cowboys' lone run came in the third. Ryan Sluder and Bryan Case led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Jacob Chappell followed with a sacrifice bunt. After Gage Green lined out to first base, OSU plated a run when Case scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 before Corey Hassel flied out to leave a runner stranded on third.

OSU clung to the 1-0 lead over the next five innings as Costello was dominant on the mound. In his seventh start of the season, the junior right-hander, who also plays right field and DH for the Cowboys, allowed just four hits in seven shutout innings.

Cobb, who earned the win in relief in OSU's Regional opening victory over St. John's, came out of the bullpen to start the eighth. After hitting the first batter he faced with a pitch, he retired that runner at second when the Red Storm tried a sacrifice bunt.

After a stolen base moved the tying run to second with one out, Cobb struck out Tyler Sanchez. But Alex Caruso walked, and Robert Wayman delivered a single up the middle to bring home the tying run. Up next, Michael Donadio sent an RBI single through the left side to put SJU up 2-1 before Cobb got out of the inning with a fly out.

In the ninth, the Cowboys put the tying run on base after a one-out, infield single by Costello. But Costello was caught stealing at second on a hit-and-run play, and Sluder struck out to end the game.

SJU closer Thomas Hackimer, who suffered his first loss of the season on Friday against OSU, earned the win as he worked the final 1 1/3 innings in relief of starter Chris Kalica.

Despite being disappointed with the way the season ended, Holliday voiced his pride in his team and a senior class that included All-Big 12 Conference performers Green, Tim Arakawa, Jon Perrin and Michael Freeman as well as Case, Kyle Bagnell, Hunter Hagler and Tyler Nurdin.

"You have to reflect on your team and the way it deserves to be reflected upon because that's really what this is about," Holliday said. "This team from start-to-finish was everything you'd ask for. I don't think we had one discipline problem from day one. Never late to practice. Never got in trouble off the field. Set records in the classroom. Played really good baseball on the field. And the kids wore the uniform with pride.

"It's hard to grasp the idea that you won't get to write some of these kids' names in the lineup again. Their legacy, for me, is hard to surmise, especially when I didn't think I'd be sitting here today. I anticipated this team pushing this thing a little further.

"But a really, really special bunch of kids. The story for me is not that the season is over, but it's what they've done and what they've meant to the coaching staff and the overall health of the program long-term because we wouldn't be here without these kids."