Cowboys Lose Second Game At West Virginia

Saturday, April 2

Morgantown, W.Va.

1:00:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

18-9, 0

West Virginia

14-10, 0

Oklahoma State

West Virginia

April 02, 2016 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oklahoma State suffered a second-straight one-run loss and dropped its first conference series of the year Saturday as West Virginia defeated the 16^th-ranked Cowboys, 4-3, at Monongalia County Ballpark.

OSU mounted a late rally and put the tying run on third with one out in the ninth inning but failed to score as the Cowboys fell to 18-9 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play.

Trey Cobb suffered the loss on the mound as the right-hander allowed four runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked just one but fell to 3-4 on the season.

The Cowboys struggled offensively, managing just six hits against the WVU duo of Ross Vance and Conner Dotson. Vance worked 7 1/3 innings, giving up all three of the OSU runs, as he improved to 4-1, while Dotson kept the Pokes off the scoreboard over the final 1 2/3 innings to collect his first save.

"We didn't play well enough to win, that's all there is to it," said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. "We didn't do much on offense. The left-hander (Vance) with the sidearm angle delivering the sinker mystified us two or three times through the order. We get him out of the game and make a run at them, but it was too little too late.

"No chance to feel sorry for yourself because that's certainly not a winning outlook, and it doesn't lead to anything. You've got to have strong resolve and show up (Sunday) ready to play better and play in a way that's more complete. We failed to do so today, and you can't expect to win when you do little things incorrectly. Big 12 baseball, one-run baseball, good baseball in general is usually a result of doing a number of the little things well throughout the game. When you make too many mistakes and open the door for the other team, if they're on their game, they make you pay.

"That's where we're at right now. I'm the most directly responsible, and I will shoulder the necessary adjustments to correct it."

WVU (14-10, 4-3) took a 1-0 lead in its first at bat, but the Cowboys quickly answered in the top of the second when, following a single, walk and hit by pitch to load the bases, Jacob Chappell laid down a sacrifice bunt to plate the tying run.

The Mountaineers took the lead for good in the third, collecting three singles against Cobb and going up 2-1 on Jackson Cramer's RBI hit.

WVU clung to the one-run lead until the seventh when back-to-back home runs by KC Huth and Darius Hill pushed the advantage to 4-1.

The Cowboys had just two hits entering the eighth inning, but the bats finally began to come alive.

Collin Theroux led off the frame with a single before a one-out double by Garrett McCain put a pair of Cowboys in scoring position with one out. Theroux would score on a passed ball to cut the deficit in half before J.R. Davis made it 4-3 by picking up an RBI on a groundout.

In the ninth, OSU again positioned itself for a rally. With one out, Jon Littell singled up the middle, then moved to third on a wild pitch and throwing error by the catcher.

But with the tying run 90 feet away, Theroux struck out and pinch hitter Donnie Walton flied to center to end the game.

The series concludes Sunday with first pitch scheduled for noon (CST).