Cowboys Walked-Off By No. 5 Arizona

Saturday, March 4

Frisco, TX

4:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

5-5

Arizona

10-0

Oklahoma State

Arizona

Garrett McCain

March 04, 2017 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

OSU head coach Josh Holliday post-game interview

FRISCO, Texas – Oklahoma State blasted four home runs Saturday against fifth-ranked Arizona at the Frisco College Baseball Classic, but the Cowboys couldn't hold a late lead and fell to the Wildcats, 10-9, on a walk-off double by Cal Stevenson.

OSU was poised to hand Arizona its first loss of the season after leading 9-6 through 7 ½ innings, but the Wildcats scored four runs over the final two frames to improve to 10-0 while the 14^th-ranked Cowboys dropped to 5-5.

Neither team could crack the scoreboard in the first three innings Saturday, but in the fourth, Arizona got to OSU southpaw Parker Scott, a freshman making his first-career start.

After retiring nine in a row, Scott surrendered back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the fourth. Following a strikeout, Nick Quintana plated the first two runs of the game with a single, and after giving up another single, Scott's day was done.

Carson Teel came out of the bullpen and struck out the first batter he faced but a walk and a two-RBI double pushed the Wildcats' lead to 4-0 before the inning ended.

Arizona tacked on two more runs in the fifth to go up 6-0 before the Cowboys finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Michael Neustifter led off that inning with a double – OSU's first hit of the game – and Jacob Chappell walked. Garrett McCain then ripped an RBI double to left field to bring home a run, and after a wild pitch plated a second run, Ryan Sluder made it 6-3 with a sacrifice fly.

The seventh inning saw a power surge through the Cowboys' linup.

Jon Littell got things started with his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field, and that was just the beginning.

After a two-out walk to Chappell, McCain crushed the first homer of his OSU career, and Sluder followed with a round tripper of his own, with the back-to-back homers giving the Cowboys a 7-6 lead.

OSU extended that advantage in the eighth, again via the long ball, as Andrew Rosa delivered a mammoth two-run shot to left field to push the score to 9-6.

However, the lead would not last as in the bottom of the inning, Blake Battenfield came out of the bullpen and surrendered three runs on four hits, with all three of the runs coming with two outs as the Wildcats tied the score.

In the ninth, OSU positioned itself to regain the lead after Chappell walked and McCain singled to put Pokes on first and second with no outs against Arizona closer Cameron Ming. But the rally was thwarted as three consecutive fly outs ended the inning.

The decisive frame saw OSU closer Jonathan Heasley take the mound and retire the first batter he faced before the second batter reached on an error; Heasley then picked off the runner for the second out of the inning.

Down to their final out, Arizona put two consecutive runners on via hit by pitch. That brought Stevenson to the plate, and he sent a ball to deep center field that Sluder raced back and dove to try and catch. But the Cowboy senior couldn't hang on as the ball fell to the ground and allowed the game-winning run to score.

OSU concludes tourney action Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against No. 20 Arkansas.