Cowboy Comeback Comes Up Short In Series Finale

Sunday, April 2

Stillwater, OK

12:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

16-11, 0

West Virginia

15-10, 0

West Virginia

Oklahoma State

Colin Simpson

Photo by: Greg Bullard

April 02, 2017 | Cowboy Baseball

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STILLWATER – Oklahoma State bashed four home runs Sunday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, but the 23^rd-ranked Cowboys' late rally fell short as West Virginia claimed the series win with a 9-8 victory.

With the loss, OSU dropped to 16-11 overall and 1-5 in Big 12 Conference play, while the Mountaineers are now 15-10 and 4-2 in the league.

Colin Simpson homered twice, and Dustin Williams and Garrett Benge also went deep, but it wasn't enough for the Cowboys, who scored five runs over the final two innings in the losing effort.

Blake Battenfield suffered the loss on the mound as the junior right-hander allowed six runs on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings to fall to 2-2 on the season. A five-run third inning, which included a grand slam by Chase Illig, sealed Battenfield's fate.

After six innings, OSU trailed 7-3, its lone runs coming on a two-run homer by Williams, his first of the season, in the second and a solo shot off the bat of Simpson to lead off the sixth.

WVU extended its lead to six in the eighth, getting a pair of RBI hits with two outs to make the score 9-3.

Those runs proved valuable as OSU mounted a late rally.

The Cowboys closed the gap to 9-6 in the eighth. Simpson delivered his second homer of the day and third of the series, a two-run job over the right field wall, for OSU's first runs and later in the inning, pinch-hitter Bryce Fischer brought home a run with a two-out single.

Still trailing by three and down to its final out, OSU rallied again. This time, Garrett McCain drew a walk, and Benge followed with his team-leading sixth round tripper of the season to cut the deficit to 9-8 and bring Simpson to the plate. However, the Cowboys' DH popped out to third base to end the game.

OSU returns to action Tuesday when the Cowboys travel to Kansas to take on Wichita State at 7 p.m. in a game televised live on ESPNU.