Cowboy Baseball Splits Doubleheader With Hawkeyes

Friday, March 1

Stillwater, OK

1:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

6-2

Iowa

4-4

Iowa

Oklahoma State

Hueston Morrill

March 01, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Box Score, Gm. 1 (PDF)
Box Score, Gm. 2 (PDF)
Photo Gallery
Game 1 Highlights
Game 2 Highlights

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State opened a three-game series against Iowa Friday by splitting a doubleheader at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, opening with a 5-4 walk-off win before dropping the nightcap by the same score.

The 19^th-ranked Cowboys are now 6-3 on the season, while Iowa is 5-4. The two teams will battle in the series rubber game Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

In the opener, hot-hitting freshman Hueston Morrill was the hero as his two-out infield single brought home Andrew Navigato with the winning run. Morrill beat out Iowa third baseman Izaya Fullard's throw to first after a slow grounder, and a heads-up Navigato never slowed down as he scored from second base to give OSU the dramatic win.

Morrill led the Cowboys offensively in game one, going 3-for-5 with the game-winning RBI and a double; the Cowboy continued to swing a hot bat by going 2-for-5 in game two of the doubleheader and is now hitting .571 (12-for-21) on the season.

Cade Cabbiness was 2-for-4 in the opener with an RBI double that got the Pokes on the board and gave OSU an early lead.

Getting the win on the mound for the Cowboys was Joe Lienhard, who pitched one inning of relief in earning his first victory of the season. Jensen Elliott started for OSU, going five innings and surrendering eight hits while giving up just two earned runs.

Iowa was able to score two runs in the eighth inning on a two-out, two-RBI single by pinch hitter Trenton Wallace that gave the Hawkeyes a 4-3 lead before the Cowboys' ninth-inning rally.

In the decisive ninth, Carson McCusker drew a leadoff walk, and Cade Cabbiness followed with a double to right field. Pinch runner Noah Sifrit was thrown out at home on the play, but Cabbiness advanced to third and scored on Navigato's double to left field to tie the score at 4-4.

After a pop up for the second out, Morrill stepped to the plate and came through with the game-winning hit on the first pitch he saw from Trace Hoffman.

The Cowboys dropped the second game of the doubleheader to the Hawkeyes, 5-4, as the visitors plated the winning run in the eighth when Ben Leeper issued a bases-loaded walk to Wallace to bring home an unearned run.

OSU had jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the game following a three-run rally in the third highlighted by a two-RBI double from McCusker.

But UI tied the score in its next at bat when Austin Martin drilled a two-run home run off OSU starter Logan Gragg, who struck out seven and allowed four runs in four innings of work.

The score remained tied until the eighth, which opened with an error by Morrill. With runners on first and second and one out, Sifrit then came out of the bullpen and got a big strikeout of Zeb Adreon. But Leeper came in and was greeted by an infield single off the bat of Martin to load the bases before issuing the walk that brought home what proved to be the game-winning run.

OSU brought the game-winning run to the plate with one out in the ninth after a single by Bryce Carter, but Grant Leonard retired the next two Cowboy hitters for his second save.