Cowboy Baseball Evens Series With Five-Homer Day

Saturday, March 30

Fort Worth, TX

2:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

TCU

Photo by: Ellman Photography

March 30, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)
Holliday, Garcia postgame

FORT WORTH, Texas – Oklahoma State slugged five home runs, including two in the ninth inning, to lift the Cowboys to a 7-6 win over 19^th-ranked TCU Saturday at Lupton Stadium.

With the win, the Cowboys improved to 17-8 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 Conference play as they evened the series and set up a Sunday rubber game at 2 p.m.

The back-and-forth affair saw OSU erase a ninth-inning deficit with solo homers from Colin Simpson and Alix Garcia, and Ben Leeper kept the Horned Frogs (17-8, 3-2) off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning to secure the win as he moved to 3-0 on the season.

Along with Simpson and Garcia, Carson McCusker, Trevor Boone and Andrew Navigato also homered as OSU collected 13 hits in the contest. Garcia was 3-for-4 at the plate, while Navigato, Simpson, McCusker and Hueston Morrill each had two hits.

The Cowboys knocked TCU starter Haylen Green out of the game after just 1 2/3 innings as they tagged the southpaw for a pair of homers in the second inning.

Garcia got things started with a leadoff single, and McCusker followed with a two-run home run to center field. Two batters later, Boone blasted a solo shot to left-center field to extend the Cowboys' lead to 3-0.

OSU did not hold the lead long, however, as TCU struck for three runs against Joe Lienhard in the bottom of the second. Three walks helped the Horned Frogs' cause, and they scored their first run on a passed ball before a two-out, two-RBI triple by Bobby Goodloe tied the score.

The Cowboys used the long ball to go back on top in their next at bat as Navigato led off the third with his fifth homer of the season to give OSU a 4-3 advantage.

OSU held the one-run lead until the seventh when free bases again doomed the Cowboys, with Logan Gragg issuing three walks to aid TCU. The Horned Frogs tied the score on a fielder's choice RBI by Jake Guenther before consecutive walks to Johnny Rizer and Alex Isola gave the home team a 5-4 lead.

This time the Cowboys would answer. McCusker led off the eighth with a single, and after a sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Noah Sifrit to second base, pinch hitter Cade Cabbiness flew out to left field. But Bryce Carter came up with a clutch two-out hit as he singled to tie the score at 5-5.

Once again, the Horned Frogs went back on top in the bottom of the inning, getting a two-out RBI single of their own off the bat of Guenther to make the score 6-5 entering the ninth.

Simpson led off the ninth and greeted TCU closer Marcelo Perez with a game-tying homer on a 2-2 pitch as he crushed his third round-tripper of the season over the wall in right field.

Two batters later, it was Garcia's turn as his solo blast to right field gave the Cowboys the 7-6 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, a one-out walk put the tying run on for TCU, but Leeper got Goodloe to fly out to end the game.