Cowboy Baseball Wins Series At TCU

Sunday, March 31

Fort Worth, TX

2:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

18-8, 5-1

TCU

17-9, 3-3

Oklahoma State

TCU

Carson McCusker

Photo by: Ellman Photography

March 31, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)
Holliday postgame

FORT WORTH, Texas – Oklahoma State won the rubber game of its series at 19^th-ranked TCU Sunday as the Cowboys claimed a 9-8 victory at Lupton Stadium.

With the win, the Cowboys moved into a tie for first place in the Big 12 Conference standings at 5-1 while improving to 18-8 overall.

Andrew Navigato homered twice in the win, while Carson McCusker was 2-for-5 and drove in what proved to be the winning runs in the ninth inning.

Jake Lyons earned the win on the mound, striking out the lone batter he faced, to improve to 2-2, while Ben Leeper recorded his fourth save.

OSU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning as Navigato crushed his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field.

But the lead was short-lived. Brett Standlee surrendered a walk and back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first and tie the game at 1-1 before a bases loaded RBI groundout by Adam Oviedo gave TCU a 2-1 advantage.

Still trailing after two innings, the Cowboys jumped back on top with a three-run rally in the third.

Cade Cabbiness opened the inning with a walk, and Hueston Morrill followed with an RBI double down the left-field line to tie the score. Up next, Navigato continued his power surge as he deposited another Brandon Williamson pitch over the wall in left-center field to put the Pokes up 4-2.

Once again, the Horned Frogs (17-9, 3-3) answered against Standlee. After retiring the first two hitters in the third, Standlee surrendered consecutive singles before a two-RBI double by Zach Humphreys knotted the score at 4-4.

OSU jumped back on top in its next at bat. With Christian Funk and Cabbiness in scoring position following a walk and a double, Morrill lifted a fly ball to right field, where TCU's Hunter Wolfe dropped it. The sacrifice fly and error brought home two runs as the Cowboys took a 6-4 lead.

The Pokes extended their lead in the fifth. Following singles by McCusker and Funk to put OSU runners on the corners with one out, Trevor Boone laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring home McCusker and make the score 7-4.

TCU chipped away at the lead with a run in the seventh and then tied things up again in the eighth. With OSU leading 7-5, C.J. Varela issued a walk and a double with two outs, and Oviedo then roped a two-RBI double into the left-center field gap to make the score 7-7.

In the decisive ninth, OSU loaded the bases with two outs thanks to an error and two walks. McCusker then stepped to the plate and ripped a two-RBI single through the right side to give the Cowboys the lead at 9-7.

The Frogs did not go quietly in the bottom of the inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, Leeper struck out Austin Henry, but he reached safely on the wild pitch as the runner from third scored to make the score 9-8.

Up next, a passed ball moved two TCU runners into scoring position, and an intentional walk loaded the bases. That brought Oviedo to the plate, and he smashed a ground ball down the third base line that Funk snagged before stepping on third base for the final out.

OSU returns to action Tuesday night against Central Arkansas with the first of a four-game homestand at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium that also includes a weekend series against West Virginia.