Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
31-17, 0
Baylor
33-14, 0
Cowboy Baseball Routs Baylor In Series Opener
May 16, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball
Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery
Holliday, Cabbiness, Lienhard postgame
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State took game one of a crucial Big 12 Conference series against current league leader and 12th-ranked Baylor with a 16-4 win Thursday night at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
With the win, the 13th-ranked Cowboys improved to 31-17 overall and 13-9 in Big 12 play, while Baylor is now 33-14 and 14-7 in the league.
After serving up a double to BU leadoff hitter Nick Loftin, OSU starting pitcher Joe Lienhard was able to induce two groundouts and a strikeout to work his way out of the first inning unscathed. The senior right-hander, making his first start since April 13, went on to turn in a solid six-inning outing on the mound, improving to 3-1 on the season by allowing just one walk and four runs while racking up seven strikeouts, just one short of his career high. Mitchell Stone kept the Bears off the scoreboard over the final three innings for his first-career save.
Clutch hitting was a theme for the Cowboys, who scored 12 of their first 13 runs with two outs. Christian Funk and Carson McCusker each had three-hit performances to lead the way for OSU offensively as the Pokes smashed four home runs in the victory. Funk finished a triple short of the cycle, and McCusker drove in three runs. Colin Simpson delivered his third grand slam of the season to add to his team-leading RBI total (44), and Cade Cabbiness also had a homer and three RBIs.
Back-to-back singles by Hueston Morrill and Funk put two Cowboys on to start the bottom of the first in what would be a four-run inning for the Pokes. Andrew Navigato stepped into the box and roped a double off of the left-field wall to score Morill and get the Cowboys on the board before McCusker came up with a clutch two-out double to left-center to plate Funk and Navigato. The Cowboys added their fourth run of the inning on an Alix Garcia single.
Morill got the Cowboys started again in the second with a leadoff double. Navigato later reached on a two-out error by Bears' third baseman Ricky Martinez, scoring Morrill to extend the OSU lead to 5-0.
OSU rallied for five runs with two outs in the third. Bryce Carter got the scoring started for the Cowboys with a solo homer to left, his fourth round tripper of the season. Following the big fly, BU starting pitcher Paul Dickens gave up a triple to Cabbiness and issued back-to-back walks to Morill and Funk to bring up Simpson with the bases full. Simpson delivered, sending his 11th home run of the season over the left-field wall to put OSU up 10-0.
Cabbiness kept the offense coming for the Cowboys, tacking on a three-run bomb to left field that made the OSU lead 13-0 after four innings.
Funk led off the bottom of the fifth for OSU with a no-doubt solo shot to right, his 12th home run of the season, and later in the inning McCusker drove in OSU's 15th run with a line drive single up the middle.
The Cowboys pushed across one more run in the seventh inning on a Bryce Carter single that scored McCusker.
Baylor, which entered the game with a league-leading .319 team batting average, plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings for its only scoring in the contest.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lienhard, Joe (3-1)
L: Dickens, Paul (4-2)
S: Stone, Mitchell (1)
Batting:
2B: Loftin, Nick 2 ; Cunningham, Richard 1
RBI: Loftin, Nick 1 ; Cunningham, Richard 1 ; Martinez, Ricky 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Loftin, Nick 1 ; Haring, Cole 1 ; Bissonette, Josh 1 ; Martinez, Ricky 1
SB: Wehsener, Chase 1
Batting:
2B: Morrill, Hueston 1 ; Funk, Christian 1 ; Navigato, Andrew 1 ; McCusker, Carson 1
3B: Cabbiness, Cade 1
HR: Funk, Christian 1 ; Simpson, Colin 1 ; Carter, Bryce 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1
RBI: Funk, Christian 1 ; Simpson, Colin 4 ; Navigato, Andrew 1 ; McCusker, Carson 3 ; Garcia, Alix 1 ; Carter, Bryce 2 ; Cabbiness, Cade 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Morrill, Hueston 3 ; Funk, Christian 3 ; Simpson, Colin 1 ; Navigato, Andrew 2 ; McCusker, Carson 2 ; Garcia, Alix 1 ; Carter, Bryce 2 ; Cabbiness, Cade 2
