Cowboy Baseball Wins Big 12 Championshhip

Sunday, May 26

Oklahoma City, OK

1:15 PM

Oklahoma State University

36-18

West Virginia

37-20

West Virginia

Oklahoma State

May 26, 2019 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery
Postgame press conference

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State defeated West Virginia, 5-2, in the Big 12 Baseball Championship title game Sunday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to claim the program's 33^rd conference championship.

Sunday's title marked the third Big 12 tourney championship for OSU, with the Cowboys also claiming tournament crowns in 2004 and 2017.

With the win, 11^th-ranked OSU earned an automatic NCAA Regional bid and improves to 36-18. The 17^th-ranked Mountaineers fell to 37-20 on the season with the loss.

Brett Standlee made his 10^th start of the season for the Cowboys and earned the win to improve to 3-1. The redshirt-freshman was dominant for seven innings, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out three and walking two.

Peyton Battenfield closed it out for the Cowboys, holding the Mountaineers (37-20) to just one run over the final 1 1/3 innings for his second save of the tournament and third of the season.

Offensively, Andrew Navigato had two clutch RBIs on a fifth inning double to give the Cowboys a lead that they never surrendered, and Carson McCusker collected two hits and an RBI in the game.

WVU loaded the bases to begin the third and scored the first run of the game on a groundout that also resulted in a double play for the Cowboys. A great bare-handed defensive play by Christian Funk at third base saved a second run and got the Cowboys out of the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, OSU loaded the bases and tournament Most Outstanding Player Colin Simpson drew a walk to force home the tying run. That brought Navigato to the plate with the bases still juiced, and the Cowboys' shortstop delivered the biggest hit of the game, a clutch two-run double off of the left-field wall that just missed being a grand slam and gave OSU its first lead of the game at 3-1. A third run nearly scored on the play, but Simpson was narrowly thrown out at home on a play that was reviewed and eventually stood as called.

WVU led off the eighth inning with a single and a walk, prompting an OSU pitching change. Brady Basso entered in relief and induced a ground ball that resulted in a double play to the only batter he faced before handing the ball over to Battenfield. An impressive running catch in the right-center field gap by Cade Cabbiness for the final out of the frame got the Pokes out of the inning unscathed.

The Cowboys added two big insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by McCusker and Alix Garcia before Battenfield came back out for the ninth and held WVU to just one run following a leadoff double to secure the win.

OSU had four players named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team. Joining Simpson on the squad were Navigato (SS), Cabbiness (OF) and Jensen Elliott (SP).

The Cowboys now wait to hear their NCAA Regional status. The 16 host sites will be announced tonight at 7:30 with the NCAA tourney field of 64 released Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.