Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
34-16-1
West Virginia
25-26
Cowboy Baseball Moves Into Tourney Semifinals
May 28, 2021 | Cowboy Baseball
Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State posted a run-rule win over No. 8-seed West Virginia Friday to remain undefeated at the Big 12 Baseball Championship as the fourth-seeded Cowboys were 12-2 victors in seven innings at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
With the win, the 22nd-ranked Cowboys improved to 34-16-1 and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 tourney, where they will face top-seeded Texas Saturday at 12:30 p.m. OSU needs a win to advance to Sunday's title game, while UT will have to beat the Pokes twice to advance.
Parker Scott, who made his first start on the mound since April 16 and was on a predetermined pitch count, recorded the win to improve to 7-1. The southpaw worked four innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out five.
Bryce Osmond picked up his first-career save in relief of Scott as he kept the Mountaineers off the scoreboard over the final three innings. The righty did not allow a hit and racked up seven strikeouts.
Offensively, OSU tied a season high with 18 hits as seven Cowboys collected multiple hits. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Carson McCusker and Justin Campbell led the way with three each, while McCusker added four RBIs and Campbell drove in three.
OSU jumped out to a five-run lead in its first at bat. Jake Thompson got the scoring started with the first of two consecutive RBI singles as McCusker followed him to make the score 2-0.
Campbell provided the big hit in the inning as, with the bases full of Cowboys, he brought home all three runners with a double just inside the left-field line.
The Pokes continued their scoring ways in the second, this time via the long ball as McCusker smashed a towering opposite field home run to right, a three-run blast that extended the lead to 8-0. The round tripper was McCusker's seventh of the season, putting him in a four-way tie for the second most homers on the team this season.
WVU (25-26) managed its lone runs in the contest on a two-run home run by Alec Burns off Scott in the fourth.
The Cowboys tallied a pair of runs in the fifth as Caeden Trenkle's RBI triple made the score 9-2, and up next, Max Hewitt doubled to push the lead to eight.
Hewitt also drove in OSU's first run in the decisive seventh before Encarnacion-Strand ended the game with an RBI single to center.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Scott, Parker (7-1)
L: Reed, Carlson (4-5)
S: Osmond, Bryce (1)
Batting:
2B: Scott, Victor 1
HR: Burns, Alec 1
RBI: Burns, Alec 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Scott, Victor 1 ; Burns, Alec 1
SB: Abernathy, Ben 2 ; Scott, Victor 1 ; Brophy, Kevin 1
Batting:
2B: Hewitt, Max 1 ; Campbell, Justin 1
3B: Trenkle, Caeden 1
HR: McCusker, Carson 1
RBI: Trenkle, Caeden 1 ; Hewitt, Max 2 ; Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 1 ; Thompson, Jake 1 ; McCusker, Carson 4 ; Campbell, Justin 3
SH: Golda, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Trenkle, Caeden 1 ; Hewitt, Max 1 ; Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 2 ; Thompson, Jake 2 ; McCusker, Carson 2 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; Gardner, Dylan 1 ; Brown, Marcus 2
HBP: Thompson, Jake 1
