Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
35-18-1
UC Santa Barbara
40-18
Cowboy Baseball Drops NCAA Regional Opener
June 04, 2021 | Cowboy Baseball
Box Score (PDF)
TUCSON, Ariz. – Oklahoma State fell to the elimination bracket of the NCAA Tucson Regional Friday as the second-seeded Cowboys dropped a 14-4 contest to third-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the Regional's opening game at Hi Corbett Field.
With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 35-18-1 on the season and will face the loser of the Arizona-Grand Canyon Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST).
In extending its winning streak to nine games, the Gauchos improved to 40-18. Southpaw Rodney Boone led the way for UCSB, striking out 11 in 7 1/3 innings to improve to 11-4, while Marcos Castanon went 5-for-6 with five RBIs at the plate.
OSU starter Justin Campbell allowed a season-high eight runs in falling to 7-2 on the season. The right-hander worked six innings and issued three walks while striking out two.
Offensively, Jake Thompson led the Cowboys with a 2-for-3 day that included a home run, while Carson McCusker and Cade Cabbiness tallied RBIs.
UCSB took the game's initial lead in its first at bat as Castanon's two-out single plated Cole Cummings, who had tripled earlier in the inning.
The Cowboys tied the game in the bottom of the inning. With runners on first and second and one out, Thompson grounded to second base. But a throwing error by UCSB shortstop Jordan Sprinkle trying to turn a double play brought home the tying run.
The game remained tied until the fourth. The Gauchos opened the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and a squeeze bunt with one out plated a run as Jason Willow slid into home just ahead of Brock Mathis' tag.
After a double steal, an RBI groundout by Sprinkle extended the UCSB lead to 3-1 before the Cowboys escaped further damage.
OSU got back on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Thompson led off with a home run to right-center field, with his fourth blast of the season cutting the Pokes' deficit to 3-2.
UCSB added two more runs in the fifth, both of them unearned. The first came on a two-base throwing error by right fielder Cade Cabbiness, and a sacrifice fly brought home another run to make the score 5-2.
The Gauchos' lead reached 8-2 following a three-run sixth inning. OSU threatened in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with no outs, but the Cowboys managed just one run on an RBI groundout by Cabbiness.
With OSU trailing 9-4 after eight innings, UCSB put the game away with a five-run ninth.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boone, Rodney (11-4)
L: Campbell, Justin (7-2)
Batting:
2B: Castanon, Marcos 1
3B: Cummings, Cole 1
HR: Castanon, Marcos 1
RBI: Sprinkle, Jordan 1 ; Rodriguez, Zach 3 ; Castanon, Marcos 5 ; O'Connor, McClain 2 ; Bloom, Gianni 1
SH: Bloom, Gianni 1
SF: Rodriguez, Zach 1 ; O'Connor, McClain 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sprinkle, Jordan 2 ; Cummings, Cole 3 ; Rodriguez, Zach 1 ; Castanon, Marcos 3 ; Mortensen, Broc 1 ; Willow, Jason 1 ; O'Connor, McClain 2 ; Vogt, Nicolas 1
SB: Sprinkle, Jordan 1 ; O'Connor, McClain 1 ; Bloom, Gianni 1
CS: Willow, Jason 1
HBP: Cummings, Cole 2 ; Mortensen, Broc 1
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Jake 1 ; Garcia, Alix 1
3B: McLean, Nolan 1
HR: Thompson, Jake 1
RBI: Thompson, Jake 1 ; McCusker, Carson 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hewitt, Max 2 ; Thompson, Jake 2
HBP: Encarnacion-Strand, Christian 1
