Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Baylor
Oklahoma State Defeats Baylor 10-7
April 13, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
April 13, 2003
STILLWATER, Okla.- Oklahoma State rode a strong pitching performance by junior right hander Joe Weaver and withstood a five-run ninth inning rally by Baylor to win 10-7 on Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Stadium.
The Cowboys took the third game of the series and improved to 23-11 overall and 8-4 in league play, while the Bears fell to 25-14 and 8-6 in conference action.
Cowboy starter Joe Weaver was pitching a masterful game into the ninth inning before running out of gas. He held the Baylor offense, which had scored 34 runs on 36 hits in the first two games, to just two runs, one earned, on four hits in the first eight frames. Weaver struck out a career high eight batters and his attempt for a complete game was thwarted as the Bears scored five runs in the ninth, three coming off a two-out homer by centerfielder Chris Durbin to cut the lead to 10-7.
Aaron Whitehead came on in relief and gave up a hit to rightfielder David Murphy before getting catcher Josh Ford to ground out to short to end the game and picked up his first career save in the process.
Weaver picked up his first win since defeating Grambling on March 2 in Houston, Texas. Freshman Mark McCormick (3-2) was tagged for six runs on seven hits in two innings of work in the loss for the Bears.
"I wanted to take some pride in myself and go as long as I could," said Joe Weaver. "That's the longest I've gone in, I don't even know."
The Cowboys jumped on the board early, scoring a run in the first and three runs in the second and third innings to build a 7-0 lead. Left fielder Scott Kirby had a two-run homer, his fifth of the year, and center fielder Jose Virgil had a RBI double in the second to account for the OSU runs. Second baseman Kenny Hansley blasted a three-run homer in the third, his second round-tripper of the season.
Baylor scored its first two runs of the game when third baseman Michael Griffin reached first on a wild pitch and was followed by a two-run homer by first baseman Mark Saccomanno, his sixth of the campaign.
Oklahoma State closed out its scoring in the bottom half of the fifth, when right fielder Lyndsey Simmons was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Virgil roped a two-run single to right field.
Virgil finished 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs to lead the Cowboys while Saccomanno led the Bears with a 3-for-4 day and two RBIs.
The Cowboys will be back in action on Tuesday as Texas-Pan American comes in for a two-game series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. while Wednesday's contest is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
