Cowboys Fall To TCU, Set Up Sunday Rubber Game

Saturday, March 21

Fort Worth, Texas

6:30 PM

Oklahoma State University

15-7, 0

TCU

17-3, 0

Oklahoma State

TCU

March 21, 2015 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

March 21, 2015

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Oklahoma State had its seven-game winning streak snapped by top-ranked TCU Saturday night as the Horned Frogs handed the 19th-ranked Cowboys a 7-4 loss at Lupton Stadium.

OSU committed a season-high three errors in the loss, leading to a pair of unearned runs, as the Cowboys fell to 15-7 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 Conference play. TCU is now 17-3 and 4-1 in the league.

The Cowboys scored in their first at bat against TCU ace and reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Preston Morrison but lost the lead in the bottom of the first inning and never got it back.

"We knew facing Preston Morrison it would be one of those ballgames where we need to play a clean game," said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. "(Morrison is) a very experienced, savvy performer, and he showed that again tonight. We made enough mistakes that we cost ourselves that ability to go pitch-to-pitch with him, and when we get behind, he's a tough guy to come back on. We certainly had our opportunities. We were fairly competitive in the box the first five innings with chances to score and came up a little short. Then the game got a little sloppy and got away from us a little bit as it progressed...

"(TCU) played better than we did. We made some mistakes and paid for them. They put pressure on you the way they play, and you have to play a clean game to beat them - we didn't do that."

In the top of the first, Garrett McCain drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. He would score on a two-out RBI single by Conor Costello to give OSU its short-lived 1-0 lead.

The bottom of the inning saw the Frogs score twice against OSU starter Tyler Buffett. Cody Jones led off with a single and after stealing second, he scored the tying run on an RBI single by Connor Wanhanen. Up next, Derek Odell provided TCU's third consecutive hit with an RBI double that gave the home team a 2-1 advantage.

Buffett would escape further damage in the inning, thanks in part to the Cowboys throwing out Odell at home plate on a double steal attempt.

TCU added a run to its lead in the second, taking advantage of a pair of OSU throwing errors and going up 3-1 on an RBI groundout by Dane Steinhagen.

Buffett's night on the mound was done after just two innings as Tyler Nurdin came on in relief to open the third. Buffett would take the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year.

OSU trimmed its deficit in the fifth, plating a run on a sacrifice fly by Costello that scored McCain and made the score 3-2.

But that was as close as Holliday's club would get as TCU answered with a run off Nurdin in the fifth before tallying another in the sixth to take a 5-2 edge. The Frogs added their final runs in the seventh on a two-RBI bloop double that landed just inside the right field foul line.

OSU's final runs came in the eighth when Dustin Williams smashed his team-leading fourth home run over the wall in right-center field, a two-run shot that pulled the Cowboys to within three runs.

Morrison entered the game having allowed only four runs in five appearances this season, and despite the senior righty giving up four to the Cowboys in 7 2/3 innings, he picked up the win to improve to 5-0 on the year. Trey Teakell would come on and work a perfect ninth for his first save.

Williams and Costello combined to drive in all four of OSU's runs, while Green had two of the Cowboys' six hits.

The two teams will square off in the rubber game of the series Sunday at 2 p.m. in a nationally televised contest on Fox Sports 1.

"We have a chance to come out and win a series on the road, which is important," Holliday said. "If you'd told us coming down that if you play well on Sunday and win, you win the series, we'd take that opportunity."