Cowboys Advance To Big 12 Championship Title Game

Saturday, May 27

Oklahoma City, Okla.

9:00 AM

Oklahoma State University

29-25

West Virginia

34-24

Oklahoma State

West Virginia

Garrett McCain

May 27, 2017 | Cowboy Baseball

Box Score

Photo Gallery

Highlights

Postgame Press Conference

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State pushed its winning streak to five games Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings over West Virginia, and in doing so, the Cowboys advanced to the Big 12 Baseball Championship title game for the third time in the last four years.

With the win, the Cowboys improved to 29-25 on the season and will play for a Big 12 tournament championship against either TCU or Texas Sunday at 1 p.m. The championship game appearance will mark the third for OSU in five seasons under head coach Josh Holliday, with the Pokes losing to TCU in the 2014 final and falling to Texas in the title tilt in 2015.

OSU becomes the first No. 8 seed to advance to the Big 12 Championship title game since Missouri in 2011, and the Cowboys are also the first No. 8 seed in conference history to take a 3-0 tourney record into the final.

Garrett McCain was the OSU hero on Saturday against the Mountaineers as the Cowboy left fielder drove in all four runs on a day that saw him go 3-for-5 at the plate.

Carson Teel was unable to secure a save but picked up the win as the southpaw tossed the final 2 1/3 innings and struck out three to improve to 5-4 on the season.

WVU (34-24) took the game's initial lead in the fourth when Darius Hill, who walked to open the inning, came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Jackson Cramer.

The Cowboys faced that 1-0 deficit until the sixth. With two outs, Ryan Cash produced an outstanding at-bat as he fouled off seven pitches and eventually drew an 11-pitch walk to load the bases. That brought McCain to the plate, and the All-Big 12 First Team outfielder delivered, ripping a bases-clearing double to left field to put OSU on top, 3-1.

In the bottom of the inning, the Mountaineers would answer, opening the frame with back-to-back singles and a sac bunt to put two runners in scoring position and end OSU starter Joe Lienhard's day on the mound.

Cole Hearrean came out of the bullpen and recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but WVU would plate its second run on a Hearrean wild pitch to make the score 3-2. After a walk put Mountaineers on the corners, Jake Cowan came on in relief and got out of the jam by getting pinch hitter Kevin Brophy to fly out.

OSU clung to the one-run lead until the ninth. With one out, Brophy lifted a high popup into short left field that Cowboy shortstop Cameron Dobbs lost in the sun and wind as it fell in for a double. Up next, Jimmy Galusky tied the game with an RBI single through the right side to make the score 3-3 before Teel retired the next two batters to send the game into extra innings.

In the 10^th, OSU pinch hitter Bryce Fischer came up with a clutch, one-out double as he delivered an opposite-field shot down the left-field line. Cash would then reach base for the fifth time in the contest – he also drew three walks and had a single – to bring up McCain.

And McCain again delivered, ripping a single to left field that brought home pinch runner Jacob Chappell from second with what proved to be the winning run.

WVU made things interesting in their final at bat. With two outs, a two-base error by Cash allowed Cole Austin to reach second. With the tying run 180 feet away, Cramer sent a high fly ball to left field, but McCain drifted back to the warning track to catch the ball at the wall and end the game.