Photo Courtesy of Big 12
Arlington, Texas – In the fourth and final game of the second day of the 2024 Big 12 Conference tournament at Globe Life Field, the No. 2 seed Oklahoma State University Cowboys won their first game after having Tuesday off in the 10-team tournament field and beat the No. 10 seed Texas Tech University Red Raiders 7-2.
Oklahoma State University’s program has won three Big 12 Conference championship titles: in 2004, 2017, and 2019.
Oklahoma State eclipsed their overall record going 21 games above .500 at 37-16.
Oklahoma State’s pitching staff allowed six hits, one earned run, two walks, and 14 strikeouts while facing 38 batters.
Texas Tech is now 32-25 for the 2024 season.
The Red Raiders left nine men on base during their Wednesday night loss.
Texas Tech’s pitching staff threw eight pitchers out on the mound on Wednesday night and allowed eight hits, seven earned runs, 13 walks, nine strikeouts, and faced 44 batters.
Texas Tech is on the brink of elimination in the double-elimination conference tournament format and has not won the Big 12 Conference tournament since 1998 under former head coach Larry Hays.
“Make sure that all the guys know that when their name is called that, they are going to be ready to go out there to pitch. They have done that the whole year, and we used a bunch of guys already, so make sure they’re ready to go tomorrow mentally, not just physically,” Texas Tech catcher Kevin Bazzell told World Baseball Network d uring the post-game press conference, after being behind the dish for eight pitchers on Wednesday night.
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 19 in the country in the final week of the 2024 regular season, before the start of the NCAA tournament’s 64-program field.
The Cowboys got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning with sophomore center fielder launching a two-run home run over the left field wall, scoring sophomore starting pitcher Carson Benge for the first two runs of the game.
Texas Tech sophomore southpaw starting pitcher Zach Erdman came out for the bottom of the fifth inning and was pulled by head coach Tim Tadlock shortly after facing Benge for the first batter of the inning.
Tadlock called upon relief pitcher Jack Washburn to replace Erdman.
Erdman threw four innings and allowed six hits, three earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts. He faced 20 batters while throwing 77 pitches, of which 49 were for strikes.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Oklahoma State got their third run from a pitch clock violation with the bases loaded by Washburn on a 3-1 count to junior catcher Ian Daugherty scoring Benge to make it 3-0.
During the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cowboys got another run on the board as senior shortstop Lane Forsythe came in to score on a wild pitch during sophomore Nolan Schubart’s at-bat to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Red Raiders did not get on the board until the top of the seventh inning with junior first baseman Colin Brueggermann launching a two-run home run over the right field wall, scoring third baseman Cade McGee to cut the lead in half at 4-2.
Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday went to his bullpen to take out Benge, put him in the designated hitter spot, and call upon junior relief pitcher Tommy Molsky.
“I thought Carson pitched unbelievably well. He pitched in a way where his quality of pitches had complete control of the game. Had we been a little more efficient, he may have been able to extend that. When the team needed it, the guys out of the bullpen answered the call, and that’s what good teams do. They picked each other up,” Holliday told staff writer Daniel Allen of O’Colly Sports in Stillwater, OKLA, at the postgame press conference about their strategy of playing in their first game of the 2024 Big 12 Conference tournament after having the day off on Tuesday.
Benge threw six innings and faced 25 batters while throwing 72 strikes out of 103 total pitches, allowing three hits, one earned run, and 10 strikeouts, which was a career-high.
“I try not to think about it too much. I just go out there and compete. I do my thing, and it’s pretty fun,” Benge told World Baseball Network during the post-game press conference on how he handles his role as a two-way player for the Cowboys program.
The Oklahoma State offense did not look back the rest of the way as they punched three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning with junior center fielder Zach Ehrhard walking with the bases loaded, scoring freshman second baseman Avery Ortiz to make it 5-2.
Schubart was after Ehrhard and drew a walk with the bases loaded, scoring pinch runner Kollin Ritchie to extend the lead to 6-2.
Forsythe scored the seventh and final run of the game off a wild pitch during third baseman Aidan Meola’s at-bat.
During the top of the ninth inning, Oklahoma State relief pitcher Robert Cranz came out in his second inning of work as he got sophomore center fielder Gage Harrelson to ground out to Ortiz as he threw over to Brueggemann for the final out of the game to beat Texas Tech 7-2.
Benge advanced his record to 3-1 for the 2024 season on Wednesday night under the roof at Globe Life Field.
Oklahoma State will play on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ on May 23 at Globe Life Field against the No. 8 seed University of Central Florida at 8:30 p.m. EST.
Texas Tech will play against the No. 5 seed University of Cincinnati for the first time during the 2024 season at 5 pm. EST on May 23 on Big 12 Now ESPN+ at Globe Life Field.
