FINAL: Texas 6 – Oklahoma State 3
Improbable. That’s the best way to describe the Texas Longhorns’ four-game winning streak that resulted in a Big 12 tournament championship.
Nevertheless, Texas beat Oklahoma State 6-3 on Sunday afternoon, completing the winning streak in the tournament’s championship game. The win is the Longhorns’ fifth Big 12 tournament crown.
After a quiet start to the game where both starting pitchers had the upper hand, Texas scored the game’s first run in the top of the third inning. After singling, Ben Johnson advanced to second base on Joe Baker’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on CJ Hinojosa’s RBI single.
On the strength of Kyle Johnston’s pitching, the Longhorns maintained their one run lead over the next three frames. Johnston, who started the game for UT, only allowed one hit and a walk while striking out five Cowboys over the first five innings.
Oklahoma State tied the game in the home half of the sixth after getting consecutive singles on the heels of Johnston’s second free pass. The Cowboys then briefly grabbed a 2-1 lead the next inning on an RBI groundout by Bryan Case.
Texas re-took control of the game in the top of the eighth inning, plating five runs on their way to a commanding 6-2 lead. After depending on extra-base hits to trigger the offense throughout the season, the Horns used Augie Garrido’s preferred style of “pressure offense†to tie the game and take the lead.
The Horns took advantage of three fielding errors and a walk, coupled with a sacrifice bunt to knot the game 2-2. Zane Gurwitz and Patrick Mathis then produced RBI singles sandwiched around an RBI groundout by Brooks Marlow to take a 6-2 lead. Mathis’ single was the first hit of his collegiate career.
Oklahoma State did not bow out of the contest though, scoring their third run and loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth frame. Reliever Kirby Bellow ended the OSU threat by inducing a double play off the bat of pinch hitter David Petrino.
Four days after his complete game victory to open the tournament, Parker French was the winning pitcher, improving to 5-3 on the year. Bellow earned his fifth save of the season.
OSU’s Remey Reed was the hard luck loser, falling to 3-2. Reed did not allow a hit and was on the mound during the Cowboys’ defensive lapse that helped Texas score a pair of unearned runs.
The win earns the Longhorns an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship’s field of 64 teams. Regional pairings will be announced on Monday morning.
POST-GAME
Augie Garrido
Zane Gurwitz
Tres Barrera
Kirby Bellow
On limited work for the bullpen this week: “It’s not too boring. You get to watch your brothers go out there and compete. They go out there and throw strikes and that’s all you can ask from the bullpen. If we don’t get to throw we’re just as happy throwing because we know our guys are doing their jobs and our defense is playing great defense and our hitters are doing their jobs. It wasn’t too boring out there.”
On coming in with the bases loaded: “I’m just happy to go out there. I just went out there and trusted myself and focused on the glove and didn’t worry about the runners. I just went out there and tried to do my job.”
