The Texas baseball team dropped all three games against Oklahoma State this past weekend, falling to 9-9 in conference play and 20-24 overall.
Texas and Oklahoma State were tied for third in conference when the Cowboys arrived in Austin. Oklahoma State now owns sole possession of second place, just behind Texas Tech. TCU sits at third, and the Longhorns dropped to fourth.
Due to weather, the first game of the series scheduled for Friday night moved to Saturday, creating a double-header for the schools starting at 2:30pm. Morgan Cooper started the first game, and Texas lost 0-3. Two of the Cowboys runs were unearned. Cooper pitched six innings and gave up one unearned run. Freshman Blake Wellmann gave up the other two runs with only one of them being earned. Oklahoma State out hit Texas eight-to-five. Travis Jones had a big game in the designated hitter spot, going 3-for-4 but didn’t receive much help from the rest of his team. Tres Barrera and Patrick Mathis recorded the other two Longhorn hits.
For game two, Texas sent Ty Culbeth to the mound, and errors were the cause of another loss for the Longhorns as Texas dropped the second game 3-6. The Longhorns recorded a total of three errors, which allowed four unearned Oklahoma State runs. In the first inning, Culbreth had a throwing error that allowed a run to cross the plate. Texas entered the home half of the first inning already down 2-0. Barrera and Mathis strung together hits, giving Texas one run back. And in the second inning, the Longhorns tied the game. After the first, Culbreth pitched four shutout innings before the Cowboys put three on the board in the top of the sixth. Culbreth’s day was done after giving up five total runs with three of them being unearned in 5.2 innings of work. Nolan Kingham came in relief and had a strong outing. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowing only three hits. However, a defensive error in the eighth inning caused Kingham to give up one unearned run. The Cowboys out hit the Longhorns for the second consecutive game as Culbreth picked up his third loss of the season.
The Longhorns finally had an error free game on Sunday but still lost 4-8. Kyle Johnston started the game for Texas, shutting down the Cowboys in the first two innings. Johnston gave up one in the third and threw two more shutout innings before the Cowboys got to him in the sixth. He ended his day with 5.1 innings pitched and four earned runs, but Johnston didn’t take the loss. The Longhorns scored three in the home half of the sixth after forcing three walks and one hit-by-pitch to get things started. Then, Zane Gurwitz hit into fielder’s choice, scoring one Longhorn and Tyler Rand followed with a RBI single. At the end of six, the Longhorns trailed by one, 3-4. Freshman Beau Ridgeway shut down the Cowboys in the top of the seventh, and the Longhorns strung some hits together to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Chase Shugart came in to replace Ridgeway in the top of the eighth and only recorded one out but allowed four Oklahoma State runs before handing the ball off to Eric Dunbar. Shugart took the loss, and the Longhorns couldn’t scratch another run the rest of the game.
The Longhorns had not been swept by a Big 12 opponent all season before Oklahoma State did so this past weekend.
Texas has two more conference series before the Big 12 tournament. The Longhorns travel to Morgantown this weekend before getting a week off. Texas ends the season at home, hosting the Bears.
The Longhorns look to bounce back to their winning ways tomorrow night against Prairie View A&M at home.
