Texas (13-10, 3-1) suffered their first conference loss of the season on Friday night, dropping the series opener to Oklahoma State (11-8, 1-0) by a final of 6-1 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorn’s offense could only muster 4 hits, and the Cowboy’s offense used a big 7th inning to help put the game out of reach.
Longhorn starter Blair Henley took the loss, falling to 3-2 on the season. The right hander allowed 10 hits and 5 earned runs in 6 innings of work, striking out 7. Oklahoma State starter Joe Lienhard earned the win after throwing 8 ⅓ innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 8.
Oklahoma State opened the scoring in the 2nd inning. Christian Funk led off the frame with a walk and advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. After a single by Michael Neustifter placed runners at the corners, Jake Taylor singled to LF, giving the Cowboys a 1-0 lead.
Taylor stretched the lead to 2-0 in the 5th when he led off with a solo home run to left-field.
In the 7th, the Cowboys put up 4 more runs. Trevor Boone led off the inning by lining a ball to center-field that got by a diving Duke Ellis and rolled all the way to the wall, resulting in a triple. Henley then tried to pick off Boone at 3rd, but his throw was wide sailed into left-field, allowing Boone to score easily. Ryan Cash followed with a single and scored on a RBI double by Matt Kroon, stretching the Oklahoma State lead to 4-0. Collin Simpson then welcomed new pitcher Josh Sawyer into the game by connecting on a 2-run home run into the Texas bullpen, giving the Cowboys a 6-0 lead.
Zach Zubia got Texas on the board in bottom half of the 9th on a solo home run over to left-field, but the Longhorn’s would not draw any closer. Carson Teel would come on in relief of Lienfield to record the final 2 outs, locking down the 6-1 victory.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 2:30. RHP Nolan Kingham will take the ball for Texas, with the probable pitcher for Oklahoma State being Carson Teel. Follow along at hornsports.com for live updates.
