Sunday College Baseball Roundup

Cowboys Complete Series Sweep

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Oklahoma State completed a series sweep of West Virginia Sunday as the 18th-ranked Cowboys claimed a 7-4 win in the finale at Hawley Field.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Cowboys, who improved to 26-10 overall and 8-4 in Big 12 Conference play. It marks the first time since 2012 at Kansas State that OSU has swept a three-game road series against a league opponent.

Vince Wheeland did not allow an earned run in 6 1/3 innings of relief to earn the win and improve to 3-0, while Zach Fish led the OSU offensive attack with four RBIs. Brendan McCurry worked a scoreless ninth inning for his ninth save of the season and 17th of his career, which ties the senior right-hander with Jordy Mercer for the top spot on the Cowboys' all-time list.

OSU took a lead it would never surrender in its first at bat as in the top of the first, the Cowboys sent 10 batters to the plate and pushed across four runs on three singles, three walks, a hit batter and a balk. Gage Green brought home the Pokes' first run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Fish followed with a two-RBI single. The final run in the frame was plated on the balk.

WVU (16-15, 2-6) would answer in the bottom of the first and trim its deficit in half against OSU starter Tyler Nurdin, who allowed a pair of runs on three hits in the inning.

Things could have been worse for the Cowboys, but with the bases loaded and just one out, Fish caught a fly ball in right field and then gunned down Ryan McBroom at the plate, a double play that ended the inning and kept the score at 4-2.

In the bottom of the second, Nurdin quickly retired the first two WVU hitters. But a two-out walk to Taylor Munden and a bunt single by Bobby Boyd brought up Billy Fleming, who delivered an RBI double to make it 4-3 and end Nurdin's day on the mound.

The Cowboys would call on Wheeland, who came on with runners on second and third and got McBroom to ground out to end the inning.

Over the next six innings, Wheeland kept the WVU offense at bay, scattering six hits and allowing just one unearned run, that coming in the seventh as the Mountaineers cut their deficit to 5-4.

The Cowboys added two key insurance runs in the eighth as Fish once again came up big with his second two-RBI single of the day to push the OSU lead to 7-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tim Arakawa and Donnie Walton combined to turn a highlight-reel double play, ending a potential WVU rally, and McCurry kept the Mountaineers off the board in the ninth to seal the win.

OSU returns to action Tuesday night when the Cowboys host Bedlam-rival Oklahoma in a non-conference contest at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

Gomez leads ORU to sweep at SFA, 3-0

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Pepe Gomez pitched a gem on Sunday as he, Kyler Stout and Jordan Romano combined to clinch a three-game sweep for the Oral Roberts University baseball team over Stephen F. Austin with a 4-0 win.

ORU improved to 19-16 this season and 7-8 in Southland Conference action, while SFA dropped to 15-20 and 6-9. It was the fifth straight victory for the Golden Eagles.

Gomez (5-3) moved to 2-0 on the week after seven innings of work against the Lumberjacks, allowing just three hits and striking out four. Romano got the last out of the game for his ninth save of the year.

Tyler Boss led the Golden Eagles with three hits and a run driven in. Audie Afenir had two hits in the game, while Logan Domenico added a two-run single.

Mackenzie Handle, Zach Marberry and Ricardo Sanchez had the three SFA hits. The Golden Eagles outhit the ‘Jacks 39-16 in the series.

Kevin Bishop took the loss as he went five innings, allowing six hits and three runs.

For the fifth time in the series, the Golden Eagle ran across three runners in an to give the Golden Eagles to take an early 3-0 lead after the top of the second inning. With runners on the corners, Brandon Healy laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt. Brandy was coming home on the play and the catcher dropped the throw to put the Golden Eagles on the board 1-0.

Two batters later, Domenico sent a pitch back up the middle for a two-run single, driving in Afenir and Healy to make it a 3-0 game.

That was all the help Gomez needed as he allowed just five base runners over the next six innings. His only jam came in the bottom of the seventh when the ‘Jacks picked up back to back hits and a walk to load the bases, inducing a fly ball to center to get out of the inning.

In the ninth, Boss extended the ORU lead to 4-0 with a single to left that brought home Forcier from second base.

Up next for ORU is a trip to face Wichita State on Tuesday evening in Wichita, Kan. First pitch against the Shockers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Sooners Swept by Longhorns

NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 26 University of Oklahoma baseball team was swept by No. 7 Texas in a three-game series, culminating with an 8-1 decision in front of 1,156 at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Sunday afternoon. The two teams endured a two-hour rain delay as the Sooners dropped to 23-14 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12 and the Longhorns improved to 29-8 and 9-3.

The attendance totaled 7,269 on the weekend, passing the previous three-game high of 6,689 set against Texas in 2004.

Oklahoma was playing from behind early in each game this series as Texas second baseman Brooks Marlow led off the game with a home run, aided by heavy winds blowing out, to center field.

"Their offense was so well-placed—if that's a good way to put it," began head coach Pete Hughes. "And that's not taking anything away from them, because when you don't strike out, good things happen. They got 15 hits. That's the best .260-hitting team that I've seen. They found the holes, but that is baseball. Today was not our day, it was all theirs. They played better than us. They played better defense than we did, they pitched better than we did and they swung better than we did."

Junior second baseman Keach Ballard led off the bottom of the third with a double to left-center and came around to score on a base hit up the middle by senior shortstop Hector Lorenzana to tie the game, 1-1.

In the fourth, the Longhorns plated three runs on three hits, an error and a passed ball.

After the top of the fifth inning the game went into a delay that featured, rain, hail and lightning.

Sophomore lefty Jacob Evans pitched the first five innings before the delay for Oklahoma. In his third start of the season, he surrendered four runs, three earned, on eight hits and a walk, while striking out five. For Evans (3-2), it was his first start since February 21.

Right-hander Nathan Thornhill threw just 42 pitches before the break and returned to the hill for Texas in the fifth. He went on to toss 96 pitches in a complete game victory. Thornhill (6-0) scattered six hits and a walk, while giving up just one ran and striking out six.

"Long day," Hughes simply stated. "[Thornhill] pitched great. You don't ever see guys come back after that long of a rain delay and still be as effective. I've never seen it. So I definitely thought the advantage was going to go our way after that delay. It's hard to sit—we sat for over an hour and forty-five minutes. He was still effective. He had command and life on his fastball. I thought he was really, really good. Thornhill was excellent. They were better than us today."

The Longhorns outhit the Sooners, 15-5. Center fielder Mark Payton went 3-for-6, all three for doubles, with a run and a RBI. Third baseman Zane Gurwitz doubled and scored twice in a 2-for-4 effort.

Lorenzana went 2-for-3 at the dish for Oklahoma.

The Sooners are back in action on Tuesday night for a non-conference tilt at Oklahoma State beginning at 6:30 p.m.