Sunday Baseball Roundup

Cowboys Win Third In A Row In Arizona

PEORIA, Ariz. — Oklahoma State capped off its appearance in the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge with its third consecutive win Sunday as the ninth-ranked Cowboys defeated Washington, 12-2, at Peoria Stadium.

OSU scored in each of the first six innings, including plating two runs in each of the second through sixth frames, as the Cowboys improved to 4-3 on the season.

Gage Green led a 13-hit day for the Cowboys as the senior went 3-for-5 with two home runs, while Dustin Williams also had three hits and Tim Arakawa collected three RBIs.

Four different OSU pitchers saw time on the mound, with freshman Carson LaRue making his first-career start and sophomore Trey Cobb picking up his first win of the season in relief.

“It was a very positive way to finish a great, challenging trip,” said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. “To see where the ballclub started last Friday against Arizona State to where we are now, a lot of good things happened.

“There's still room for improvement, but this trip has opened our eyes as a team to what we need to work on that gives us a chance to have a great ballclub.”

Green got the scoring started early as the senior crushed a solo home run over the right field bullpen with one out in the top of the first to give OSU a 1-0 lead.

Washington (5-3) tied things up in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Branden Berry, but the Cowboys quickly went back on top in the second inning. Following an infield single by Dustin Williams and back-to-back errors by the Huskies that loaded the bases, Garrett McCain ripped a two-out, two-RBI double down the left field line to give OSU a 3-1 advantage.

Holliday's club tallied two more runs in the third, and once again, each of those came with two outs as Williams delivered an RBI single before Jon Littell scored on a wild pitch to push the Pokes' lead to 5-1.

In the fourth, Green once again got things going, this time leading off the inning with his second home run of the day over the wall in center field. The Cowboys' catcher/outfielder entered the game with six career homers, which included a career-high three a year ago.

Green was one of seven different Cowboys to collect hits in the game and one of three, along with Arakawa and McCain, to finish with multiple RBIs.

The offensive explosion, which saw OSU score in double figures for the third-straight game, was more than enough support for the Cowboy pitching staff.

LaRue worked three innings in his collegiate debut, allowing a run on three hits while striking out two, and Cobb followed that with a three-inning effort to get the win. Remey Reed then worked two scoreless frames and had three strikeouts, while Koda Glover struck out two of the four batters he faced to close things out in the ninth.

“To see the type of pitching we still had available on day four of a tournament, compared to say, our opponent, it's pretty clear that we've established some depth on our pitching staff,” Holliday said. “I'm very encouraged by the types of kids we ran out there today in the fourth game of a tournament that we went 3-1 in.”

OSU returns to action for its home opener against Missouri State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Carpenter Powers Sooners to 4-3 Win

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Junior Kolbey Carpenter went yard twice in a 4-3, come-from-behind win for the University of Oklahoma baseball team over Utah in the Big 12/Pac-12 finale at Goodyear Ballpark on Sunday afternoon. The Sooners reeled off their third win in a row to propel to 6-4 on the year, while the Utes dropped to 1-7.

“Carpenter has been our most consistent player since day one and offensively he was awesome today,” stated head coach Pete Hughes. He carried us and gave us a chance to win. It's always good to see when you win a one-run game and when you come-from-behind. Those are two good things we saw in that [win] today.”

Trailing 1-1 after the first inning, Carpenter blasted a two-out, 1-1 pitch over the wall in left-center to tie the game at one.

Utah went back in front in the third inning with two runs on two hits, but junior right-hander Corey Copping was able to limit the damage and leave the bases loaded.

In the fourth, Oklahoma turned to redshirt-senior right-hander Robert Tasin in relief. Copping's day ended with three innings pitched, five hits and three runs allowed, three walks and four strikeouts.

Tasin, who started against Washington State and went 2.1 innings on Thursday, shut down the first 11 hitters he saw.

In the seventh, junior third baseman Anthony Hermelyn got the Sooners rally going with a one-out single to center and advanced into scoring position on an error. Sophomore first baseman Austin O'Brien brought in Hermelyn with a base hit through the left side to cut the Utes' lead to one. Carpenter then approached the plate and hammered a 2-0 pitch to the same spot over the wall in left-center for a two-run home run that put Oklahoma in front, 4-3. It was Carpenter's fourth homer of the season and third in four games.

The Sooners come away from the Big 12/Pac-12 Challenge with a 3-1 record and wrap up a stretch of 10 games in 10 days.

“I thought we're definitely not happy as far as wins as losses, but as far as building toughness, team unity and learning how to grind, I thought we made major improvements,” reflected Hughes. “We saw a lot of guys play and play well and saw a lot of situations. We built our depth and built our bullpen so I thought it was a pretty productive couple of days.

Tasin (2-1) carried Oklahoma through five-scoreless innings. He scattered two hits and a walk, while striking out six. Junior lefty Jacob Evans came on to pitch the ninth and registered his first save of the season; the 10th of his career.

“There are days where you're going to have to come-from-behind and have a guy shut them down so you can build back run support,” said Hughes. “Tasin was awesome. He came back in there and had a good fastball and slowed their offense down a ton to let us get back in it.

Hermelyn, O'Brien and Carpenter all registered two-hit games in the middle of the order.

Right-hander Nolan Stouder (0-1) cruised through his first six innings of work in the start for Utah before running into trouble in the seventh. He lasted 6.1 innings and gave up four run on five hits with three strikeouts.

Notes:

• Kolbey Carpenter hit his third and fourth home runs of the season. He has nine in his career and three in the last four games.

• The win marked the first match-up all-time between Oklahoma and Utah.

• The Sooners used their ninth different lineup in 10 games.

• Oklahoma had a streak of four straight error-free games snapped on a failed pick-off attempt by Corey Copping.

• Anthony Hermelyn and Carpenter each registered their team leading fifth multi-hit games of the season.

• Jacob Evans recorded his first save since facing Oklahoma State (5/12/13).