Cowboys Eliminated from Big 12 Tournament by Texas

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY --The Oklahoma State Cowboys struggled to keep Texas off of the boards Friday and fell to the Longhorns 9-3 in the loser's bracket, eliminating them from the Big 12 Tournament.

Oklahoma State starter Andrew Heaney (7-4) struggled in his start for the Cowboys, giving up seven runs, three earned, on seven hits in just 4.1 innings of service. Texas ace Cole Green (7-3) struggled as well in his six innings pitched, giving up three earned runs on five hits.

The Cowboys took the game's first lead in the top of the third, thanks to a two-run RBI to left field from Devin Shines to take a 2-0 advantage. However, Texas responded immediately.

Brandon Loy singled toward third base and stole second to advance to scoring position. Mark Payton followed with a single up the middle to bring Loy home to cut the lead to one run. Two at-bats later, Erich Weiss was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Paul Montalbano singled to left field to bring Payton home to tie the game.

Jonathan Walsh hit a sacrifice fly to left center to bring Tant Shepherd home from third and take a 3-2 advantage,

Texas extended its run with another three-run inning in the bottom of the fifth.

Payton hit a leadoff triple down the left field line and Shepherd followed with a single up the middle to bring Payton home to take a two-run lead. Three at-bats later with runners on first and second, Cole Walla singled to left field to bring Shepherd home and push the lead to 5-2.

Montalbano scored on a passed ball in the next at-bat to take a four-run advantage and nearly put the game out of reach.

With the conference tournament over, the Cowboys now wait for the NCAA Tournament selection to see where they'll be playing next.