Cowboys, Sooners complete rain-shortened series
Oklahoma State recorded a win in the first of two games against rival Oklahoma on Saturday and needed a victory in the nightcap to secure the final spot in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament.
Oklahoma State sought meaning for Saturday night.
And beyond, if possible, for however long that may be.
OSU claimed Game 1 of the long-delayed Bedlam opener, winning 9-7 in a contest that ended at 6:39 p.m. – nearly 48 hours after the scheduled start set for Thursday night.
Game 2 followed, going late.
The weather-induced wait, which slogged through an abbreviated outing Friday, proved worthwhile for the Cowboys, giving significance to Saturday night’s second game, where another win would earn them the final spot in next week’s Big 12 Tournament.
A loss in either game would end their season.
“We did exactly what we needed to do with the opportunity we had,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “Go out and win a ball game and give yourself a chance to go play another meaningful game. That’s what we set out to do today.”
Still, there was work to be done, after Kansas State surprisingly won its series at Baylor, moving ahead of OSU for the eighth spot in the standings. The Wildcats figured to be reeling, after getting pounded by Baylor 21-13 Thursday in a game they led 11-3 lead in the third inning.
But K-State swept a Friday doubleheader from the Bears, 10-8 and 6-5, putting pressure on the Cowboys to win two, a situation stressed when the Bedlam series was shortened to two games.
They at least carried the drama to Game 2.
The Sooners produced some late drama to Game 1.
With the Cowboys leading 9-4 into the ninth, OU loaded the bases off closer Trey Cobb. Sooner center fielder Steele Walker drove in two runs with a double off the right-field fence, just missing a grand slam. A groundout scored another run and brought the tying run to the plate in hot-hitting Brylie Ware, who’d hit five home runs in the last seven games.
But Cobb struck out Ware to end it, providing a good ending for a Cowboys team that has found few easy wins in a scuffling season.
“You wouldn’t expect it to be easy,” Holliday said. “They’re a good team. We’re a good team. It’s just been tough to come by. And when it’s tough to come by, that last 10 percent of it is always the hurdle. We got over the hurdle.”
A long hurdle, in a decision that took nearly 48 hours to attain.
The teams were ready, yet never took the field at Tulsa’s ONEOK Field, first because of threatening weather, then lightning, before a downpour arrived, shifting everything to Oklahoma City.
OSU owned a 5-2 lead Friday when the game was delayed in the middle of the fifth inning and the grounds crew rushed the tarp onto the field. It was 4:37 p.m. then, and at 9:43 p.m., the game was reset to be continued Saturday.
Under blue skies, the Cowboys finished what they started, behind pitchers Blake Battenfield and Carson Teel, who relieved starter Tyler Buffett and combined to allow two runs over five innings. Cade Cabbiness drove in two runs with a fifthinning double and Dustin Williams drilled a long home run off the upperdeck façade in the seventh for the Cowboys.
The Sooners’ Cade Harris matched Williams, drilling a solo homer to nearly the same spot in the seventh. OU added another run in the eighth, before the big threat in the ninth.