OSU’s Cash does dirty work
Before Garrett McCain delivered his two big hits Saturday in Oklahoma State’s 4-3, 10-inning win over West Virginia, Ryan
Cash did the dirty work. Setting up McCain, Cash twice worked at-bats to get on base ahead of the Cowboys’ leading hitter.
In the sixth, with OSU trailing 1-0, Cash earned a two-out walk through an 11-pitch at-bat, fouling off seven pitches before finally taking ball four. That loaded the bases, which McCain cleared with a three-run double.
In the 10th, after West Virginia had tied it 3-3 in the ninth, Cash turned in to take a pitch in the arm to put runners on first and second. McCain followed with the game-winner, an RBI single to left.
“I just kind of know my role,” said Cash, a freshman from Plano, Texas. “I know who’s behind me. During that (first) at-bat, I could hear coach (Josh) Holliday just telling me – good guys behind you, keep battling.
“I think really that set a tone at the top of the order. I love doing it. I love the guys behind me producing.”
Wind presents scares for Cowboys
Wind was apparent in the ballpark Saturday, but above the stadium it howled out to left field. And it made an impact. With OSU leading 3-2 with one out in the ninth, a high popup first sailed into the sun, making it difficult for Cowboys shortstop Cameron
Dobbs to find. Then the wind pushed it into shallow left field, with Dobbs back-peddling and finally lunging for the ball, unsuccessfully. It resulted in a double for
Kevin Brophy, who eventually scored the tying run.
Then in the 10th, with the Mountaineers trailing 4-3 with two outs and the tying run on second, Jackson
Cramer lifted a fly ball high into left field, where McCain drifted back and further back until finally catching the ball at the wall to end the game.
“I think that was the first ball today that was above those beams out in the outfield,” McCain said, “so you could really see what the wind was doing. I thought he got it good, but I didn’t think it was going to have as much distance as it was with the height that it had on it.
“I just kept going back, kept going back, and luckily, there was enough real estate back there for me to make the play on the warning track.”
OSU Pitching plan: TBD
The Cowboys used their regular weekend starters to secure their three wins so far in the Big 12 Tournament: Blake Battenfield, Tyler
Buffett and Joe Lienhard. Who gets the call in Sunday’s championship game?
The OSU coaching staff was working through that late Saturday.
“We’ve got some good guys available,” Holliday said. “We’ll see who we’re going to play against. We’ll check and see how the kids feel.”
Seemingly in a must-win scenario to make the NCAA Tournament, even with their impressive showing in Bricktown thus far, expect anyone and everyone to be available to some degree, even if it’s for just one out.
Test sirens surprise visitors
He looked to the sky, confused by the lack of storms.
Tornado sirens blared during a game between Oklahoma State and West Virginia at the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday. Although commonplace for most Oklahomans, the sirens gave a brief scare to a few visitors from other states.
Dennis Green was visiting Oklahoma City from Nashville with his wife, Linda. They were walking along to canal downtown on their way to the game when the sirens started going off. The Greens were in town for a wedding and heard there would be storms. But the sky was clear.
The sirens were part of a weekly test and no indication of actual storms. It lasted about three minutes, which Dennis said was unusual to him.
“I commented that it was a whole lot longer than our monthly tests in Nashville,” he said.
For the West Virginia players on the field, it was an even weirder experience.
“I didn’t know what to think,” pitcher Shane Ennis said. “Not too many tornadoes in West Virginia. It kind of stunk because we had a break there, but it was all right.”
Jeff Grove traveled from West Virginia to watch his son, Michael. His initial thought when the sirens went off was bad weather.
“I figured it had something to do with a storm coming,” Grove said. “I didn’t know it was a test.”
Once he figured it out, he was annoyed by the length and sound of the sirens. However, he said he understands they are necessary, especially in a tornadoprone state.
Had the storm been a real one, Grove had a simple plan.
“Stay the h—- away from it,” he said.
Young fan experiences rite of passage
He held his hand high, showing off his prize. Moments earlier, Samuel
Blanco was one of several fans sitting in the path of a foul ball. The ball soared high before free falling into the stands. Blanco was never scared, though.
“I wasn’t trying to catch it,” he said. “I thought it was going backward so I just covered my head and let it fall. (My dad) said it was coming toward me, so I was like, ‘Yeah!’”
Blanco was attending the OSU-WVU game with his father, Peter. Peter played under Mountaineer coach Randy Mazey when he coached at Charleston Southern. Blanco said going to the tournament would have been memorable no matter what, but now he has a souvenir to remind him of the fun: his first foul ball.
As for his future plans, Blanco has no doubts about following in his dad’s footsteps.
“I’m gonna play college baseball one day,” he said.