Takeaways from Cowboys' season-opening series victory
The Oklahoma State baseball team opened its season by winning a series behind two pitchers who missed most of last season with injuries.
Here are three takeaways from the Cowboys' season-opening series victory over Texas-Rio Grande Valley:
Elliott, Stone shine
A year ago, Jensen Elliott pitched in four late-season games in his return from Tommy John surgery. Mitchell Stone opened the year with two starts before a broken foot ended his freshman season early on.
The pitchers bookended the Cowboys' series win. Elliott, a redshirt junior who was a freshman All-American in 2016, went four innings, allowed two earned runs and struck out five in a 10-3 victory on opening day.
Stone, meanwhile, was dominant in Sunday's rubber game, a 3-1 victory. The tall left-hander struck out six across 5 1/3 scoreless frames, giving up only two hits.
Carter makes strong debut
In the past couple of years, OSU coach Josh Holliday has looked for a way to limit preseason All-Big 12 honoree Colin Simpson's workload, especially late in the season.
Bryce Carter's first impression was that he will be an excellent solution. Carter, a Tulsa native and a graduate transfer out of Tulsa, drove in a team-high four runs in the series. Batting fifth in all three games, he finished the series with a .500 average, recording three-hit games Friday and Sunday. He served as the Cowboys' designated hitter in those contests, catching Saturday with Simpson as DH
Mixed bag from JUCO arms
Connors State product Logan Gragg slotted between Elliott and Stone in OSU's weekend rotation, but his Cowboy debut didn't match up with the success he had in Warner. Having posted a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings last season, Gragg lasted only two innings in his first start in orange and black. He was tagged for four runs and was the only Cowboy pitcher to allow a home run over the weekend.
But Jake Lyons, out of Weatherford Junior College in Texas, stabilized the game in Gragg's relief. After pitching out of a bases-loaded situation in his first frame, Lyons allowed only one more baserunner over the next three innings. His four shutout innings weren't enough to avoid a 5-2 defeat.