Oklahoma State wins Big 12 title, earns bid into NCAA baseball tourney

Andrew Navigato’s bases-loaded double off the top of the left field wall gave Oklahoma State the final runs it needed to clinch the Big 12 Tournament title with a 5-2 victory over West Virginia Sunday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

Bricktown Ballpark is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A team, the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Navigato’s long fly ball bounced off the wall and well back toward the infield, where it was picked up the center fielder, who threw out Colin Simpson trying to score from first base. Still, the Cowboys were up 3-1 with the near grand slam.

The win over West Virginia completed a long, wild run through the bracket that included a loss and a rainout Saturday, then two wins Sunday.

The championship game started about 45 minutes after OSU’s 7-6, 10-inning win over TCU in an elimination game.

Oklahoma State earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Tournament field and the Cowboys are a potential top 8 seed. The full 64-team field will be announced today.

Top-seeded Texas Tech whipped West Virginia, 10-3, on Saturday, but the Mountaineers rebounded to win the rubber game later that day, 2-0. West Virginia’s second Division 1 win over the Red Raiders sent the Morgantown, W.Va., school into the Big 12 title matchup.

Texas Tech won the 2019 regular-season crown with a 16-8 record, followed by Baylor (14-8), Oklahoma

State (14-9) and West Virginia (1311).

All but the last-place team—this year it was five-time tournament champ Texas—qualified for the tournament. The Longhorns, under the guidance of coach David Pierce, limped to a 7-16 regular-season Big 12 record.

SEC Tournament Vanderbilt 11, Ole Miss 10

HOOVER, Ala.—It was one of those unexpected baseball comebacks and wild finishes.

Top-seeded Vanderbilt fell behind 7-0 in the second inning and 9-1 in the third to Ole Miss in Sunday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. The Nashville, Tenn., team rallied to tie the score at 10-10 entering the bottom of the ninth.

The Commodores loaded the bases on three straight walks and then Philip Clarke slapped the first pitch he saw for a walkoff single to right-center, leading top-seeded Vanderbilt to the SEC Tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Clarke’s hit scored Austin Martin from third base. Clarke tossed his helmet into the air as teammates mobbed him on the field in celebration.

The Commodores (49-10) became the first team to sweep the SEC regular-season and tournament crowns since they pulled off the same feat in 2007. It was Vanderbilt’s third overall SEC Tournament championship, including 1980. The Commodores have won 22 of their past 23 games.

Sunday’s final was the longest title game (4:22) in tourney history and the first that ended on a walk-off since 1983.