Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Missouri
Cowboys Lose Heartbreaker
May 26, 2011 | Cowboy Baseball
May 26, 2011
Box Score
OSU-Missouri Post-Game Quotes in PDF Format 
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma State rallied for five runs in its final two at bats, but Missouri got a walk-off single from Eric Garcia to emerge a 6-5 winner over the Cowboys Thursday at the Big 12 Baseball Championship at RedHawks Field at Bricktown.
With the loss, the fourth-seeded Cowboys (35-22) drop into the loser's bracket of their tourney division and will face top-seeded and second-ranked Texas Friday at 3:15 p.m. If OSU defeats the Longhorns, it would set up a rematch with Missouri Saturday at 9 a.m.
Zach Johnson drove in all five OSU runs in the contest, and his two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the ninth inning off Mizzou closer Phil McCormick tied the game at 5-5.
Following Johnson's hit, the Cowboys had the go-ahead run at second base in the form of Devin Shines, and Davis Duren at the plate. Duren delivered a sharp grounder that appeared headed for right field, but Garcia made a diving stop and threw to McCormick covering first. Duren slid headfirst into the bag but was called out on a bang-bang play.
After stealing the momentum back in its favor with the previous defensive play, the Tigers got the clutch win in the bottom of the ninth. Andrew Thigpen led off the inning with a single against OSU reliever Blake Barnes, which brought Gabe Weidenaar to the mound for the Cowboys to face Conner Mach.
Mach attempted to bunt but went down in the count 0-2 before lining a single to left field. Weidenaar would then retire Thigpen at third on a fielder's choice, but Garcia came up and delivered the game-winning hit to set off a Mizzou celebration.
OSU's rally in the final two innings came after MU starter Rob Zastryzny kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard through the first seven innings. The Tigers' southpaw allowed just six hits over the first seven frames but got into trouble in the eighth.
Shines walked to open the inning, and Jared Womack followed with a double. That brought Johnson to the plate, and the Cowboy first baseman showed why he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year as he blasted the first pitch from Mizzou reliever Dusty Ross into the bullpen beyond the left-center field wall to make the score 5-3. The round tripper was Johnson's team-leading 12th of the season.
However, that would be all the damage OSU would do as Ross retired the next three Cowboys in order to preserve the MU lead.
Both teams threatened early in the contest but were kept off the scoreboard.
Thigpen led off the bottom of the third for Mizzou with a single, and up next, Mach doubled down the left-field line. But a perfect relay throw from OSU third baseman Mark Ginther nailed Thigpen at the plate and kept the game scoreless.
In the fifth, the Cowboys had runners at first and third with one out following a double by Ginther and a single by Hunter Bailey. But Ginther was thrown out going home on a fielder's choice, and Womack flied out to right to end the inning.
Missouri finally broke the scoring drought in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by Thigpen and Mach put Tigers at first and third, and Brannon Champagne drove in the game's first run with Mizzou's third consecutive single.
After OSU starter Brad Propst recorded the first out of the inning, his day on the mound was done. But Chris Marlowe came out of the Cowboy bullpen and walked three-straight batters, with the first walk loading the bases and the next two bringing home runs to make the score 3-0.
The Cowboys would call on Barnes to stop the bleeding, but the righty came out of the bullpen and promptly surrendered a two-RBI single to Jesse Santo as the Tigers pushed their lead to five.
