Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Texas
Unearned Runs Cost Cowboys In Loss
May 27, 2011 | Cowboy Baseball
May 27, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY - Texas scored four unearned Friday afternoon at RedHawks Field at Bricktown, and the No. 2-ranked Longhorns knocked Oklahoma State out of the Big 12 Baseball Championship by handing the Cowboys a 9-3 loss.
With the loss, OSU falls to 35-23 on the season and now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. The 16 host sites for the NCAA tourney will be announced Sunday at 2:30 p.m., and the 64-team tournament field will be revealed Monday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN.
Sophomore Andrew Heaney suffered the loss on the mound for the Cowboys to fall to 7-4 on the year. The southpaw allowed six runs, just three of them earned, on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked one.
The Cowboys managed just seven hits in the contest, with home runs by Devin Shines and Zach Johnson providing OSU's runs. Johnson and Dane Phillips each had four hits in the game.
Oklahoma State drew first blood, taking the lead in the top of the third against UT starter Cole Green. Jared Womack led off the inning with a single, and two batters later, Shines delivered his fourth home run of the season into the seats in left field to give the Cowboys a 2-0 advantage.
The Longhorns (42-14) erased their deficit and took a lead they would never surrender in the bottom of the third. With one out, Brandon Loy singled, then stole second base, and Mark Payton brought him home with an RBI single to make the score 2-1.
It looked as though Heaney and the Cowboys would escape further damage, but shortstop Hunter Bailey mishandled a ground ball and the error prevented a potential inning-ending double play.
UT took advantage of the miscue by scoring a pair of unearned runs. After Erich Weiss was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Paul Montalbano brought home the tying run with a single, and Jonathan Walsh followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Horns up, 3-2.
Texas extended its lead in the fifth. Payton led off the inning with a triple into the right-field corner, and up next, Tant Shepherd delivered an RBI single through a drawn in OSU infield to give the Longhorns a two-run advantage.
The Longhorns' lead grew as a two-out rally added two more runs to UT's total. Cohl Walla brought home the first run with a single off OSU reliever Randy McCurry, and Montalbano scored on a passed ball by Womack to make the score 6-2.
OSU got back on the scoreboard in the sixth when Johnson led off the inning with his conference-leading 13th home run of the season, a shot to left field that cut the Cowboys' deficit to 6-3.
Poor defensive play cost OSU once again in the seventh. Following a one-out single by Walsh, Cowboy right fielder Luis Uribe dropped a fly ball off the bat of Walla that allowed the UT runners to reach second and third. And this time it would be Jordan Etier making the Pokes pay with an RBI single to plate the Longhorns' seventh run.
Texas tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to pad its lead.
