Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
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Kansas
Cowboys Earn Another Comeback Win
April 19, 2014 | Cowboy Baseball
April 19, 2014
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State rallied for its 16th come-from-behind win Saturday as the No. 13 Cowboys defeated Kansas, 5-3, to secure a series win at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
With the victory, OSU clinched its fourth-straight Big 12 Conference series win and maintained its spot atop the league standings, improving to 10-4. The Cowboys are now 28-11 overall.
A three-run eighth inning, highlighted by Tim Arakawa's go-ahead home run, propelled OSU to the win, and senior Brendan McCurry made history as he became the Cowboys' career saves leader with his 18th. The save was McCurry's 10th of the season, which also tied him for the most saves in a single season in school history along with his older brother, Randy (2009), Marques Davis (1997) and Dennis Livingston (1982).
“The kids did an awesome job of staying with it; we had some opportunities in the middle innings that slipped by us, and we didn't let that affect our confidence,” said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. “We kept with it, and some of the same guys came back around and got us going… It was a very good win for our kids. I don't think you can under-appreciate the way they find ways to win games. It's a unique quality.”
OSU trailed for much of the contest as the Jayhawks (23-18, 6-8) scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning off Tyler Buffett and held that 2-0 lead until the sixth despite the Cowboys loading the bases in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Holliday's ballclub finally got on the scoreboard against KU starter Robert Kahana in the sixth inning. Zach Fish got things started with a one-out double off the wall in left-center field, and Arakawa followed with an RBI single up the middle to make the score 2-1.
KU regained its two-run advantage in the seventh. After back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt to open the inning off OSU reliever Vince Wheeland, the Jayhawks got a sacrifice fly from Justin Protacio to go up 3-1.
But the Cowboys cut into their deficit again in the bottom of the inning, getting a two-out RBI double from Tanner Krietemeier before Saulyer Saxon was thrown out at home plate trying to score the tying run to keep it at 3-2.
In the decisive eighth, Fish again got things going, this time reaching on a throwing error by KU third baseman Aaron Hernandez. Arakawa made the Jayhawks pay when he lined a Stephen Villines offering down the right-field line and just over the wall to give OSU its first lead of the day at 4-3.
“Coach just stressed to win the pitch and pass the torch to other people; I was just trying to focus up, get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it,” said Arakawa, whose blast was his second home run of the season. “It was a fastball that started at me and then dove back over the plate and kind of ran into my barrel.
“I don't know where I got that pop from. I thought it was gonna be just down the line, and I needed to run pretty fast and get into scoring position again. The ball just kept carrying and when I saw it go out, I was stoked.”
Following Arakawa's homer, Conor Costello walked and advanced to second on a groundout, bringing up Craig McConaughy, who delivered a key insurance run with an double to push OSU's lead to 5-3.
In its final at bat, KU managed a pair of singles against McCurry, but Protacio grounded out to shortstop to end the threat.
McCurry's save moved him past Jordy Mercer, who racked up 17 saves in an OSU career that spanned from 2006-08, though the second-year Cowboy downplayed the feat.
“I guess it's a cool accomplishment, but it's just a record – it's not that big of a deal,” McCurry said. “I couldn't do it without the defense.”
Said Holliday, “School records at places like Oklahoma State mean something because we've played good baseball here for an awfully long time.”
OSU will go in search of its second consecutive series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.
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