OSU Baseball: Gators Beat Cowboys, Force Winner-Take-All Game Monday

PHOTOS

STILLWATER — The Cowboys will need to win a winner-take-all game to advance to their first Super Regional since 2019.

Florida beat Oklahoma State 5-2 on Sunday night at O’Brate Stadium to force an if-necessary game to decide the Stillwater Regional champion. That came after the Gators beat Nebraska 17-11 earlier on Sunday. The winner of Monday’s game, which starts at 2 p.m., will head to Clemson next weekend to face the Tigers in a Super Regional after Clemson finished off its Regional on Sunday night.

The game got away from the Pokes in the sixth inning, in which Florida scored a quartet of runs. Colby Shelton started the inning’s scoring with a three-run home run to right that he admired for a few steps before tossing his bat toward the Florida dugout.

BELTIN’ SHELTON FOR THE LEAD 🚀💥#GoGators // 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Shx0UB0Pfg

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 3, 2024

A few batters later, a wild pitch allowed another Gator to score, giving Florida the 5-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

After hanging seven runs on Florida on Saturday night, the Cowboys struggled to finish on Sunday, leaving 11 runners on base. Six of those runners were left in scoring position with three being left 90 feet from the plate. OSU was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

“It’s hard to do that any game,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “When you get guys on base, you gotta finish the job. We built some innings. We just couldn’t quite close them. We hit a few balls hard. …

“No doubt, we had some opportunities there, and we couldn’t quite close out some scoring opportunities when we needed to.”

OSU also struck out 15 times, tied for the Cowboys’ second-most strikeouts in a game this season. Five of those strikeouts were looking. Both teams combined struck out looking eight times, putting a lot on home-plate umpire Greg Charles. Charles wasn’t a popular man in either dugout, nor was he very popular with the 5,173 in the stands.

Like Saturday’s game, Sunday’s started with a little fan-interference controversy, and for the second straight night, the Cowboys had a home run taken off the board. Zach Ehrhard hit a ball that went over the right-field fence in the first inning. It was a two-run shot before a review deemed a young fan had interfered. Upon the initial review, Ehrhard was put on second and Nolan Schubart, who started the play on first, was put on third. But then the umpires went and took another look before determining that Schubart would have scored, giving OSU an early one-run lead.

“These are things that you don’t see every single day,” Holliday said. “To see them in back-to-back nights is unique, but that’s the way it played out. I’m not really in the business this time of year of getting overcharged over things like that when they take a look at it and they come back at ya and say this is what’s been decided. You move on.

“Could it have been a difference maker? Sure, but what are you gonna do, get mad at a little kid for coming to a ballgame and trying to catch a homer? Things happen. I don’t really know what else you can say.”

The Gators tied it in the fourth when Ashton Wilson scored on a wild pitch before the Cowboys came oh, so close to busting the game open in the bottom of that fourth inning.

With one out, Colin Brueggemann sliced a ball against the shift. The ball just looped into shallow left, but because of the shift, the 6-foot-6, 233-pound Brueggemann was able to leg out a double. Freshman Avery Ortiz then drew a walk before Tyler Wulfert muscled a ball through the right side, deemed a fielding error by the second baseman. That scored Brueggemann from second, as OSU reclaimed the lead at 2-1.

🔥102 mph to put the Pokes up🔥#GoPokes | @TylerWulfert pic.twitter.com/FrLOitv0vm

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) June 3, 2024

Lane Forsythe then drew a walk to load the bases with just one out for OSU’s two most revered hitters: Carson Benge and Schubart. Benge went down looking in a three-pitch strikeout, one of three times he struck out on the night.

Schubart then got ahold of a ball that seemed destined to find grass in right-center, but Florida centerfielder Michael Robertson made a diving grab to end the inning.

Benge made the start on the bump for the Cowboys, throwing five innings where he gave up five runs off six hits while walking three and striking out four. Gabe Davis then threw an important four innings where he didn’t allow a run, giving up just two hits while walking one and striking out eight. Davis’ innings were important to keep as many arms as possible available for Monday’s game. Holliday wasn’t ready to name a starter for the game but did seem confident in the flexibility the Cowboys have, having played one fewer game than the Gators this weekend.

“Feel great about who we’ll put on the mound tomorrow — absolutely, 100%, no doubt about it,” Holliday said.

Monday’s Game

Time: 2 p.m.
Location: O’Brate Stadium