Oklahoma State Falls to Texas Tech, Bows Out of Big 12 Tournament

No. 2 seed Oklahoma State lost its fifth game in a row and ninth in its last 10 on Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Pokes were eliminated from the event by Texas Tech 6-2 (Tech also delivered three of OSU’s previous four losses in a row to end the regular season).

OSU actually got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first on a Jon Littell single. It was OSU’s first lead at all in the last three games. But Tech came back with one in the second and two in the third, both on Cameron Warren home runs.

Tech then put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh with three more runs to make it 6-2 and ended OSU’s chances of repeating as Big 12 Tournament champions in Bricktown.

Offensively for the Cowboys, Matt Kroon and Littell went 5 for 7, but the rest of the team went 2 for 25. Carson Teel gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, and Reza Aleaziz gave up 3 in one and two-thirds innings. Jensen Elliott didn’t give up a run and only gave up one hit in two and a third innings of relief work.

“Tough game,” said Josh Holliday. “Texas Tech has an excellent team. They are as good a team as we have seen all year long, and they are very balanced both on the mound and at the plate.

“I think they are one of the best teams in the country, and they have been a tough matchup for us the last 10 days. They’ve been tough to solve. It is what it is. We competed, we just didn’t have a lot to show for it, but I appreciate the effort the kids gave. They showed up ready to play and ready to go and compete. They just weren’t up to the task today.”

With No. 1 seed Texas losing to OU in the first game on Thursday, the top two seeds were the first two teams eliminated for the first time in Big 12 Tournament history.

Texas Tech survives! @TTU_Baseball will face the loser of WVU/TCU tomorrow night.

Highlights ? pic.twitter.com/dzGO6XfUGZ

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 24, 2018

The bigger issue now is that OSU is riding the worst kind of streak into regional play. They’re now 29-24-1 after being 28-15-1 just 10 games ago. Their only win in the last 10 came over Baylor nearly two weeks ago.

“I hope what the kids did over the course of the regular season is a strong body of work that allows us the opportunity to keep playing,” added Holliday. “I think as a coach and as a group of competitors that is all you can hope for. If you get that opportunity then you go out there and you’re lifted by the spirit of those games and the environment those games create, so I don’t worry about the kids at all.

“I think we have taken on a tough stretch of games, and it has been a battle. They’re hanging in there and their hearts are in it. Our emotions are a little drained right now, but we are not down and out.”

Holliday’s Pokes should still pretty easily be in the postseason tournament as multiple outlets had them as high as a No. 2 seed before the Big 12 Tournament. But with the way they’ve been trending, who knows how long they’ll last.