Oklahoma State Takes Two of Three From Indiana State

OSU baseball won its first weekend series against Indiana State this weekend, taking two out of three games to move its record to 6-6. The Cowboys pitched well all weekend but still cannot string hits together in a consistent manner.

Friday — OSU 1, ISU 0

WP: Tyler Buffett (2-1) LP: McKinney (0-1) S: Trey Cobb (2)

In another game where the offense struggled to get things going, the pitching was once again able to pick up the slack. RHP Thomas Hatch looked incredible, going seven shutout innings and allowing only six base runners. This solid outing lowered Hatch’s ERA to 1.42, which is the lowest of any OSU starter thus far.

The offense only managed five hits in this game, but it only took a bunt single from Garrett McCain and then a double down the right field line by Dustin Williams for the Cowboys to score the only run of the game.

The bullpen shut the game down after that with Buffett and Cobb each throwing 1-2-3 innings to secure the victory.

Summary: Dominant pitching makes up for a rough day at the plate.

Saturday — OSU 9, ISU 2

WP: Blake Battenfield (1-0) LP: Petersen (2-1) S: Remey Reed (1)

A day after OSU could only score a run, the offense exploded for nine runs on Saturday to clinch its first weekend series of the year. The Cowboys fell down 1-0 early, but Ryan Sluder evened it up with his first homer of the season in the second inning.

Sluder wasn’t the only Cowboy to send one out, however, Conor Costello got a hold of one in the sixth inning that put OSU up 4-2. OSU got two more in the inning when Collin Theroux hit a double to left field, which was followed by an RBI-double from McCain.

The big inning was capped off when a wild pitch and a passed ball each allowed runs to score. In total, the Cowboys scored six runs in the inning to distance themselves from the Sycamores.

RHP Jensen Elliott struggled to avoid contact, giving up eights hits in four innings. However, the damage was limited to only two runs, which is a big credit to the freshman for getting out of tough jams in the 2nd-4th innings.

The Cowboys got another scoreless performance from the bullpen. Battenfield threw two easy innings of relief followed by Reed who closed it out for a three-inning save.

Summary: OSU cashes in on big sixth inning for victory.

Sunday — ISU 2, OSU 0

WP: Hill (2-0) LP: Michael Mertz (0-1) S: McKiney

With the series already clinched, OSU brought no intensity into Sunday whatsoever. After a great offensive day the Cowboys only scratched three hits in Sunday’s loss to Indiana State.

This is an embarrassing result for a Big 12 team. Getting shut out by the Sunday starter for an average team in the Missouri Valley Conference should never happen. This offense has major problems that need to be fixed before this team can even think about a regional.

RHP Michael Mertz got the start and went 4 2/3 innings and gave up the only two runs in the game. Mertz had an inconsistent outing, but showed the ability to generate strikeouts (7), which he previously hadn’t shown.

This was the best outing I’ve seen for from Mertz thus far, but I don’t think he is cut out for the weekend rotation at this point. Buffett was superb in relief again, throwing 3 1/3 innings and only gave up one hit.

What we learned

• The weekend rotation is starting to take its shape. Hatch appears to have a spot locked up going forward and the same could be said for Elliott. I think Holliday and Co. Need to look elsewhere to fill the Sunday slot. I’d rather see Ben Leeper in that spot than Mertz.

• The offense has some serious work to do (see my rant on Sunday’s game). Other than the sixth inning of Saturday’s game (six runs) the team scored four runs in 24 innings this weekend. Offensive consistency has escaped this team in the 2016 season and it needs to be found soon.

The Cowboys travel to Missouri State for a midweek game this Tuesday and then will play Abilene Christian for a weekend series at home.