OSU Baseball: Cowboys Fall in Extra Innings to UCF 7-6, Face Quick Turnaround in Big 12 Tourney

A late start and an extra inning made for a late finish. Now the Cowboys could face an early exit from Arlington.

No. 2 seed Oklahoma State fell to the 8 seed UCF 7-6 in 10 innings late Thursday night/early Friday morning. The Cowboys tied it after midnight, but the Knights had one more run in them.

Thanks to the previous game between Cincinnati and Texas Tech going long, OSU and UCF got started almost two hours late, but both teams were ready to go.

Oklahoma State got on the board early with a burst of runs, scoring four in the bottom of the first with Carson Benge (2-for-4), Aidan Meola (1-for-5), Colin Brueggemann by fly-out (0-for-4) and Lane Forsythe by bunt (0-for-2) all sending runners home. But the Knights answered back with four runs of their own in the top of the second leaving it tied at 4.

Jump on ’em early (again)

A 4⃣-run 1st for the Cowboys #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/RTj1X78Nhx

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 24, 2024

Carson Benge shook things up, as he’s wont to do, with a home run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Cowboys a 5-4 lead, but UCF’s Matt Cedarburg hit a two-run bomb in the seventh to take the lead at 6-5.

In the eighth, Tyler Wulfert (1-for-4) smacked one off the left-field wall that sent Forsythe home and tied it at 6 and facilitated the extra inning it would take to end it. UCF’s AJ Nessler’s RBI single made it 7-6 in the top of the 10th, and Dominic Castellano earned the win for the Knights striking out three in two innings. The final two Cowboys he faced went down swinging.

The Cowboys had some struggles on the mound, turning in a team 5.99 ERA and employing four different arms. Brennan Phillips got the start and pitched one cleaning inning before giving up three of those runs in the top of the second. Evan O’Toole came on for three innings, striking out one and allowing that fourth score. Ryan Bogusz had his turn at the mound striking out a pair of Knights but allowing a pair of runs, and Gabe Davis took the L, pitching three 1/3 innings, allowing a run and logging three Ks.

The Cowboys weren’t without their plays on defense, but Knights, ultimately, had their number.

6⃣ ➡️ 4⃣ ➡️ 3⃣

A pitcher’s best friend#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/j9POJniDVL

— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) May 24, 2024

With the loss, the 2 seed Cowboys fall to 37-17 on the season. They will face a short turnaround in hopes of another long night. OSU will rematch with 10 seed Texas Tech, scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday. The winner will face UCF at 7:30 p.m. Friday for a shot at the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday.