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OSU Baseball Swept by North Carolina On Three Walk-Off Hits

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OSU baseball fell victim to three walk-off losses in its first road series of the season against the No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels. This is the Cowboys’ second straight disappointing weekend after going 2-2 last  in Arlington to start the season.

After its toughest non-conference test OSU sits at 2-5. I’m sure coach Holliday understood that it was going to be difficult to win a road series against a top 10 team in February, but to get swept and walked-off three times is not the result anyone was looking for.

Friday

UNC 2, OSU 1
WP: Williams (1-0) LP: Tyler Buffett (0-1)

RHP Thomas Hatch dealt with a bunch of base runners in his five innings, but only surrendered one run. Garrett Benge hit a mammoth solo home run in the second inning for the Cowboys only run in the game. OSU only managed four hits on the day as UNC RHP Zac Gallen was dominant.

Buffett came on to pitch in the sixth inning and he shut down UNC for three innings, but gave up a double to Kyle Datres that plated the winning run in the ninth. This was the first run Buffett had given up all season after nine scoreless frames.

Summary: OSU ran in to a true No. 1 pitcher and made him look really good.

Saturday

UNC 7, OSU 6
WP: Aker (1-0) LP: Cobb (0-2)

Dustin Williams put the Cowboys up 4-0 with a 1st inning grand slam. However, that lead had already evaporated by the third inning with the teams tied at 5.

RHP Michael Mertz struggled majorly with his command in his first career start, walking five hitters in 2+ innings of work. Going in the eighth, OSU trailed 6-5, but Conor Costello drove a single to right field to even the score once again.

The game headed to extra innings and RHP Trey Cobb gave up two walks and two hits including a walk-off single in the 10th for his second loss of the year.

Summary: OSU walked 10 hitters and blew a 4-0 lead, what else needs to be said?

Sunday

UNC 4, OSU 3
WP: Butler (1-0) LP: Cobb (0-3)

Donnie Walton hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give OSU an early lead again. UNC was able to work over RHP Jensen Elliott for two runs to even the score at through three innings.

The Cowboys regained the lead in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Williams that scored Walton. OSU brought that 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Buffett walked the first hitter of the inning and was replaced by Cobb who struggled for the second straight game. Cobb walked his first hitter and got an out on a sac bunt before allowing another walk-off hit.

Summary: Bullpen woes continue and the offense that only managed one run after the first.

What we learned

• The bullpen has some work to do. Cobb was not himself as a reliever this weekend after being used as a starter against UTA. Multi-run leads need to be held if this team  wants to be successful.

• The pitching rotation is still figuring itself out. Hatch and Elliott both pitched respectably against quality opponents and will continue to get better as the season goes on. HP Garrett Williams should make his 2016 debut soon as he is waiting for a sore shoulder to heal.

• There’s no need to freak out. While this wasn’t a strong showing from the Cowboys, they are typically a team that gets better with time. OSU will slip in the polls for now, but my thoughts on this team didn’t change after the weekend. The bullpen will get sharper with time.

The Cowboys have a chance to bounce back at home as they host Incarnate Word for a two-game midweek series and then Indiana State comes to town this weekend for a three-gamer.

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