OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The West Virginia University baseball team fell to No. 22 Oklahoma State, 12-2 in seven innings, on Friday night at the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship in Oklahoma City, Okla..
The Mountaineers fell behind early en route to their first loss at this year’s tournament. Eighth-seeded WVU (25-26) finished with two runs on four hits with two errors, while the No. 4-seed Cowboys (34-16-1) tallied 12 runs on 18 hits with no errors.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed suffered the loss on the mound, dropping his record to 4-5 on the season, while OSU’s Parker Scott was credited with the win and Bryce Osmond notched a three-inning save for the Cowboys.
After the Mountaineers stranded a runner on third to begin the game, Oklahoma State wasted no time taking the early lead in the bottom of the first. Reed lasted just five batters before sophomore left-handed pitcher Jake Carr relieved him out of the bullpen. The Cowboys tallied five runs in the frame to build a 5-0 advantage.
From there, WVU left two more on the base paths in the second before OSU extended the lead with a three-run homer in the bottom half to make it 8-0. The Mountaineers responded in the top of the fourth with a home run of their own, a two-run shot off the bat of redshirt sophomore infielder/outfielder Alec Burns, to cut the deficit to six.
The big fly marked the sixth of the year for Burns, who has left the yard in three of the last four games.
But Oklahoma State got its lead back to eight by plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 10-2. The Cowboys scored two more in the bottom of the seventh to advance in the winner’s bracket.
Along with Reed (0.1 IP) and Carr (2.2 IP), junior left-hander Beau Lowery (3.0 IP) and sophomore right-hander Skylar Gonzalez (0.2 IP) also came out of the bullpen for West Virginia in the loss. Burns led the way at the plate, finishing 1-for-3 with the two RBI.
With the loss, WVU fell to 12-20 all-time against Oklahoma State, as well as 15-13 in the Big 12 Championship.
