Cowboy Baseball Secures Win Over Baylor in Big 12 Tournament Opener

Oklahoma State’s season is still alive after taking its Big 12 Tournament opener.

OSU baseball secured a 4-3 win against Baylor in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington. As the No. 7 seed, the Cowboys entered Wednesday’s matchup as a favorite against No. 10 seed Baylor, a team it won a series against in Waco earlier this month.

The Cowboys were the first to strike in the matchup, with Kollin Ritchie hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. However, that lead would be shortlived for the Pokes. Baylor scored two runs in the top of the third and secured its first lead of the evening.

The Bears extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, and it appeared that the Cowboys might be in trouble. That all changed in the bottom of the sixth, with the Cowboys scoring a couple of runs to tie the game, including the tying run on an error.

Baylor committed another self-inflicted wound in the bottom of the seventh, with an era leading to the go-ahead run for OSU. The Cowboys managed to keep the Bears scoreless across the final four innings to keep their hopes of repeating as Big 12 champions alive.

This season has been far from perfect for Josh Holliday’s team, but the Big 12 Tournament still represented an opportunity for the Cowboys to continue building off their late-season momentum. Entering the conference tournament, the Cowboys had won nine of their past 10 games and won three straight Big 12 series to finish conference play.

With wins against UCF, Baylor and Arizona State, OSU captured some quality wins against tough opponents to slowly rehabilitate its national image. While the Cowboys jumped back into the projected NCAA Tournament field with their performance to finish the regular season, a nice run in Arlington was something the Cowboys were hoping for to maintain and improve their status as they look to keep playing postseason baseball.

While the win against Baylor certainly helped the Cowboys’ path to the NCAA Tournament, they could get even closer to solidifying their spot if they can beat No. 2 seed Kansas in the quarterfinals on Thursday.