OSU Baseball Wins, Softball Falls

Cowboys Win On Arakawa's Walk Off

STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State got a walk-off single from Tim Arakawa to even its series against TCU as the 24th-ranked Cowboys earned a 2-1 win Saturday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

With OSU down to its final out in the bottom of the ninth of a 1-1 game, Arakawa delivered a single to center field to score Gage Green and help the Cowboys improve to 18-9 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 Conference play.

The victory marked the 11th come-from-behind win for coach Josh Holliday's Cowboys this season, and they also improved to 7-0 in one-run games.

OSU's two-out, ninth-inning rally started when Gage Green was hit by a pitch, and Zach Fish followed that with a walk. That brought Arakawa to the plate, and after going hitless in his first three at-bats, the junior came up with his second walk-off single of the season.

Arakawa's big hit allowed Brendan McCurry to earn his Big 12-best fifth win of the year as the Cowboys' senior closer improved to 5-0 after pitching a scoreless ninth.

McCurry came out of the bullpen after Blake Battenfield surrendered a leadoff double to Kyle Bacak. Following a sacrifice bunt that advanced Bacak to third, McCurry induced a groundball to first base against a drawn-in infield. Tanner Krietemeier snared the ball and threw home. Bacak leapt over the tag of OSU catcher Gage Green but failed to touch home plate, and Green tagged him out to keep the score tied at 1-1.

In a game with few scoring opportunities, TCU (15-11, 2-3) took the initial lead in the second on an RBI single by Connor Castellano off Cowboy starter Tyler Buffett, who worked four innings in his first-career start.

OSU answered with the tying run in the third. Craig McConaughy opened the inning with a single, and after advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Saulyer Saxon, he scored on an RBI single by Donnie Walton.

From there the game was a pitcher's duel. TCU starter Preston Morrison lasted 5.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits and striking out three.

For the Cowboys, Trey Cobb came on in relief of Buffett to open the fifth, but he surrendered two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out before OSU called on Battenfield.

And Battenfield came up big to get Holliday's club out of the jam, striking out Jerrick Suiter before ending the threat by getting Keaton Jones to fly out.

Battenfield continued his dominance as he worked 3.2 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while striking out a pair. The freshman righty has not allowed a run in 22 innings this season.

The two teams will return to action Sunday for the rubber game of the series, which is set for a 1 p.m. start.

Softball Falls to Kansas, 4-0

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Oklahoma State softball team dropped game two of the three-game series against Kansas, 4-0, Saturday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark.

Just as the night before, the game was a battle between the pitchers. Kansas struck in the bottom of the fifth inning when Chaley Brickey hit a solo home run to left center to put the Jayhawks up 1-0.

The Jayhawks (26-10, 2-0 Big 12) extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ashley Newman singled in Chanin Naudin. The next batter, Alex Jones doubled to centerfield, scoring Taylor Hatfield and Newman to go up 4-0.

At the plate, the Cowgirls had nine hits. Shelby Davis went 2-for-4 and Tarah Ettinger was 2-for-3. Ari Morrison, Danielle Riddle, Whitney Whitehorn, Shianne Hughes and Gessenia DeLaCruz all recorded a hit for OSU.

Whitehorn (4-5) started in the circle for the Cowgirls and pitched four and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out one. Meagan Lively entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and got the one batter out that she faced. Simone Freeman entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, allowing one run on two hits and striking out one.

For Kansas, starter Alicia Pille (9-5) went five innings, giving up no runs on seven hits while striking out three. Kelsey Kessler entered the game in the sixth, giving up two hits and striking out five.

The Cowgirls (19-13, 0-2) look to salvage the final game of the series Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for noon. ​