The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 16 Baseball sweeps series with 8-7 victory over Oklahoma State
03.26.2006 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas -- Drew Stubbs delivered a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth and Austin Wood notched his second save in as many days as No. 16 Texas earned a series sweep of Oklahoma State with an 8-7 victory in front of 5,411 fans at Disch-Falk Field on Sunday, March 26.
The Longhorns' (19-10, 4-1 Big 12) one-run triumph over the Cowboys (15-7, 0-3 Big 12) not only earned them their first conference series sweep of the 2006 campaign, but upped their current win streak to four games.
Oklahoma State jumped in front 1-0 in the top of the first inning when a two-out error combined with back-to-back singles from Tyler Mach and Ty Wright to produce the first run of the ballgame. Answering in the bottom half of the inning, UT's Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas) drew a one-out walk, moved to third on a wild pitch followed by a balk and scored on a RBI-groundout from Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) to tie the game at 1-1. Texas then claimed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run home run off the bat of Kyle Russell (Tomball, Texas) before three consecutive one out hits plated another score to up the advantage to 4-1. While the Horns did manage to load the bases with two outs in the second, OSU starter Jordy Mercer got his next batter to fly out to left and keep the deficit at three.
Coming right back in the top of the third, the Cowboys used a two-out, RBI-base hit from Mach followed by a two-run home run off the bat of Ty Wright to deadlock the game at 4-4. The Longhorns quickly reclaimed the lead at 5-4 in the bottom of the third with a two-out solo home run from Russell. Following a scoreless fourth for both sides, Oklahoma State put two runners on with one out in the top of the fifth via a walk and a hit batter. A Mach RBI-double then tied the contest at 5-5, but UT starter Riley Boening (Yoakum, Texas) fanned two batters around an intentional walk to maneuver out of the jam. One inning later in the bottom of the sixth, Texas loaded the bases with two outs via a pair of walks and a single, but Oklahoma State reliever Brae Wright induced a pop-up to keep the game tied at 5-5.
OSU would claim its second lead of the contest in the seventh when Ty Wright singled through the right side with runners on first and second with one down to make it 6-5 in favor of the Cowboys. With Oklahoma State still threatening in the inning, Texas reliever Joseph Krebs (Bridgeport, Texas) got his next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep it a one-run game. Continuing to battle back, the Longhorns put together another threat in the eighth by placing two runners on with one out. After a fly out to left, Stubbs then connected on a three-run home run to stake UT to an 8-6 advantage. Failing to go quietly, OSU put together a two-out rally in the top of the ninth with consecutive singles from Mach and Ty Wright to score one run and put the tying run 90-feet away. Wood (Kingwood, Texas) then emerged from the bullpen and retired the only batter he faced on a fly ball to right to earn his third save of the season. Picking up his first career victory was Krebs, who tossed 2.2 innings in relief, while Brae Wright shouldered the loss for the Cowboys despite working 5.2 frames. Notably, Boening received a no-decision during his sixth start of the year for Texas by striking out a career-best eight over a career-high six innings.
Leading the way for the Longhorns offense on the day were Stubbs, who tied a career-high with four RBI, Russell, who went 2-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBI, and Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas), who posted two hits. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, had its 11-hit attack paced by Mach, who went a perfect 5-for-5 with one run scored and two RBI, and Ty Wright, who drove in five runs while scoring once during a 4-for-5 effort. Of additional note for UT, Russell became the first Texas player to hit two home runs in one game since former Longhorn David Maroul turned the trick against Texas A&M on May 20, 2005, in College Station.
Up next, the Longhorns travel to Norman, Okla., to open a three-game conference series against the Sooners on Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m. Central. Of note, all three games between Texas and Oklahoma (March 31 - April 2) will be televised by ESPNU.
