No. 22/28 Baseball falls to No. 11/7 OSU, 3-1, as Cowboys rally in 8th inning

Saturday, May 24

Oklahoma City, Okla.

12:30 p.m.

University of Texas

38-17

Oklahoma State

44-15

Texas Longhorns

Oklahoma State

Nathan Thornhill allowed just two hits in six shutout innings

No. 22/28 Baseball falls to No. 11/7 OSU, 3-1, as Cowboys rally in 8th inning

05.24.2014 | Baseball

Box Score

Longhorns and Cowboys will play again at 4:15 for a chance to go the title game

OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 1 seed Oklahoma State rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to overcome a one-run deficit and beat No. 5 seed Texas, 3-1, forcing another game between the teams in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.

The Longhorns and Cowboys will play again at approximately 4:15 p.m. with the winner earning a trip to the championship game to face No. 2 seed TCU on Sunday.

Texas led 1-0 for much of the game as Nathan Thornhill tossed a gem, going six shutout innings and allowing just two hits. The Longhorns took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on an infield single by Ben Johnson with the bases loaded, and the score remained that way until the eighth.

John Curtiss had replaced Thornhill in the seventh and recorded a 1-2-3 inning, but ran into trouble in the eighth. The Cowboys went ahead 2-1 on consecutive RBI singles from Donnie Walton and Tanner Krietemeier, prompting the Longhorns to go to the bullpen for Ty Culbreth. Culbreth recorded a strikeout for the second out in the inning, but another single by Tim Arakawa made it 3-1.

In the top of the ninth, the Longhorns went in order as Oklahoma State's Brendan McCurry picked up the save. Blake Battenfield (3-0) was credited with the win while Curtiss (1-2) took the losss.

The loss spoiled a great outing from Thornhill, who didn't surrender a hit until the fifth. He battled early, using 40 pitches to get through the first two innings as Oklahoma State batters worked deep into counts. A one-out walk and wild pitch gave the Cowboys a runner in scoring position in the second, but Thornhill got a groundout and popout to get out of the inning.

Thornhill worked around a walk in the third, retired the side in order in the fourth and gave up first hit to leadoff the fifth. But he quickly erased the runner, getting a flyout and an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

In the sixth, Thornhill issued a leadoff walk but followed up with an outstanding defensive play. With Oklahoma State's Saulyer Saxon attempting to put down a sacrifice bunt, Thornhill darted off the mound to field it and threw to second to get the lead runner. Then, after allowing a single to Donnie Walton, Thornhill struck out OSU three-hole hitter Tanner Krietemeier and got cleanup batter Gage Green to groundout to end the inning.

Texas edged out to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Johnson hit an infield single up the middle with the bases loaded to score a run. But Oklahoma State prevented further damage when it induced an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.