OSU Snaps Six-Game Losing Streak to Red Raiders

OSU Snaps Six-Game Losing Streak to Red Raiders

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#12 Oklahoma State (16-4, 1-1) scratched their most heralded transfer, Juaron Watts-Brown a Top 40 MLB prospect, from his planned Saturday start. Righthander Ben Abram stepped in and held the #22 Red Raiders (17-4, 1-1) to only one run in his six-inning start, matching his longest appearance of the season for OSU.

Game 1: The First Rule of Baseball is Never Leave Early

Abram (3-0), an imposing 6-8, 262lb presence on the mound, looked to be in trouble from the outset, issuing a leadoff walk to Nolen Hester. He settled in however and retired the side after with two strikeouts mixed in en route to sitting down six Red Raiders in order through two innings. Damian Bravo pounded a leadoff bomb to start the third, accounting for the only run surrendered by Abram in his 105 pitches Saturday. That’s Bravo’s third collegiate hit – and his second home run.

Tech continued to threaten in the frame after a Tracer Lopez single and Hester walk put two aboard. But an unlikely double play all but ended the rally when Gage Harrelson hit into a fielder’s choice. The Cowboy shortstop, Marcus Brown, made an exceptional diving stop up the middle and tossed from the ground for the force at second base. Roc Riggio, the second baseman, ate his throw to first base, but the decoy motion drew Lopez off the bag at third. Riggio fired there behind Lopez and the tag was applied as he tried to dive back into the bag. A review by the umpires upheld the out call and a groundout followed to end the inning in disappointing fashion.

The Red Raiders loaded the bases in the fifth with two outs on a Hester single, Harrelson double into the left field corner, and Kevin Bazzell walk. Austin Green went down swinging to end the frame and Tech left them loaded. Bookending this missed opportunity, Tech managed only a single hit in the fourth and sixth innings.

Mason Molina (2-1) had the start for Tech and turned in a good enough day to give the Red Raiders a fighting chance. It was Molina’s seventh straight start with at least five strikeouts.

He worked around a leadoff walk and single in the first and gave up only four hits on the afternoon. Designated hitter Tyler Wulfert led off the second inning with a solo home run and pounded another one in the fourth. Molina allowed one more run in the fifth. Riggio worked a one-out walk, took second on a wild pitch, and was hit one with an RBI single to right field by David Mendham.

Molina was complimentary of Oklahoma State hitters when comparing them to opponents seen earlier in the season. “A lot more polished, a lot of the teams are pulling offspeed pitches a little more and not on time with the heater. These guys do a really good job of being all over almost every pitch, it makes you have to go out there and compete a little more. They are a lot more polished hitting team than we’ve faced in the past, just a different ballgame.”

Molina gave way to Trendan Parish who allowed a double and RBI single in the sixth to make the score 4-1 in favor of the Cowboys. Tech scored a run in each of the final three innings but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the biggest crooked number of the day that Oklahoma State hung in the eighth.

Parish surrendered the Cowboys’ third solo home run, this time by center fielder Nolan McLean. He gave up a single and then worked the first out when Dylan Maxcey tracked down a lightly popped bunt attempt in foul territory and made a sliding snag. Jase Lopez took the bump from there and a fielder’s choice, RBI triple, hit batsman, and a three-run bomb by Riggio made it 9-2 with only six outs remaining for Tech to try to close the gap.

Tech’s final two runs came via home runs. Ty Coleman hit his first tank of the season to lead off the eighth and Green sent a solo shot to right field with two outs in the ninth but at that point, it was too little too late.

There were silver linings to be found Saturday. Hester reached in four of his five plate appearances and was joined by Coleman and Green in having multi-hit games. It was also a clean game for the Red Raiders, their third error-free game of 2023 and the first since February 25.

“Big 12 weekends are tough, the game of baseball is tough, it’s a hard game. As you mature you understand the amount of respect the game demands and how you’ve got to go about your preparation,” said Head Coach Tim Tadlock after the game. “Obviously, I’d like to not make the mistake at third base and not have Tracer round the base, it kind of took of us out the inning there.

Big 12 pitching, Big 12 teams, if you beat them on Friday, or if they beat you on Friday, you’re going to get their best on Saturday. No matter what happens on Saturday, you’re going to get their best on Sunday, it’s just the way the league is. The game demands you prepare the right way, I think the guys are doing that. At the same time there’s a lot of emotion in Friday night’s game I believe. I think you saw a team that banded together today and Oklahoma State did a really good job.”

#22 Texas Tech and #12 Oklahoma State will meet in a rubber match to decide the series winner on Sunday at 2:00 pm. No starting pitchers for either team have been announced, but Tadlock did indicate that they are deciding between Kyle Robinson and Taber Fast.

According to D1Baseball.com’s Aaron Fitt, Watts-Brown has not recovered as quickly as needed from his last start and has been held out as a precaution. He’s still a potential starter for Sunday’s rubber match for the Cowboys.

Watts-Brown and the Red Raiders have quite a bit of history as the sophomore from Hanford, California was originally signed to play at Texas Tech.

“He was a quarterback recruit, it was in the COVID years of five round [MLB] draft. We really wanted to bring him,” explained Tadlock.

Watts-Brown needed to rehab from an injury and Tadlock lamented the lack of a medical redshirt from the NCAA that would allow a player to get healthy and not count against a baseball team’s roster limits. With the five round MLB Draft that year, there were more guys remaining on Tech’s roster who in other years would have had draft opportunities, leaving no room to roster a player recovering from injury.

“We actually sat down in the cape last year and had seafood with him and his mom and he was open to coming back here, it was down to us and them [OSU] and unfortunately they got him. But he’s a great kid, great family,” explained Tadlock.

Watts-Brown threw a no-hitter for Long Beach State against UC Riverside last season, the second in that program’s history. He was also part of a combined no-hitter along with McLean and Evan O’Toole earlier this season for the Pokes.

Sunday’s radio broadcast will be available on Double T 97.3 FM in Lubbock and on The Varsity App, and the television stream will be available on ESPN+.

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