Cowboys Squander Five-Run Lead, Fall to Kansas State 13-9

MANHATTAN, Kan. — As quickly as the Cowboys built a comfortable lead late, it vanished even more quickly.

Three home runs and five runs over the sixth and seventh innings gave Oklahoma State a five-run cushion. With veteran right-hander Mario Pesca in control through six frames, a series-tying victory appeared inevitable.

Until it wasn't.

OSU's 13-9 loss to Kansas State on Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium wasn't a product of one lingering negative. Instead, it was a culmination of them, highlighted by immense misfortune, late-game bullpen woes and, in the words of OSU head coach Josh Holliday, "bad execution all around."

The Cowboys (21-14, 6-8 Big 12) built an early 4-0 lead off two homers in the first inning, and a timely RBI single from first baseman Colin Brueggemann in the third. The Wildcats (23-12, 7-7 Big 12) rallied to tie it over the middle innings, but as it so often has over the past week, OSU responded to adversity. Three more home runs gave the Cowboys a 9-4 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Pesca, who sat at 100 pitches leading into the frame, trotted back out. And given how thin OSU's pitching staff was with injuries to key arms such as ace left-hander Huson Barrett and closer Noah Wech, Holliday said he didn't second-guess Pesca's return to the mound.

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"We're probably at the stage in the season where 100, 110, 115 and 120 pitches is where a healthy, strong has got to be for us," Holliday said. "And we are putting together every inning accordingly, out by out."

But then came the avalanche.

A three-run homer from Wildcat catcher Bear Madliak drew K-State within two, chasing Pesca — seven strikeouts, eight hits, four walks, and seven earned runs through 6 2/3 innings and 113 total pitches — from the contest. Sophomore right-hander Stormy Rhodes entered in relief of Pesca to weather the storm, but to no avail.

Shortly after came two batters hit by pitches, before an RBI single from K-State third baseman Grant Gallagher trimmed the deficit to one run.

The roar from the home crowd signaled momentum being in favor of the Wildcats. And from that point on, the outcome snowballed in their favor.

One inning later came the ultimate blow.

It started with a walk, which was swiftly followed by an RBI single from Madliak. Then came an error from Cowboys second baseman Garrett Shull, who lost a throw from third baseman Aidan Meola in the sun on an attempted double play. Next, a throwing error from Brock Thompson at shortstop, as the inning progressively evolved in negative fashion for the Cowboys.

The Wildcats plated five runs in the bottom of the eighth off four timely hits and two costly OSU errors. And ultimately, they plated their second-straight crooked frame that made the Cowboys' once comfortable lead quickly become a distant memory.

"The final two innings for (Kansas State) — those will definitely keep you up at night," Holliday said. "You'll replay them and analyze every moment. Not a lot of hard-hit balls, and some of those balls, quite honestly, we got caught in between them. First (Meola and Shull's) throw in the sun, and then it all snowballed.

"That all led to too many extra outs. On a windy day and against a good team, the last thing that you want to do is give them extra swings, which we did. But we didn't lack a competitive spirit, we just lacked execution and we didn't finish what we started, and that's difficult to wrap your head around."

OSU entered the weekend surging after a sweep at home against Cincinnati and in search of a defining series victory. Instead, the opposite transpired.

With the loss Saturday, the Cowboys' Rating Percentage Index (RPI) — a composite metric used by the NCAA selection committee to evaluate teams for at-large postseason bids — has dropped 14 spots to 58 since Friday. When factoring automatic bids in conference tournament play, that likely puts them in territory of being on the outside looking in come Selection Monday.

Now, the immediate goal becomes clearer — win on Sunday. With first-place Kansas coming to Stillwater next weekend, and clashes with TCU and Arizona State still lingering on the schedule, a victory in the series finale becomes all the more vital.

A series loss is grueling enough, but it isn't season-altering. Suffering a sweep, however, might be.

"Just have to come back tomorrow ready to play," Holliday said. "We were aware of the task at hand heading into the weekend and we simply didn't execute. That's on us. We have a chance tomorrow to settle things with a win, and that has to be our focus and our only focus until then."

Offense erupts over early innings, falters down the stretch

Holliday noted Friday the vitality behind exposing K-State's bullpen early, given the Wildcats' struggles on the mound late in games throughout the season.

The Cowboys were unable to do so in Friday's loss. But Saturday was a polar opposite. One blow evolved into more, and the Cowboys were off and running early.

Alex Conover led off the game with an opposite-field solo homer, before Kollin Ritchie launched his 20th homer of the season with a two-run blast over the batter's eye in center field. Two innings later, Brueggemann beat the shift, lofting a 1-0 slider to shallow right field for an RBI single.

In the blink of an eye, the Cowboys led 4-0. And while the Wildcats rallied over the middle innings, OSU responded in the top of the sixth with solo blasts from designated hitter Evan Saunders and Thompson to make it 6-4. One inning later, Saunders launched his second long ball of the day with a three-run moonshot to left-center field, making it 9-4 OSU.

But when the Wildcats threatened a second time, the OSU bats went quiet. The K-State bullpen neutralized the ensuing six Cowboy batters to put a bow on the end result.

Concurrently, OSU's strikeout issues resurfaced.

After striking out 17 times in Friday's series opener, the Cowboys struck out 14 on Saturday, bringing their weekend total to 31. Strikeouts have been a lingering blemish for OSU throughout the season. After Saturday, it ranks atop the Big 12 with 372 on the year. Yet, midway through conference play, such issues have yet to be patched. And if they aren't, more trouble might await this team down the stretch in untimely fashion as it fights for a 13th-straight regional berth.

"I loved the first few innings, I didn't love the next couple, but I loved how we rebounded in the middle (innings)," Holliday said. "You have to almost be super selfish with your at-bats in that you don't give anything at all away. You have to make the pitcher, on a day like today where it's very difficult to pitch — you have to really make him make, in my opinion, more than one good pitch to get you out. There were too many at-bats late where they made one pitch and got us out.

"I would have definitely liked to have seen more at-bats where they had to make more pitches to beat us. That would have been ideal in my eyes."

Navigating Sunday's pitching plan

A week ago, Holliday told reporters Rhodes was a likely candidate to slot into OSU's starting pitching rotation given Barrett's long-term injury.

Given his experience as a sophomore arm and his success out of the bullpen, it made sense for him to be a viable option. Not to mention, a mechanical tweak on his curveball from pitching coach Blake Hawksworth made Rhodes' stuff and pitchability emulate that of a seasoned starter.

But then came Wech's injury on Tuesday when OSU hosted Oral Roberts, which made Holliday's established pitching plan more clouded.

That was on display Saturday when Rhodes replaced Pesca in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rhodes was efficient early, but ultimately fell victim to K-State's offensive onslaught, surrendering six hits, a walk, and four earned runs through 1 1/3 innings and 43 total pitches.

Now, with Rhodes likely unavailable for Sunday, Holliday and Hawksworth will have to delve deeper into their pitching staff to pinpoint a starter.

"We're day by day right now," Holliday said. "There's some luxuries that we don't have right now that you'd really like to have as a coach. But that's baseball. We'll figure it out as we go."

No OSU players were made available for comment following the loss.