OKLAHOMA CITY – The West Virginia University baseball team lost its winner’s-bracket matchup against Oklahoma State, 8-4 on Friday evening at the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.
The Mountaineers (33-23) had 13 hits but were held to four runs against the Cowboys (28-25), who scored their eight runs on 11 hits. WVU was playing OSU in the winner’s bracket after opening the double-elimination championship with an 11-1 win over Baylor at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark yesterday.
West Virginia will play top-seeded Texas Tech on Friday at 4:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. CT in the loser’s bracket. Both teams are 1-1, and the winner will advance to play Oklahoma State on Saturday, while the looser will be eliminated.
“Our offense, we were clicking tonight,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “We just left too many guys on base early. Every guy that stood in there had a really good at-bat. We made a lot of hard outs. We got a lot of hits. I think the difference was we walked seven and hit two, and they only walked two. We gave them a lot more free bases, but our offense really grinded that one out. I’m super proud of them. Our kids are tired. We’re out there battling as hard as we can against a really good team.”
WVU was led by sophomore designated hitter Braden Zarbnisky, who had a career-high four hits, an RBI and a run scored. Along with being a new career high, his four hits are the most in a Big 12 Championship game by a Mountaineer in team history.
Three West Virginia players had two hits, including sophomore right fielder Darius Hill, who added an RBI.
Oklahoma State took an early 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Colin Simpson in the first inning.
After WVU stranded a runner in the first inning, OSU had three hits, but a double play helped Myers get out of the inning, stranding two on base. The Mountaineers followed by stranding the bases loaded in the second.
Junior right-handed starter BJ Myers departed after the second inning, and freshman reliever Sam Kessler got a double play in the third to get out of the inning.
In 2.0 innings, Myers allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout.
West Virginia stranded two in the third, and OSU extended its lead to 3-0 on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. Kessler walked two and hit a pair, but limited the damage to just one run.
The Mountaineers answered with their first run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 3-1. Zarbnisky led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. He scored on an RBI groundout by freshman center fielder Brandon White.
Oklahoma State responded with two runs on four hits in the fifth inning off of freshman reliever Cody Wood, who replaced Kessler. That made it 5-1, but again WVU answered.
The Mountaineers’ bottom of the fifth began with two outs, when back-to-back singles put runners on the corners. Zarbnisky drove home senior first baseman Jackson Cramer with a single through the left side.
The scoring for both teams continued in the sixth, with three runs on one hit, a three-run home run by Simpson.
Trailing 8-2, the Mountaineers battled back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. A one-out walk was followed by a pair of singles, the second of which by Hill scoring sophomore second baseman Kyle Gray. Sophomore shortstop Cole Austin then hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought home sophomore third baseman Ivan Gonzalez.
Senior righty Jackson Sigman, who entered the game in the sixth, pitched a scoreless seventh, getting a double play to help him face the minimum. Sigman was making his 34th appearance of the season, extending his program record.
Zarbnisky singled in the seventh, but it proved to be WVU’s last baserunner of the game.
Tomorrow’s game, along with all of Saturday’s games, will be televised on FCS, FSSW+ or FSMW+. Sunday’s championship game will air on FOX Sports Networks and ROOT SPORTS Pittsburgh. Every game at the Big 12 Championship will also be available on FOX Sports GO or through the Xfinity app to authenticated subscribers.
Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes from Oklahoma City can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team at @WVUBaseball on
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NOTES: West Virginia falls to 33-23 on the season … WVU is 7-7 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 1-2 against Oklahoma State … Braden Zarbnisky had a career-high four hits, the most by a Mountaineer in a Big 12 Championship game in team history … Reliever Jackson Sigman made his 34th appearance of the year, extending his team record.
