Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 17-ranked and fourth-seeded West Virginia University baseball team lost the Big 12 Championship Game to 11th-ranked and third-seeded Oklahoma State, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
 
The Mountaineers (37-20) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but the Cowboys (36-18) rallied with three in the fifth inning and added two in the eighth before WVU scored its final run in the ninth. West Virginia scored its two runs on eight hits, while OSU's five runs came on six hits.
 
WVU went 3-2 at the Big 12 Championship and was playing in its second Big 12 title game in program history and first since 2016. West Virginia is one of two teams to make the Big 12 Championship Semifinals in four consecutive seasons.
 
"Congrats to the Cowboys, very well deserving, they have a great team," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "When you get late in the tournament like this, and you have some attrition in the bullpen, you need to find heroes, those guys that go out there and pitch on multiple days. They (Oklahoma State) ran two guys out there in this game that pitched in the first game. That's not easy to do, but they changed the game with their defense. We talk about it with (junior outfielder Brandon White) and Shea Langeliers from Baylor, but their shortstop and their right fielder, between the two of them, saved a bunch of runs today. We had our opportunities, we had guys on base and hit into a couple double plays. We hit the ball hard, it just goes right to them. If those balls go between them, it's a whole different game. If we didn't have another weekend to play, if we weren't fighting to host a regional, then we can leave old Snyd-man (junior left-handed starter Nick Snyder) in there for the whole game. We took him out just when he usually starts getting good, but he did a great job, all of our guys did. I think that's the fourth straight year we've made the semifinals in this tournament, and twice out of the last four, we've played for the championship. So, I'm super proud of our guys, love Oklahoma City. I can't wait to be back."
 
Junior right-hander Alek Manoah, junior center fielder Brandon White, sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes and freshman right-hander Ryan Bergert were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. WVU's four selections are tied for its most since joining the league, to go along with four in 2016 and 2017.
 
Junior right-hander Nick Snyder made his second start of the championship and held OSU to just one hit in 3.0 innings. He struck out seven and walked one. Freshman right-hander Madison Jeffrey suffered the loss, the first of his career. He gave up three runs on no hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 1.2 innings.
 
Offensively, Doanes and freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker each had two hits for the Mountaineers.
 
West Virginia scored its first run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. Junior left fielder TJ Lake led off the frame with a single up the middle, and back-to-back infield bunt singles followed to load the bases for White. He grounded into a double play, but it scored Lake to put WVU on top for the third consecutive game.
 
Snyder followed with a scoreless third inning before he gave up a leadoff single in the fourth, his only hit allowed of the game. Jeffrey relieved Snyder and needed just seven pitches to get out of the inning.
 
Oklahoma State took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases, and senior left-hander Zach Reid relieved Jeffrey. A walk brought the first run in before a two-RBI double scored two more. The inning ended when White threw out a runner at home on the play.
 
Junior right-handed reliever Sam Kessler left one on in the sixth inning and retired the side in the seventh after the Mountaineers stranded a runner on third in the top half.
 
The first two Mountaineers reached in the eighth, on a single by Doanes and a walk to White, but a double play and a flyout ended the inning.
 
OSU added to its lead with two RBI singles in the bottom of the frame to make it 5-1.
 
West Virginia pushed a run across in the ninth, but could not get any closer. Sophomore designated hitter Paul McIntosh led off the inning with a double and scored from third on a groundout.
 
The 2019 NCAA Championship Selection Show is set for Monday, May 27, at noon ET, and broadcast live on ESPNU. The Mountaineers are expected to earn their 13th NCAA berth and first since 2017. The 16 NCAA Regional hosts will be announced on Sunday, at 8:30 p.m., on NCAA.com, the NCAA social media platforms and on the ESPN Bottomline.
 
Notes: West Virginia falls to 37-20 on the season, 3-2 at a neutral site and 9-7 against top-25 teams … WVU was playing in its second Big 12 Championship Game in program history (2016) … West Virginia is 13-12 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 10-7 since 2016 … The Mountaineers are 8-5 as a No. 4 seed at the Big 12 Championship, 2-3 against No. 3 seeds and 2-4 against Oklahoma State … The Mountaineers have won 10 of their last 13 games … WVU's 37 wins are tied for second-most in program history (1998, 2009) … West Virginia pitchers had 12 strikeouts and have 562 on the season to extend its program record … Mountaineer hitters drew two walks to bring their season total to 242, second-most in the WVU record books.
 
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