COWBOY BASEBALL ADVANCES TO BIG 12 TOURNEY TITLE GAME

ARLINGTON, Texas –

Oklahoma State rallied late to secure a spot in the Big 12 Championship title game with a 6-5 win over Texas Tech Saturday at Globe Life Field.

Aidan Meola’s walk-off home run with one out in the ninth inning lifted the 12th-ranked Pokes to the win as they improved to 41-17 on the season.

OSU will face TCU Sunday at 5 p.m. with the Big 12 Championship title on the line. The Cowboys will be seeking their fourth Big 12 tournament championship and first since 2019.

Gabe Davis picked up the first win of his career by posting two huge strikeouts in the ninth inning as he moved to 1-2 on the season.

Offensively, David Mendham led the Pokes with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, while Beau Sylvester had a clutch two-run home run to get OSU on the scoreboard in the eighth inning.

Janzen Keisel started the game on the mound for OSU and allowed just two runs on one hit. The right-hander struck out eight and walked seven in four innings of work.

Isaac Stebens also had a strong performance as he tossed three shutout frames and struck out four.

After four scoreless innings, TTU rallied for five runs in the fifth to take control of the scoreboard. Back-to-back walks opened the inning and ended Keisel’s day on the mound, and an RBI single then brought home the game’s first run.

The Red Raiders plated another run on a fielder’s choice before Hudson White smacked a three-run home run to put TTU up by a 5-0 count.

That score held until the eighth. After Zach Ehrhard led off the inning with a single, Sylvester stepped up and smashed a homer just inside the left-field foul pole. It was the freshman’s second homer of the season, with both coming at Globe Life Field; he also hit OSU’s first homer of the season against Vanderbilt on Feb. 18.

OSU would load the bases on two singles and an error before scoring on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Carson Benge then stepped to the plate and delivered a two-run single right field to tie the score at 5-5.

In the ninth, the Red Raiders put runners on first and second following an error and a single, but Davis struck out White and Tracer Lopez to end the inning and set the stage for Meola’s heroics.

Meola, who entered the game in the top of the ninth at second base, worked a 2-1 count against TTU’s Brandon Beckel before blasting a no-doubt homer over the wall in left field.