OSU Baseball: Regional Loss to Florida Continues Stretch of Early Exits
Oklahoma State’s baseball season came to a disappointing and heartbreaking end yet again.
OSU had as good of a start to the Stillwater Regional as it could have hoped for. OSU’s opening game was a 19-7 win against Niagara. Filled with great offense, OSU carried its momentum into the next day.
The Cowboys' second game was a 7-1 win against Florida to help them advance to the Regional Final. After Brian Holiday’s near-shutout, the Cowboys were a win away from their first Super Regional since 2019.
However, the fate of OSU baseball looked the same as the past two seasons. After Florida battled through a rain delay to beat Nebraska in the elimination game, it avenged its first loss to OSU on Sunday night.
A 5-2 loss to Florida in the first game of the Regional Final was defined by missed opportunities. Most notably, the Cowboys’ inability to score more than one run in the bottom of the fourth inning likely derailed their season. That situation saw the Cowboys load the bases with zero outs.
Although OSU did not have quite as great of a situation on Monday, it was still a disappointing finish to the season. Florida never trailed in a low-scoring game before the Gators escaped with a 4-2 win to advance to the Clemson Super Regional.
Still, OSU had bright spots throughout its four games in Stillwater. Holiday, Nolan Schubart, Zach Ehrhard and Ian Daugherty made the All-Regional team for Stillwater.
The disappointing finish to the season was another chapter in OSU’s recent failures in Regional play. Despite hosting three straight Regionals, OSU has not advanced to a Super Regional since 2019.
In Josh Holliday’s tenure, OSU has never missed a Regional, yet it has only advanced to a Super Regional three times. In that span, OSU has hosted four Regionals in Stillwater.
This season was not as harsh of an exit as the 2023 debacle, where the Cowboys went winless, including an 18-4 loss to Dallas Baptist to end the season. However, the loss was another reminder of OSU’s recent postseason shortcomings. Albeit, a particularly harsh reminder after OSU’s run to the Big 12 Championship a week earlier.
READ MORE: Oklahoma State Ends Season With Loss to Florida in Regional Final
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.