No. 19 Texas Beats Oklahoma State 9-2 to Advance to Big 12 Championship

A complete recap of Texas' game against Oklahoma State.

Following an ugly showing in their Saturday morning game against Oklahoma State, the Texas Longhorns entered their second game of the day facing possible elimination. With their tournament hopes on the line, the Longhorns responded in strong fashion as they cruised past the Cowboys to advance to the Big 12 championship on Sunday. 

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No. 5 Texas 9 No. 4 Oklahoma State 2

With starters Pete Hansen and Lucas Gordon unavailable for the Longhorns on short rest, they would have to get nine solid innings from their bullpen, which they did with no doubts left. The Longhorns started Andre Duplantier II, who at one point was the Tuesday starter but had since been moved to the bullpen when he struggled with command issues. 

Duplantier was shaky out of the gate, walking two in the first inning and giving up an early run on a Jake Thompson sacrifice fly, but he would get out of the inning limiting the Cowboys to one run. That lead would not last long, however, as the Longhorns would respond immediately in the top of the second. The Longhorns would plate a pair of runs on a fielding error and Trey Faltine RBI single to put Texas ahead 2-1. 

The true damage would be done in the third inning though as the Longhorns would push across five runs to break the game wide open. Faltine stayed red hot at the plate as he would smash a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner to put Texas ahead 6-1, and would score when Doug Hodo stepped to the plate next for an RBI double of his own to make it 7-1 Texas. A two-run fifth inning, on a Dylan Campbell RBI triple and Ivan Melendez RBI single would make it 9-1 Texas. 

Trey Faltine

Murphy Stehly

Austin Todd

From there, the Longhorns would cruise through the rest of the game, only allowing one more run in the bottom of the fifth, as Luke Harrison would give up a solo home run to Nolan McLean to make it 9-2 Texas. The Longhorns would get a massive showing from their bullpen in this one, cruising to the 9-2 victory and advancing to the Big 12 Championship on Sunday. 

What's next for Texas?

The Longhorns will take on the Oklahoma Sooners for the Big 12 title on Sunday, a team they took two out of three from earlier this season. While they have likely secured a chance to host a regional once the NCAA Tournament starts, a win over Oklahoma on Sunday could push the Longhorns into the conversation to be a top-eight seed nationally. 

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You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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