Before combining to take down Texas in a series sweep, a trio of TCU pitchers — junior Riley Ferrell, senior Preston Morrison and junior Alex Young — were named to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame National Pitcher of the Year watch list.
Morrison leads the Big 12 with nine wins and two shutouts and currently leads the conference in active career wins and ERA. Young ranks second with eight wins and third in ERAs with a 1.65 average. The two combined for just over 13 innings pitched, six strikeouts and four earned runs.
Farrell leads the conference with 11 saves, including one against the Longhorns on Saturday.
Oklahoma State’s Michael Freeman and Texas Tech’s Corey Taylor were also named to the watch list.
Oklahoma State takes series over Texas Tech
After falling in the first game of the series against Texas Tech on Friday, Oklahoma State climbed back to win the next two games, winning the series and maintaining its lead in
the conference.
The Red Raiders took the first game of the series behind the arm of Ryan Moseley, who held the Cowboys to just one run on six hits, striking out seven in seven innings of work in a 5–3 win.
Oklahoma State bounced back the next day, piling on eight runs on 13 hits. Freshman third baseman Jacob Chappell led the way with three RBIs and two walks in the win.
The Cowboys finished off the series with a win Sunday, striking for five runs in the first four innings, including two home runs in a three-run fourth inning.
With the series victory, Oklahoma State held onto its conference lead. The Cowboys hold a game-and-a-half advantage over TCU.
Cowboys, Sooners set to square off in ‘Bedlam’
With the regular season winding down, the ‘Bedlam’ rivalry between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will likely decide who takes home the Big 12 regular season crown.
The Cowboys currently sit in the top spot in the conference, sporting a 12–6 conference record and a game-and-a-half lead over Oklahoma and TCU. They also sit in second in team batting, with a .287 batting average, and team pitching, with a 2.79 ERA. Senior pitcher Michael Freeman leads all starters in the conference with a 1.17 ERA and a .185 opponent’s batting average.
But Oklahoma will counter with senior pitcher Robert Tasin, who’s fourth in the conference with a 1.93 ERA and junior infielder Kolbey Carpenter, who’s second in the Big 12 with a .370 batting average and eight home runs.
Conference Rankings
Despite sweeping Texas in dominating fashion over the weekend, TCU remained fifth in the latest Baseball America rankings released Monday.
The same top five teams remain at the top of the rankings, although Texas A&M dropped from second to third after losing its series to No. 1 LSU this weekend. UCLA jumped to the second spot, and Louisville remained in fourth.
Oklahoma State jumped up five spots to 12th following its series win over Texas Tech, which dropped out of the poll altogether.
