Cowboys crowned Big 12 champions

ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma State captured the Big 12 Championship crown Saturday night with a 9-3 win over top-seeded Oklahoma at Globe Life Field.

The win gives OSU the 35th conference championship in program history, with six of those coming in the Big 12. It marks the Cowboys’ fourth Big 12 tournament title as they previously brought home the trophy in 2004, 2017 and 2019.

OSU is now 40-17 on the season and earns an automatic NCAA Regional bid. The 16 NCAA Regional host sites will be announced Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with the NCAA Championship field of 64 revealed Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

The NCAA Regional will mark OSU’s 11th consecutive tourney appearance, the fourth-longest streak in the nation.

Three Cowboys smacked home runs against OU, including Nolan Schubart, who was 2-for-4 with a game-high three RBIs. Lane Forsythe had three hits, while Carson Benge and Ian Daugherty had two apiece.

Gabe Davis earned the win in relief of starter Tommy Molsky to improve to 2-4 on the year as he worked 2 2/3 innings and struck out two while allowing one run on two hits.

Molsky tied a career high with eight strikeouts, a total he also reached against the Sooners during a regular season midweek game earlier this season, and allowed just two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

OSU jumped out to a lead in its first at bat. After a double by Schubart put Cowboys on second and third, Zach Ehrhard plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center field.

With Molsky keeping the Sooners off the scoreboard, OSU extended its lead with a three-run rally in the fifth.

Daugherty led off the inning with a single, and Colin Brueggemann followed with a double. Up next, Avery Ortiz brought home OSU’s second run with a sacrifice fly before an RBI infield single by Forsythe made the score 3-0. The Cowboys would plate their fourth run when Forsythe raced home on a wild pitch.

OU cut into the Pokes’ lead in the bottom of the inning. After putting two runners on with a hit by pitch and single, John Spikerman delivered a double to left-center field before a sacrifice fly made the score 4-2.

The Cowboys used the long ball to distance themselves in the seventh as Schubart blasted his 20th homer of the season, a three-run shot over the wall in center field. He is the first Cowboy to hit 20 homers in a season since Trevor Boone in 2019.

OSU added to its lead with two more round trippers in the eighth as Kollin Ritchie and Daugherty went back-to-back to extend the advantage to 9-2.

The Sooners would get a run back in the bottom of the eighth, but Robert Cranz came out of the bullpen and stranded a pair of runners to squash a potential rally then worked a scoreless ninth.

Three Cowboys – Benge, Schubart and Sam Garcia – earned spots on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team, with Benge being named the Most Outstanding Player.

OSU is now 4-1 against the Sooners this season, and head coach Josh Holliday owns a career 37-14 record against the Cowboys’ Bedlam rival.

Oklahoma State and O’Brate Stadium are one of 16 Regional sites for the 2024 NCAA Baseball Championship, and the Cowboys will host the NCAA Stillwater Regional May 31-June 3.

The newly crowned Big 12 Conference champion, OSU is 40-17 on the season and will be making the 49th NCAA Regional appearance in program history, the fourth most all time. This marks the Cowboys’ 11th consecutive Regional berth under head coach Josh Holliday; they have never missed the NCAA tourney during his tenure.

This season also marks the third-straight year the Cowboys have been a Regional host and sixth time under Holliday, with the previous times in 2014, 2015, 2019 (hosted in Oklahoma City due to unplayable field conditions in Stillwater), 2022 and 2023.

The remaining three teams in the NCAA Stillwater Regional will be announced Monday when the NCAA Baseball Championship field of 64 is revealed on ESPN2.

O’Brate Stadium, which opened in 2021, has a capacity of 8,000. The Cowboys rank 11th in the NCAA in average home attendance this season at 5,171 fans per game.

The Cowboys will be seeking to advance to the sixth Super Regional in program history (1999, 2007, 2014, 2016 and 2019).