By Andrea Cohen
Staff Writer
STILLWATER —
Oklahoma State had a chance to buy some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday when, up one run on
Texas A&M, the
Cowboys loaded the bases. But
OSU declined the coverage as first baseman Rebel Ridling struck out to end the inning, and the
Cowboys had to win a 3-2 nail-biter in the ninth with
Jordy Mercer on the mound.
"It's always good to have insurance,”
Mercer said. "But when it doesn't work out you gotta do what you gotta do.”
The
Aggies loaded the bases on a couple of singles with one out in the top of the ninth. But
Mercer struck out pinch-hitter
Brooks Raley and
Kyle Colligan grounded out to end the game.
"I got ahead and made some good pitches, I thought, but they got hits,”
Mercer said. "Luckily it balanced out.”
After dropping the first game of the series with the
Aggies on Friday,
OSU is now 14-6 overall, 2-3 in the
Big 12.
Texas A&M and
OSU wrap up their series this afternoon with the
Cowboys hoping to get back to .500 in conference play.
"We needed that win,”
OSU coach
Frank Anderson said. "We've been scuffling a little bit and we fought back today and took it to the end.”
Texas A&M did all its scoring in the second inning when Brian Ruggiano hit a two-run home run off
OSU starter
Tyler Lyons.
Lyons threw a solid 7 1/3 innings before
Mercer relieved him. Unlike two recent starts — against the
University of San Diego and last week at Baylor — where
Lyons pitched well and didn't get the win,
OSU provided just enough run support.
"It was kind of the opposite,” said
Lyons, who is 3-2 this season. "We got some big hits when we needed them today.”
Ridling and third baseman
Matt Hague provided most of the big hits. In the fourth inning,
Hague doubled to right field, scoring
Donnie Webb, and Ridling scored
Hague with a single to right.
Hague went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Ridling, who stranded five runners, had two RBIs. Neither team scored in the last five innings, and the game lasted under 2½ hours.
"This conference is so tough it can turn either way, so this was a big game,”
Mercer said.