Longhorns hang tough but fall to Oklahoma State in series opener, 8-6

Photo credit Texas Baseball

In an important Top-10 matchup, the Oklahoma State Cowboys (29-13, 11-5) travelled to Austin to take on the Longhorns (31-14, 9-7). A back and forth battle saw the Cowboys take the first game, 8-6.

Skyler Messinger led the Longhorns offense with two home runs on the night (2-4, 2RBI) along with Ivan Melendez (1-4, 1RBI) with his lone hit being a home run.

Pete Hansen (8-2) manned the mound for the 'Horns for the first seven frames. He threw 96 pitches with 67 of those being strikes along with 6 strikeouts. 

The Texas' offense fought hard, yet it wasn't enough to overcome the bats of the Cowboys. A scrappy Oklahoma State team began the scoring with a 2nd inning solo home run from David Mendham. Ivan Melendez reciprocated with a 4th inning solo homer of his own.

The Cowboys continued in the 5th with an RBI single from lead-off hitter Roc Riggio and a 2-run homer from Jake Thompson giving the Cowboys a 4-1 lead.

Messinger answered with a solo home run, accompanied by a groundout RBI from Faltine and an RBI single from Todd (1-5) to even the score.

Every time the 'Horns tied the game, Oklahoma State answered with runs of their own. Back-to-back homers from the Cowboys in the 6th gave them a 2-run lead. Texas responded in the 7th and 8th innings with a RBI single from Stehly that scored Todd and Messinger's second solo home run of the night to even the score, 6-6. 

The Cowboys ultimately scored the final runs of the game with a 2-RBI double in the 9th inning that secured the win, 8-6.

Texas will look to even the series on Saturday at 2:30 PM in a game that will air on the Longhorn Network.