BYU falls to No. 6 Oklahoma State in pitchers duel

ARLINGTON, Texas — A three-run eighth inning by No. 6 Oklahoma State was the difference as the Cougars lost 3-0 in the second game of the series on Friday at Globe Life Field. 

"We faced great pitching tonight and unfortunately, we didn't make adjustments at the plate,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “For the most part, our pitching was great as well, and I liked the effort because we kept fighting. Hopefully it's a good learning experience that we can put behind us and come ready to play tomorrow.” 

Cowboy starter Justin Campbell went six innings with 12 strikeouts in the nondecision, while reliever Kale Davis held the Cougar bats quiet over two hitless innings for the win. OSU pitchers gave up just two hits and combined for 19 strikeouts, the most surrendered by BYU this season. 

BYU’s pitching was equally impressive through seven innings scattering just two hits while holding the Cowboys scoreless. Unfortunately for the Cougars, a pair of singles—combined with two errors in the top half of the eighth—led to three unearned runs and BYU’s demise. 

Cougar starter Janzen Keisel went 5.0 innings allowing just two hits while recording six strikeouts. Carter Smith and Ayden Callahan both threw hitless innings for BYU and combined for a pair of strikeouts. Justice Reiser surrendered no earned runs over two innings but took the loss to go to 1-1 on the season. 

Offensively BYU got singles by Andrew Pintar and Jacob Wilk. Both teams combined for a total of just six hits on the night. OSU improves to 8-6 on the year, while BYU is 8-4.

The two teams will face off in the rubber match of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field at 2:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast via FaceBook Live as well as the BYU Sports Network—BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.
 

Photos by Jay Hinton