Oklahoma State Baseball Must Fix Offense to Avoid Elimination in Regional Tournament

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have one of the best offenses in college baseball. But, so far in the NCAA Tournament it is sputtering in key moments.

Oklahoma State batter Colin Brueggemann. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hitting the baseball hasn’t been an issue for the Oklahoma State baseball team this season. Well, right now it is.

The Cowboys (38-21) head into Sunday’s elimination game at 2 p.m. against USC Upstate (34-29) needing a win just to advance to a game at 7 p.m. on Sunday against Alabama, which would be the regional final.

The pitching staff is now taxed. The Cowboys have used Gavin Lund, Stormy Rhodes, Brennan Phillips and Mario Pesca to the point where it’s nearly impossible for them to pitch on Sunday. The Cowboys are going to cobble together what it can from its remaining pitchers. Some must come up big.

But in a situation where Oklahoma State win three games in two days, the Cowboys have the bats to do it. But, after two days in Tuscaloosa, the numbers show Oklahoma State has been its own worst enemy in situational hitting.

Why Oklahoma State’s Offense Has Failed

Oklahoma State left fielder Alex Conover. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State has hit three home runs in the regional. Remo Indomenico hit a three-run shot in the first game against USC Upstate. Then, on Saturday, Colin Brueggemann hit a grand slam — his third of the season — and a solo shot by Kollin Ritchie, who has struggled throughout the regional.

But the Cowboys have scored eight of their 13 runs in the regional on those three home runs. Oklahoma State is in a slump and it’s indicative of how they’ve failed to cash in when it comes time to score runs.

On Saturday, an 11-inning game that forced the Cowboys to expend Pesca in relief to preserve an 8-7 win. Oklahoma State was awful in situational hitting. The Cowboys failed to get a hit in 11 at-bats with two outs. The Cowboys had just one hit in 24 at-bats with runners on base with runners in scoring position. The one hit with the bases loaded was Brueggemann’s home run. But the Cowboys failed to get hits in two other bases loaded opportunities.

Missing on bases loaded chances was the Cowboys’ biggest issue against USC Upstate on Friday, an 8-5 loss. The Cowboys had the bases loaded three times in that game, including in the eighth and the ninth inning down three runs. Oklahoma State was 0-for-5 in those situations, including three strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys did a little better in other situations, as they had four hits in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position and had five hits in 18 at-bats with runners on base. OSU also had four hits in 13 at-bats with two outs.

Oklahoma State has had its chances in Tuscaloosa. To keep playing, the Cowboys must get better when those chances come their way on Sunday.