Oklahoma State Baseball Suffers Season-Opening Loss to Clemson
The No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowboys dropped their 2025 college baseball season Friday with a 6-5 loss against the No. 11 Clemson Tigers in the Shriners Children's College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Cowboys showed heart in the hard fought battle with the Tigers on Friday. The Pokes held the 5-4 lead heading into the seventh inning but the Tigers managed to push a pair of runs across the plate in the seventh to come away with the 6-5 season opening victory.
The Tigers scored first on Jarren Purify’s groundout in the second inning, then Oklahoma State's Avery Ortiz tied the score with a two-out solo homer in the third inning. After the Cowboys added two more runs in the third inning, Donovan LaSalle belted a solo homer in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Dominic Listi and Josh Paino drew bases-loaded walks with two outs to narrow the Cowboy lead to 4-3.
Our All-American @NolanSchubart doing his thing to put us in the lead in Arlington
— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) February 14, 2025
Watch the action now on @FloCollege ➡️ https://t.co/ge5XC6Rpme #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/OahYFcH5y9
In the top of the sixth inning, back-to-back two-out doubles from Thompson and Daughtery scored a run for Oklahoma State, then Clemson's Luke Gaffney laced a two-out, run-scoring double in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Cowboy lead to 5-4.
The Cowboys ran out of steam in the final inning. Clemson tied the game up on an RBI groundout from Bissetta which scored Listi from third. A wild pitch from the Cowboys put the game away for Clemson who escaped with a narrow 6-5 victory.
Brock Thompson led the way in the hits category for the Cowboys with a team high two hits. Nolan Schubart drove in a pair of runs for the Pokes.
Raise your hand if you had @averyortiz_7 blasting the Cowboys' first HR of the season!
— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) February 14, 2025
Watch the action now on @FloCollege ➡️ https://t.co/ge5XC6Rpme#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/vtObO8HpTB
Donovan Lasalle and Avery Ortiz got the season started early in the power department with homeruns in game number one this season. Gabe Davis threw 4.1 innings on the mound and threw well enough to win the game. He struck out six batters and only allowed three earned runs on the day.
The Cowboys will continue baseball action on Saturday in the Shriners Children's College Showdown with a game against Louisville.
Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.