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STILLWATER — For the third straight season, the Cowboys’ year ends in an NCAA Regional they hosted.
Oklahoma State fell to Florida 4-2 in a Regional-deciding game on Monday in O’Brate Stadium. The Cowboys finished the year 42-19. Across the past three seasons, the Pokes were 125-61. OSU won a Big 12 regular-season title and a Big 12 tournament title in that time but have no Super Regional appearances to show for it.
“Each team is different, and each team’s path and seasons and story and tournament experience is a little different,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “Is that disappointing? Yeah. But this particular ballclub, we fought awfully hard to get to this point and put ourself in a good position, and we were in a great spot. And that’s disappointing we couldn’t finish this part of the journey. It’s tough. I don’t have a way to finesse through that. …
“This particular group of young men and the leaders that emerged from it, the stories that were a part of it, these kids — that can’t be the one thing they remember. Is it something that will be talked about? Sure. It’s the last chapter of the story, so to speak. But if you go back and just look at how we got here and all the great performances from these kids, I really appreciate them, and I’ll remember them for many, many more of those moments than I will the final result. But ultimately the final result is what we’re chasing. We’re chasing championships, and you gotta keep pushing forward.”
It wasn’t because of a lack of chances. OSU was 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position the past two days but ended up falling to the Gators a combined 9-4. After leaving 11 runners on base on Sunday, the Pokes left another seven on during Monday’s game. A win in either of those games would’ve sent the Cowboys to Clemson next week for that elusive Super Regional, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Would like to have been a little better, a lot better, with runners in scoring position at certain times — there’s no doubt about that,” Holliday said. “Could’ve been a different outcome, but that’s a two-part deal. Part of it is your ability to execute and maximize opportunities you create and then the other side’s resistance to that moment. We just didn’t quite win those battles. You can certainly point to that, and that’s something that you look at.
“I think in whole, I’m proud of our kids. We fought like crazy and have since Day 1. We just weren’t quite as efficient and clutch, maybe, in a couple situations as we would have like to have been. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Usually when Regionals last this long, it can become a battle of offensive firepower because of depleted bullpens, but Monday’s game was a cagey affair.
Florida opened the scoring in the third when Ashton Wilson singled to right to score a pair. The Cowboys somewhat answered in the fourth when an Aidan Meola double scored Zach Ehrhard. The Cowboys loaded the bases in that inning with just one out but failed to plate another run in the frame.
The Cowboys’ work chipping into that lead was erased shortly after, as in the bottom of the fourth (Florida was the designated home team), when Michael Robertson hit an RBI single to left.
OSU loaded the bases again in the fifth — this time with no outs and some of the Pokes’ big hitters due up. Nolan Schubart popped up to the catcher for the first out of the inning before Ehrhard popped up deep enough to left to score Tyler Wulfert from third before Aidan Meola struck out to end the inning.
Again, Florida got the run back, as Tyler Shelnut opened the bottom of the sixth with a monstrous lead-off home run to left.
It felt as if the Cowboys were on their heels for most of the game. OSU didn’t get a leadoff man out until the seventh inning, so it felt like the Gators always had someone on base.
As disappointing as the result was for the Cowboys, credit has to be given to Florida. Many wondered whether the Gators deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament field when they left the SEC Tournament at 28-27. Florida ended up playing five games in four days to be one of the final 16 teams playing college baseball.
“Congratulations to Florida,” Holliday said. “They did a heck of a job coming through the long road back. We weren’t able to put together the type of attack today that I envisioned us bringing to the table. They did a nice job of navigating their way through some jams where we had some runners on base and kept us at bay. We weren’t able to flip the momentum and really turn it back in our direction. That’s disappointing. But very proud of the effort and fight from our team, but obviously we’re disappointed with the result of today’s game. Tough pill to swallow.”
Josh Holliday’s Postgame News Conference
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