Cowboy Baseball Drops Opening Game Of Super Regional

Oklahoma State rallied late but fell short in the opening game of the NCAA Lubbock Super Regional Friday as host Texas Tech defeated the Cowboys, 8-6, at Rip Griffin Park. 

With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 39-20 and will have their season on the line in game two of the best-of-three Super Regional, which is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
Alix Garcia led the Cowboys at the plate Friday with a 2-for-4 day that included a home run and two RBIs, while Trevor Boone also had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
 
Jensen Elliott took the loss on the mound to fall to 10-4 as the right-hander gave up six runs, four of them earned, in four innings of work. The junior surrendered seven hits while walking four and striking out two.
 
TTU (43-17) jumped out to an early lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the second. After a strikeout, Elliott issued back-to-back walks to load the bases, and up next, Dylan Neuse delivered a two-RBI single up the middle to give the Red Raiders a 2-0 advantage. The home team loaded the bases again before Elliott induced an inning-ending pop-up to limit the damage.
 
The Red Raiders extended their lead in the third when Cody Masters delivered his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field, to make the score 3-0.
 
OSU got on the scoreboard in the fourth. After a leadoff walk to Christian Funk, Colin Simpson singled to right field, and an error on the play moved a pair of Cowboys into scoring position. Boone would deliver, sending a two-RBI single up the middle to cut the TTU lead to 3-2.
 
However, the Red Raiders responded in the bottom of the inning to increase their lead again. An RBI single by Brian Klein brought home TTU's fourth run of the game before an outfield miscue proved costly. With two outs, Cameron Warren lifted a ball to shallow center field that three Cowboys converged on; Boone got to the ball but it dropped out of his glove for an error that allowed two runs to come home and make the score 6-2.
 
The Cowboys got a run back in the fifth when Garcia crushed a solo bomb over the wall in center field; Garcia's eighth round tripper of the season pulled OSU to within 6-3.
 
A rally in the seventh inning saw the Pokes cut the TTU lead to a single run once again. Bryce Carter got things started with the first of three consecutive OSU singles, with Garcia picking up an RBI hit to make the score 6-4. Two batters later, it was a clutch two-out RBI single off the bat of Hueston Morrill to trim the Red Raiders' advantage to 6-5.
 
But once again, TTU answered in the bottom of the inning, with Josh Jung homering to open the frame and put the home team back up by a pair of runs.
 
Down 7-5, OSU pulled to within a run again in the eighth. After Andrew Navigato reached on an error, Boone doubled off the glove of TTU third baseman Easton Murrell. That brought Carson McCusker to the plate, and he delivered a sacrifice fly to left field to make the score 7-6. The Pokes nearly tied the score in their next at-bat, but Jung made a diving stop on a ball hit up the middle by Garcia before throwing to first to end the inning.
 
After TTU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, the Cowboys brought the tying run to the plate twice following a one-out walk to Morrill. But OSU's next two batters struck out to end the game.