Texas baseball swept by Oklahoma State after crippling collapse

This was a pretty tragic weekend on the field for head coach David Pierce and No. 10 ranked Texas baseball in what was a very important series at home in Big 12 play against the No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas wound up falling short in all three games at home at UFCU Disch-Falk Field against a key Big 12 foe in Oklahoma State.

On May 1, Pierce and the Longhorns fell short to Oklahoma State in the most devastating fashion of the three losses in this weekend series. Despite a pretty solid start on the mound from the sophomore left-hander Lucas Gordon, Texas still wound up giving up double-digit runs for the second time this weekend.

The difference in this game on May 1 was how the Texas pitching staff contributed to this collapse. Oklahoma State only got on the scoreboard in one inning in this game. But they surely did a ton of damage in that one inning.

Oklahoma State put up a whopping 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning, which wiped out a sizable 7-0 lead Texas held prior to this outburst. And it was multiple pitchers that contributed to that letdown in the top of the seventh.

Gordon wound up giving up two of those earned runs. And then, Zane Morehouse and Coy Cobb combined to give up an insane six earned runs in just 0.1 innings of work on the mound.

Texas just can’t have three talented pitchers such as Gordon, Morehouse, and Cobb, giving up eight earned runs in this spot where the team is facing a big weekend series sweep.

The fact of the matter at this moment is that the Longhorns pitching staff is down bad. And it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the Big 12 Tournament just a few weeks away.

Texas baseball can’t overcome a 10-run collapse in the seventh as David Pierce and his squad are swept by Oklahoma State

Gordon giving Texas six innings of work on the mound while allowing just two earned runs, three hits, with 11 strikeouts should be more than enough to win this game. Texas just has to avoid these massive collapses that are seemingly coming out of nowhere late in games.

Texas gave the pitching staff more than enough run support to win this game too. The same could be said for the Longhorns’ tough 8-6 loss to Oklahoma State in this series opener on April 29.

What makes matters worse here is that Texas had a shot this weekend to overtake a key Big 12 foe in Oklahoma State in the conference standings. Texas came into the weekend with a record in Big 12 play of 9-6. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State came into this key three-game weekend series at the Disch sporting a record of 9-5 in Big 12 play.

It’s clear that the Longhorns had a shot to jump the Pokes in the Big 12 standings. That could put Texas back in a position to try and challenge for home-field advantage to host a Regional and Super Regional come postseason time.

Yet, Texas will now be facing a real uphill battle with just two series remaining in Big 12 play before the Big 12 Tournament begins later this month. Texas must take care of business against the West Virginia Mountaineers and Kansas Jayhawks to round out the regular season.

But that won’t be an easy task given the incredible inconsistencies the Longhorns faced, especially with the pitching staff, in the last six weeks or so.

Following this devastating two-run loss to Oklahoma State on May 1, the Longhorns are sitting on a record of 31-16 (9-9 Big 12). Next up for Pierce and the Longhorns is a one-game midweek series with the Houston Baptist Huskies at home at the Disch on May 3.