Texas baseball gets Red River Big 12 Title vs. Oklahoma

Despite getting knocked off by the four-seed Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first meeting between these two teams in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship on May 28, head coach David Pierce and the five-seed Texas baseball still got it done in the end. Texas was able to get the win they needed to move onto the Big 12 Championship Game this holiday weekend.

It wasn’t even close in the second of two meetings between Texas and Oklahoma State on May 28. In fact, neither of the two games for these two teams were close on this day.

Texas got the best of Oklahoma State on the afternoon/evening of May 28, by the final score of 9-2. Yet, it was Oklahoma State that nearly pushed Texas to the brink in the top portion of the bracket for the Big 12 Tournament, beating them on the morning of May 28 by the final score of 8-1. Seven-run wins really were the trend between Texas and Oklahoma State this weekend.

The driving force for Texas in this win over Oklahoma State to move onto the Big 12 Championship game came thanks to a solid pitching performance from this entire staff along with an offensive spark from Trey Faltine. Texas did get a pretty well-rounded offensive performance in this one, but Faltine was the best of the bunch.

Faltine gave the Longhorns three hits on five at-bats, with three runs batted in and two runs scored. It was the best game of the Big 12 Tournament for him.

Meanwhile, the win for the Longhorns went to Jared Southard, who pitched a shutout in 1.2 innings of work on the mound. That came despite giving up a whopping four walks in less than two innings.

David Pierce and Texas baseball get the win over Oklahoma State to move into Big 12 final thanks to Trey Faltine

It is the third win on the season so far for Southard.

Texas put up nearly a dozen hits in this game, putting a real strain on the Oklahoma State pitching staff. But Texas was pretty good with the bats in the first meeting between these two teams on May 28.

The difference in this game was the fact that Texas was able to convert with runners on base. While Texas left 10 runners on base in both games, you could see the difference in the conversion rate by the fact that the Longhorns scored eight more runs this afternoon compared to the morning.

Oklahoma State also helped the Longhorns’ cause in the run-scoring department with two costly errors.

Moreover, this win over the Pokes sets up a really interesting Big 12 final on May 29 between the Longhorns and the rival Oklahoma Sooners. This will be the fourth meeting of the season between the Longhorns and Sooners. Texas owned the edge in a three-game weekend series, which was also played in Arlington, TX, with a record of 2-1.

But the three regular season meetings between Texas and Oklahoma really delivered in terms of entertainment value. We’ll be hoping for much of the same, along with a win for the Longhorns, in the final game of the Big 12 Tournament.

Texas is set to face Oklahoma in this de facto Red River Rivalry game to cap the Big 12 Tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, on May 29, with the first pitch time set for 5 p.m. CT. Faltine, Pierce, and the Longhorns can get their 43rd win of the season if they top Oklahoma on May 29 while ensuring they will host a Regional next week.