Schubart’s long homer ignites OSU to Big 12 title

ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma State used a huge three-run bomb to dead center by Nolan Schubart as the Cowboys beat Oklahoma, 9-3, to claim the Big 12 Championship Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

The Cowboys were nursing a 4-2 when Schubart drilled a fastball some 426 feet during the seventh inning to put OSU in position to claim the title.

Grant Davis wound up getting the win in relief, working 2 2/3 innings in relief. He allowed two hits and one OU run.

There were other OSU heroes as Ian Daugherty ripped two hits, one a homer, while Kollin Ritchie had a solo homer as well. Carson Benge had a pair of hits and Lane Forsythe had three hits and drove in a run.

The Cowboys earned the right to meet the Sooners for the title after winning two games Friday, the second a revenge win over Central Florida. The Cowboys improved to 40-17 and will await their seeding Monday when the NCAA Tournament field is announced.

Schubart also led OSU in the UCF game with a 2-for-5 effort that included a home run and four RBIs, while Avery Ortiz went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Carson Benge also had three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs.

Brian Holiday tossed his second complete game of the season to earn the win as he improved to 6-3. The right-hander struck out seven and allowed just one run while scattering eight hits.

OSU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning thanks to Schubart’s 19th homer of the season, a two-run blast over the wall in right field.

The Pokes doubled their lead in their second at bat. Following a walk to Kollin Ritchie, he raced home on a double down the left-field line off the bat of Ortiz. Two batters later, Zach Ehrhard ripped a triple off the wall in left to make the score 4-0.

In the fourth, Ortiz got the scoring started with his second RBI of the game on a single, and Benge brought home a run with a groundout. Schubart continued his hot hitting with a two-out, two-RBI single to push the Cowboys’ lead to 8-0.

Holiday kept the Knights off the scoreboard for the first 5 2/3 innings before Danny Neri broke up the shutout with a run-scoring double to cut the UCF deficit to seven.

OSU got the run back in the seventh on Benge’s 17th round tripper of the season, a 433-foot bomb to center field, and added another on Benge’s third RBI of the night, which came on a single in the eighth.