'He was under control': How Ryan Bogusz kept Oklahoma State alive in Big 12 baseball semifinals
ARLINGTON, Texas — Oklahoma State reliever Ryan Bogusz arrived at Globe Life Field 75 minutes before first pitch and immediately spotted pitching coach Rob Walton.
Walton just nodded.
It was go time.
“All right,” Bogusz though, “we’re going to go with it.”
Bogusz, from nearby Frisco, did more than that.
On a day the Cowboys needed everything he had, he delivered a career performance in front of his family and friends.
The sophomore right-hander pitched into the ninth inning as he worked in and out of trouble masterfully to lead the fourth-seeded Cowboys to an 8-1 rout of fifth-seeded Texas in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals early Saturday at Globe Life Field.
He had never thrown more than four innings or 57 pitches in his college career.
As he extended his outing, each pitch became a bonus for the Cowboys.
'We rode him': Roman Phansalkar helps Oklahoma State oust TCU, reach Big 12 baseball semifinals
“We would have taken three, four, five good innings and been super thrilled,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “He just had great control of himself. Even though his pitch count was more than he was accustomed to, I thought he managed his pitch count well.
“I felt like he was under control.”
The Cowboys needed to beat the Longhorns in the late-afternoon rematch to clinch a spot in the championship game for a third straight season.
Bogusz’s effort preserved a rested OSU bullpen even more.
He worked around seven lead-off hitters reaching base. Texas’ first two batters reached four times, but the Longhorns did not score in any of those innings.
They only scored when Bogusz walked Jack O’Dowd to open the ninth and Mitchell Daly doubled him in off OSU reliever Trevor Martin.
“I just knew that everybody in the dugout, on the field, they were all behind me,” Bogusz said, “It gave me a sense of relaxation.”
It also helped that OSU’s offense scored early and often three days after being shut out by the Longhorns.
Jake Thompson drove in four runs in the first two innings to spark the rout.
Thompson — OSU’s super-senior who has anchored the lineup all season — reached in his first three plate appearances, hitting an opposite-field two-run homer in the first and driving in two more with a double in the second.
Five of OSU’s runs came with two outs. All four in the second came with two outs.
And the Longhorns’ bats were silent as an OSU reliever had a career game for a second straight day.
On Friday, it was a huge outing from Roman Phansalkar with five shutout innings against TCU.
Saturday, it was a near complete game from a reliever who had thrown 24 innings a year removed from missing a season with an injury.
Somehow, the Cowboys keep pulling the right strings in the loser’s bracket. They hope they can do it again later in the day.
“If you look at the bracket, what choice do you have?” Holliday said. “This is the challenge you’re faced with, so when you use your guys you’ve gotta use them to the point you know they’re not coming back again this tournament.
“And Ryan was in control. His effort level was under control. We had to let him spend the quality pitches that he had remaining today because there was no chance to bring him back.
“That’s the nature of tournament play. Somebody else will have to do that here at 4 o’clock and then you manage your way through that challenge and figure out who’s left.”
More: Matt Holliday has lived a charmed baseball life. His oldest son, Jackson, could be next.
Big 12 baseball tournament schedule
At Arlington, Texas
(*-if necessary)
Wednesday, May 25
Game 1: No. 5 Texas 4, No. 4 Oklahoma State 0
Game 2: No. 1 TCU 4, No. 8 Baylor 2
Game 3: No. 2 Texas Tech 5, No. 7 Kansas State 3
Game 4: No. 3 Oklahoma 6, No. 6 West Virginia 4
Thursday, May 26
Game 5: Oklahoma State 11, Baylor 1 (7 innings)
Game 6: Kansas State 8, West Virginia 5
Game 7: Texas 5, TCU 3
Game 8: OU 6, Texas Tech 3
Friday, May 27
Game 9: Oklahoma State 8, TCU 4
Game 10: Kansas State 6, Texas Tech 5 (11 innings)
Saturday, May 28
Game 11: Oklahoma State 8, Texas 1
Game 12: OU vs. Kansas State, 12:30 p.m.
Game 13: Oklahoma State vs. Texas, 4 p.m.
Game 14: G12 winner vs. G12 loser*, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 29
Game 15: Championship, 5 p.m.
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Jacob Unruh covers college sports for The Oklahoman. You can send your story ideas to him at junruh@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @jacobunruh. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State beats Texas to force Big 12 baseball elimination game
