Early stumbles cost Texas as Oklahoma State forces a decisive game at Big 12 Tournament

ARLINGTON — Texas missed out on several chances Saturday morning to score and advance.

And because of Oklahoma State's 8-1 win at Globe Life Field, the Longhorns and Cowboys were scheduled to play again Saturday afternoon to decide who moves on to Sunday's Big 12 Tournament championship game against Oklahoma.

"We've got to get over it," Texas coach David Pierce said. "We've got a game in a few hours, and (we need to) be ready to play."

More: Swept by Oklahoma State in the regular season, Texas shuts out Cowboys in Big 12 opener

Three days after Texas (41-18) opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over Oklahoma State (39-19), opportunities existed for both teams to strike early. Only the Cowboys took advantage.

In the top of the first inning, Texas led off with a double and a walk. Oklahoma State starter Ryan Bogusz rallied with strikeouts of Ivan Melendez and Murphy Stehly, who entered the game with a combined batting average of .397 and 45 home runs. Austin Todd, who was hitting .322, then flied out to center field.

One inning later, Texas again got its first two batters on base. After a sacrifice bunt moved them into scoring position, Bogusz escaped the jam by inducing a fielder's choice at the plate and a groundout.

Meanwhile, OSU's Jake Thompson hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Texas starter Zane Morehouse. Thompson was then responsible for one of three Cowboys doubles in the second inning and two of the team's four RBIs.

After its strong start, Oklahoma State held a 6-0 lead.

"I think we had Bogusz on the ropes just about every inning, and we just didn't have any flow to our offense," Pierce said. "We weren't clean to start the game."

Down 7-0 after the Longhorns batted in the fifth, both Melendez and catcher Silas Ardoin were pulled. Pierce said both players were feeling under the weather and he wanted them to rest before the afternoon rematch.

More: As Ivan Melendez nears Texas history, Kyle Russell 'looking forward to tossing the baton'

Over UT's first three games at the Big 12 Tournament, Melendez has had 11 plate appearances. He's 0-for-8 with three flyouts and one strikeout, and two of his four groundouts have resulted in double plays. He has also been intentionally walked twice and hit by a pitch.

Melendez's 28 home runs lead the nation and are tied for UT's single-season record. On Tuesday, he became the fourth Longhorn to be named the Big 12's player of the year.

Key play: To lead off the ninth inning, Bogusz walked UT pinch-hitter Jack O'Dowd. That walk ended a solid start for Bogusz, a third-year right-hander who threw 106 pitches in the first start of his career. Before Saturday, the Frisco native had never thrown more than 57 pitches or worked more than four innings.

Notable number: 7. Texas had its leadoff hitter on base in seven of nine innings. O'Dowd was the only one of those who scored.

Up next: Texas and Oklahoma State are set to return to Globe Life Field at 4 p.m. Saturday. In the postgame press conference, neither coach announced his pitching plans for the afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas unable to eliminate Oklahoma State in Big 12 baseball semifinal