Cowboys’ season ends in blowout loss to Dallas Baptist

“Very, very numb right now. That was a difficult game, difficult set of emotions,” OSU coach Josh Holliday said. “The only thing I was able to share with the kids in the brief huddle was to not let the empty feeling and the numbness that we have right now be the lasting memory of this team and what they’ve done for the last four months.

because of a dropped third strike. Miguel Santos took the next pitch from Watts-Brown on a ride to right field to give the Patriots a 4-1 lead.

ingly putting away the Cowboys’ 2023 campaign.

OSU had one of its toughest outings in the most critical game of the season, and now, the season is over.

Dallas Baptist defeated OSU 18-4 in the Stillwater Regional’s first elimination game. OSU was the first team eliminated in its own regional for the first time in program history. This is the first time since 2017 OSU failed to win a game in a regional.

“This tournament we simply did not have our rhythm or, we weren’t able to put winning baseball together in either game.”

Juaron Watts-Brown, OSU’s ace pitcher, started and pitched well early but hit a wall in the fourth. The game came crashing down after that.

DBU crushed two solo homers to start the fourth inning. Then, DBU’s Ethan Mann struck out but got on base

“They made an adjustment in the fourth and got some balls on the barrel and got them elevated,” Holliday said. “We could not collect an out. Balls were finding holes, they were hitting them on the barrel. It was one of those innings where literally no matter what we went to, tried to do or whatever, we could not stop the momentum they built in that inning.”

The next inning, Watts-Brown gave up three more runs and was eventually replaced by OSU’s No. 2 starting pitcher Ben Abram. Abram didn’t record an out and gave up two runs.

DBU scored 18 runs from the fourth to the seventh innings, seem-

“A disappointing finish, sure, but everyone has the right to view the team and the season in which ever way they wish,” Holliday said. “I will always view this team through all the good things they did and all the moments that made us proud. Sure, we are all going to have a scar from this, no question.

“If the only way you can celebrate and appreciate a club simply by the final result of the last game, there would be a lot of empty seasons in a lot of people’s hearts so I would hope they have a bigger view of the club and appreciate all the effort that went into it.” sports.ed@ocolly.com