Texas baseball swept by Oklahoma State

Saturday (Game 1): Texas 0, Oklahoma State 3

Morgan Cooper lost a pitcher's duel in the opener against Oklahoma State's Thomas Hatch. Cooper's six innings of one-run ball with three walks and a career high eight strikeouts weren't enough to carry the Horns. The Texas offense, which had come alive during the turnaround over the last several weeks, had no answer for Hatch, who allowed only five hits and a walk while gunning down six in his complete-game effort.

After four scoreless innings to start the game, OSU used small ball against the Horns to plate a run. Cooper issued a leadoff walk then failed to field a bunt, putting two aboard. A successful sacrifice moved the runners to second and third before an RBI groundout plated the run.

The 1-0 score held to the top of the 9th, when OSU put two more across on Josh Sawyer, Blake Wellman, and Travis Duke.

Saturday (Game 2): Texas 3, Oklahoma State 6

Looking to even the series, the Horns got off to a promising start. With senior Ty Culbreth, the steadiest hand on the Texas roster all season long, on the mound, the offense put up two runs in the first two innings to hold a 2-2 tie through five innings.

In the sixth, a double and a single gave OSU the 3-2 advantage, and a dropped fly ball by Patrick Mathis failed to help the Horns get out of the inning. A sac fly and a hard hit single off Ty Culbreth's leg pushed the OSU lead to 5-2, ending Culbreth's outing.

In the seventh, the Horns offense made a move. Joe Baker led with a walk and Zane Gurwitz followed with a single. A sacrifice moved the batters over before Kacy Clemens worked a walk. With the bases loaded, Bret Boswell struck out. Travis Jones then hustled out an infield single to cut the lead to 5-3 and keep the bases loaded for Kody Clemens, who worked a tough 11-pitch at bat before striking out.

Oklahoma State added another run for the 6-3 final, giving Texas its second series loss in conference play.

Sunday: Texas 4, Oklahoma State 8

Facing a sweep, the Horns fell to a 4-0 deficit through five and a half innings of ball before a staging a comeback in the bottom half of the sixth. The Clemens brothers would each walk to get two batters aboard, Joe Baker was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Patrick Mathis, who drew a walk of his own to push a run across. Zane Gurwitz then scored an RBI on a fielder's choice and Tyler Rand scored another with a single, allowing Texas to narrow the gap to a 4-3 OSU lead.

In the following inning, Texas would close the gap, tying the game at 4-4.

But in the eighth inning, Chase Shugart and Eric Dunbar combined to give up four runs that would prove decisive, giving Texas an 8-4 loss and the first series sweep in conference play.

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Texas record: 20-24 (9-9 Big 12)

This week: Tuesday against Prairie View A&M, weekend at West Virginia