Cowboys Defeat UMass In Series Opener
STILLWATER, Okla. – Tyler Lyons pitched a complete game, and Dean Green delivered a clutch home run to lift Oklahoma State to a 5-3 win over UMass Friday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
With the win, improved to 5-2, while the contest marked the season opener for the Minutemen.
Lyons picked up his first win of the season with a season-high eight-strikeout effort, and the senior southpaw held UMass scoreless over the final four innings. The win was the 20th of Lyons’ career, leaving him two shy of cracking the top 10 on OSU’s all-time list, and the effort also marked his seventh-career complete game.
Green was 2-for-4 with three s to lead the Cowboys’ offense, while Mark Ginther collected three hits in four trips to the plate.
UMass wasted no time in taking the game’s early lead as leadoff hitter Brian Baudinet homered to right field on the second pitch he saw.
The Cowboys tied the game in the third. Kevin David led off the inning with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a single by Dusty Harvard. Davis Duren then delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1.
The visitors would regain the lead with runs in each of the next two innings. Peter Copa had an groundout in the fourth, and a two-out single by Eric Fredette in the fifth made the score 3-1 in favor of the Minutemen.
OSU’s two-run deficit held until the sixth. After back-to-back singles by Tom Belza and Ginther to open the inning, Nico Rosthenhausler popped out on a sacrifice bunt attempt. That brought up Green, who drilled a three-run homer to right-center field to put the Cowboys on top. The blast was the first of the season for Green.
The Cowboys tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on an double by Ginther to give Lyons all the support he would need.
The two teams return to action Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. before closing out the four-game series Sunday.
Updated 03-13-2010
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