ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 2 Seed Oklahoma State (39-17) defeated No. 8 UCF (35-19) 10-1 in a semifinal matchup to advance to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship final at Globe Life Field.
The Cowboys will match up with top-seeded Oklahoma on Saturday for the title. This is the fifth meeting of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Championship final and the first since 2014. The seeds have split the previous four meetings. Oklahoma State won the last matchup of the top two seeds in the final defeating TCU (2014).
Oklahoma State has now advanced to a Championship final for a record eighth time (3-4). They won the Championship in 2004, 2017 and 2019. They finished as runner-up in 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023.
Brian Holiday picked up his sixth win on the year for the Cowboys after throwing a complete game with seven strikeouts, allowing only one run off eight hits. Holiday improves his record on the mound to 6-3.
Oklahoma State’s offense was highlighted by the trio of Nolan Schubart, Carson Benge and Avery Ortiz. Schubart went 2-for-5 with four RBIs which included his second two-run homer on the day. Benge collected three hits and three RBIs in five at-bats including a solo home run and two runs scored. Avery Ortiz also drove in a couple of runs on the day, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
The Cowboys collected three extra-base hits and four runs in the first two frames as Schubart launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, followed by an Ortiz RBI double and an RBI triple from Zach Ehrhard in the second inning.
Oklahoma State doubled their run total in the bottom of the fourth as both Ortiz and Schubart picked up RBI singles with Schubart’s hit driving in two Cowboys. Benge also drove in a run on a groundout to second.
Benge added a couple more runs for good measure late in the game with a home run off the center-field batter’s eye in the seventh inning and an RBI base-hit in the eighth.
Danny Neri drove in UCF’s lone run of the game in the top of the sixth with an RBI double down the left-field line, scoring Matt Cedarburg.
Wiley Hartley (3-3) took the loss for UCF as he completed three innings while striking out five and allowing four runs on four hits and a walk.
The Bedlam Series heads to Globe Life Field Saturday, May 25 at 6 p.m. CT as Oklahoma State will take on the top-seeded Sooners in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship final on ESPNU.
Tickets for the Championship title game are available here.
