Red Storm ends season for Green, Cowboys

By Tim Ahrens

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

 

STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State fans are probably wishing their Cowboys played softball instead of baseball, for innings’ sake.

 

In three straight losses, the Cowboys entered the eighth inning with the lead. Once the inning was up, the tables had turned.

 

St. John’s was the most recent team to benefit from an OSU collapse, scoring twice in the eighth to beat the Cowboys 2-1 in an elimination game in the NCAA Regional at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium on Sunday.

 

The loss ended the host’s 2015 season – one tabbed to possibly see the Cowboys in the College World Series – and left coach Josh Holliday and players struggling to fight back tears and find answers.

 

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Holliday said. “You have to kind of gather your thoughts as a coach and reflect on your team the way they deserve to be reflected upon.”

 

The Red Storm (41-15) did its damage with two outs in the eighth as Robert Wayman and Michael Donadio each had RBI singles. Chris Kalica tossed 7.1 innings with six hits and one unearned run, and Thomas Hackimer (4-1) earned the win with 1.2 scorless innings of relief.

 

“It felt pretty good,” Kalica said. “Before the game, I was pretty loose. We talked about our game plan and Oklahoma State is a great team and very aggressive hitters. I just tried to keep them off balance. There was a great defensive performance from our team today.”

 

Added St. John’s coach Ed Blankmeyer: “Our kids hung around. Chris [Kalica] pitched a wonderful game. Mike [Donadio] came up big and Rob Wayman had a great at-bat for that first run. Mike came in there and put together a pretty good at-bat to get that second run in there. Tommy [Hackimer] did his job. That’s baseball.”

 

For the Cowboys (38-20), Holiday was left to reflect on how well his team, particularly his senior players, had performed in 2015 and over the course of their time with the program. Gage Green saw his career with the Cowboys end with the loss. As he sat during postgame interviews, trying to comprehend the gravity of the loss, Holliday and teammates spoke highly of him.

 

“I’ve never met anyone that deserves to win a national championship more than Gage Green,” pitcher Trey Cobb said. “I’m never going to meet anybody else like that. He just plays balls to the wall all the time. It’s unbelievable.

 

“ … They (the seniors) really set the tone. They were there when Josh [Holliday] was here his first year. They just had so much trust in the coaching staff. They got us here two times in a row hosting a regional. (We need to) try to take a leadership role and build off of what those guys did.”

 

Holliday said Friday there are few players like Green, and he reiterated it Sunday as he complimented Green and the rest of the senior class.

 

As for Green, he won’t forget his time with the Cowboys. Even if it didn’t end as he and countless others expected it to.

 

“I still don’t think that it’s really set in yet,” Green said. “I’m sure when I see these guys off the field, I’ll probably start busting out into some tears, but I haven’t really comprehended it yet. I’m going to miss putting on the uniform, playing for Josh [Holliday] and playing with these guys.”