May 15, 2004

Box Score

STILLWATER, Okla. - Junior left-hander Dallas Braden struckout a career-high batters and held Oklahoma State to just four hits in seven innings of work and that helped pace Texas Tech to a 6-2 win over the 22nd-ranked Cowboys on Saturday night at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Red Raiders (33-16; 13-9) and they maintained their hold on fourth place in the Big 12 standings. The loss drops Oklahoma State to 32-17 on the year and they are now 15-7 in league play.

Texas Tech jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning as Oklahoma State starter Spencer Grogan walked two batters with two outs and then Josh Brady and Cody Fuller followed with RBI singles.

Oklahoma State took advantage of two fielding errors by Cameron Blair in the bottom half of the second as they put up a single run to pull with one. Blair fumbled a routine ground ball by Scott Kirby in the leadoff at-bat and then allowed him to score when he made the same mistake with right fielder Rod Allen.

Junior designated hitter Matthew Coco led off the top of the sixth inning with a double to the gap in right-center and then scored on another RBI single by Brady to put Tech ahead 3-1.

The Cowboys again pulled to within one in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run by Chris Gutierrez. His home run came with two outs in the inning and was his fourth of the season.

Texas Tech broke the game open in the top of the eighth on Josh Brady's third RBI single of the game when he plated Coco who led off with a single. Tech's second and final run of the frame came on a double steal attempt by Brady and Fuller that was successful, however, a fielding error by Cowboy second baseman Rusty Ryal allowed Brady to score from third.

Junior catcher Cooper Fouts pushed the Tech lead to 6-2 in the top of the ninth when he hit a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Ryan Andrews. Andrews led off the inning with a single and moved to third on two steals.

Dallas Braden (5-3) picked up the win for the Red Raiders in what was his best performance so far this season. The junior southpaw held the Cowboys to just one earned run on four hits and struckout a career-high nine batters. Oklahoma State ace Spencer Grogan (11-2) suffered just his second loss of the season and his first Big 12 loss of the year he allowed 12 hits and four earned runs in seven innings of work.

Texas Tech and Oklahoma State will play the rubber match of this three-game series at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.