In the first of seven road games in nine days for the Tiger baseball team, No. 21 Oklahoma State pounded Memphis, 12-1, Tuesday afternoon at Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, Okla.
Cowboy junior starter Chris Reilly (4-0) pitched six scoreless innings and gave up just two hits while striking out six Tigers to move to 14-1 in his collegiate career. Meanwhile, OSU’s offense got on the board early and often, scoring 10 runs through the game’s first four innings to stake Reilly to a comfortable 10-0 lead.
Cowboy junior Zach Cates and center fielder Jeff Salazar had three RBI each and were among four OSU players with two-hit outings.
Memphis junior Joel Posey (0-4) took the loss. Posey entered Tuesday’s contest with a 6.87 ERA after giving up three runs on four hits in just 1 and 2/3 innings of work against South Florida Saturday. On Tuesday, Posey lasted just 2 and 1/3, giving up eight earned runs on six hits.
Memphis got its lone run of the day in the top of the seventh inning when designated hitter Jay Fik singled in catcher Barrett Smith. Sophomore third baseman Kyle Scott then hit into a double play to end any threat.
Sophomore right fielder Josh Payne did extend his hitting streak to 10 games for Memphis, which dropped to 5-13 on the season. Junior first baseman Andy Gesell went 2-for-4 while Conference USA Hitter of the Week Paul Cookman was 1-for-3.
The Tigers’ 5-13 record through 18 games is tied for the second-worst start in school history. The 2000 squad, which finished the season a school-worst 15-37, began its season 5-13 while Memphis’ 1971 team started the season 3-15.
Oklahoma State, which improved to 16-7, closes out its two-game series with the Tigers tomorrow at 3 p.m. Memphis then moves on for a three-game C-USA series in Cincinnati this weekend before traveling to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for a two-game set with Middle Tennessee State next Tuesday and Wednesday.
