TULSA, Okla. (AP) � Designated hitter Dane Phillips hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth as Oklahoma State defeated Oklahoma 8-7 Friday night at Oneok Field.
It was Phillips' fourth homer of the season, lifting the Cowboys (26-8, 9-4 Big 12) past the rival Sooners (25-9, 6-6) in the Bedlam matchup.
Reliever Chris Marlowe gave up a run-scoring single to the first batter he faced in the sixth but held the Sooners scoreless thereafter, striking out seven while allowing just one more hit to earn the win.
OSU trailed 5-1 but scored six unearned runs in the fifth after centerfielder Ricky Eisenberg dropped what would have been the third out on a routine fly. The Cowboys took advantage of the break to rough up starter Michael Rocha, who came into the game 7-1 with a 1.02 ERA. He lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up nine hits in his shortest stint of the season.
"Everybody in the ballpark knows if we make routine plays, we win going away, so it's a tremendous disappointment," said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. "The game came down to catching the ball in centerfield, it's that simple."
"When he dropped it, we started to string together some hits and it started to snowball," said OSU head coach Frank Martin. "Rocha is one of the best pitchers in our league and we were fortunate."
Trailing 7-5, the Sooners evened the game on Tyler Ogle's third hit and third RBI of the night. Ogle got his fourth hit in the ninth, but he was the only Sooner to touch Marlowe.
"Every game Chris comes in, he's a lights-out guy," said OSU catcher Jared Womack. "He gets big outs. He's done it all year and did it again tonight."
The Cowboys took a 1-0 lead in the third, taking advantage of a communication lapse between OU shortstop Caleb Bushyhead and leftfielder Casey Johnson, who let a two-out shallow pop fly drop between them. Womack then snapped an 0-for-21 streak with a single that scored Phillips.
The Sooners rallied for two runs on three hits in the fourth, including a run-scoring double by Eisenberg. Johnson atoned for his earlier mistake by rapping a single to left to score Eisenberg.
The Sooners added three in the top of the fifth while chasing OSU starter Mike Strong. After the Sooners loaded the bases with no outs, Ogle punched a single threw the drawn-in infield to score two and Chris Ellison hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5-1.
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