Afforded 17 hours to contemplate his ninth-inning at-bat in a suspended tie game, Jackson Cramer didn’t disappoint.
The sophomore first baseman, who left the stadium Friday night knowing he’d be hitting with two runners aboard when play resumed Saturday, delivered the go-ahead double that lifted West Virginia to a 5-4 upset of No. 11 Oklahoma State.
With rain and tornado warnings keeping the Stillwater area on alert, Saturday’s regularly scheduled game was canceled. The teams will try to conclude the series with one game Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.
West Virginia (25-23, 7-12), which snapped a six-game losing streak, climbed out of the Big 12 cellar by taking a half-game lead on Kansas, which dropped its first two games at TCU. The last-place team fails to qualify for the Big 12 conference tournament in Tulsa.
Mountaineers head coach Randy Mazey will return to the dugout after serving a two-game suspension regarding his ejection last weekend.
Cramer’s RBI double came against Cowboys left-hander Garrett Williams, a situational reliever who has held opposing batters to a .140 average and eight hits in 15 appearances this season. Cramer lined a 2-1 pitch off the right-field wall, scoring Ray Guerrini, who led off the top of the ninth with a single against Tyler Buffett (3-3) the previous night.
After erasing a 4-0 deficit Friday, Oklahoma State (31-16, 14-8) threatened another comeback in the bottom of the ninth after WVU brought in scheduled Game 3 starter Chad Donato, who was greeted by Ryan Sluder’s double. But Donato, making his first relief appearance since last season, fanned the next three batters to earn his first career save.
BJ Myers (3-4), replaced in the rotation by Conner Dotson, earned his first win since March 25 despite entering with a 4-1 lead in the seventh and allowing all three inherited runners to score on a walk and Corey Hassel’s two-run single.
The rally sullied an otherwise encouraging start by Dotson, who held OSU scoreless while striking out seven through six innings. He ultimately was charged with four runs on three hits and five walks.
Cramer and Kyle Davis struck for back-to-back triples in the fourth inning against Cowboys starter Jon Perrin, before Brad Johnson’s groundout made it 2-0.
West Virginia chased Perrin in the sixth on Taylor Munden’s leadoff double and consecutive walks to Cramer and Davis. After reliever Remey Reed walked Johnson to make it 3-0, Shaun Corso’s line-out to left scored the fourth run.
The Mountaineers will start junior left-hander Ross Vance (6-4) in Sunday’s finale against Cowboys left-hander Michael Freeman (8-2).