Signs of progress as Cowboy tennis team’s season ends

Progress is not always a linear path, and that can be said for this year’s Cowboy tennis team

OSU finished with 12 wins -- the same as last season. However, comparing records doesn’t do the Cowboys justice.

Last year’s squad was swept by Texas, 4-0, in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. This year’s Cowboys made it past the opening round with a 4-3 win against Texas Tech and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. In the first round, the Cowboys defeated No. 20 Florida, 4-2, then were eliminated by No. 15 Arizona in a 4-0 sweep.

Despite a second round NCAA Tournament loss, OSU coach Dustin Taylor was impressed by his team’s performance.

“Their resiliency throughout the year,” Taylor said. “They got off to a good start. Getting to top 30 in the country, and then some bumps in the road started with a Spring Break trip out in California. And then Big 12, play is never easy. A few of those didn’t go our way. The guys stayed the course. And they picked up steam at the Big 12 against Texas Tech, took a decent crack at TCU in the Big 12 semifinals and beat Florida to get a good opportunity against Arizona. Just proud of the guys and how they stayed the course. They came together as a team and really rallied behind each other and around each other.”

The Cowboys showed Taylor the weaknesses and strengths of his roster and how the team can build on those in the offseason.

“It certainly shows that we’re going in the right direction,” Taylor said. “It also exposes some of the things that we really need to work on. We really need to work on our leadership and really setting these guys up to be great leaders for themselves, but also for each other. The big takeaway from this year is just moving forward. Great teams are led within, and they’re held accountable by the coaches, and they’re led in some way by the coaches, but then the players lead themselves and lead each other.”

Taylor looks to the future for how the team can improve. The Cowboys lose senior captain Chase Ferguson to eligibility, but Taylor expects the rest of the roster to stay.

“None of our guys as of right now are going on the transfer portal,” Taylor said. “We’re bringing in three freshmen, a top Polish kid, a top German kid and a top American. And we’ll be looking for one transfer portal guy to solidify our doubles. Hopefully one of the top doubles players in the country comes across the transfer portal because that’s where we felt like we were a little weak this year. That’s where our priorities lie. There’s gonna be very little changes. I think that’s the exciting thing moving forward is that there’s not going to be much of a different look next year. It’s just gonna be a lot more experience. And, and a bunch of guys that are hungry and want to take this program one step further.”

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“That’s the pitcherversus-hitter battle element of the game is one of the best facets of the game,” Holliday said. “That’s their offensive philosophy and they’re good at it. They stuck to it, played it well.”

OSU starting pitcher Carson Benge -- responsible for a team-high 2 1/3 innings -allowed a season-high seven earned runs. It was an atypical performance for the redshirt freshman, who hadn’t exceeded five earned runs in his last five outings. Two leadoff walks – both of which were extended to full counts – set up OU star shortstop Dakota Harris for a two-RBI single up the middle, giving the Sooners a lead they wouldn’t give back.

“That was huge,” Johnson said. “It busted the bubble a little bit. We’ve talked about making sure we’re aware of where we are present and he (understood the situation). Him coming out and getting a hit in the first inning was big.”

OU plated all seven of Benge’s earned runs through the first three innings to take a 7-0 lead.

The Cowboys (37-17, 15-9) attained their best opportunity for a rally in the bottom of the third with three consecutive oneout base hits, highlighted by an RBI double from center fielder Zach Ehrhard. OSU plated two more that half inning with a two-out, two-RBI single from Benge, who also played the designated hitter role.

However, a deep flyout to the warning track by catcher Chase Adkison ended an opportunity to trim OU’s lead to two runs or less, and the Cowboys never garnered any offensive fluency after. The OSU bullpen displayed good moments, surrendering just two runs – both coming in the top of the seventh – through the ensuing 6 2/3 innings following Benge’s departure. But it wasn’t enough. OU junior southpaw reliever Carter Campbell pitched 4 innings, striking out two batters and surrendering just one run, which came in the bottom of the ninth.

With the loss, OSU will face thirdseeded West Virginia – who the Cowboys lost a series to in April – on Thursday. With OSU’s RPI intact at No. 24 nationally, even after the loss, its chances of hosting a regional are on edge. All OSU can do now is win some games, and most importantly, not lose Thursday.

“We’ve had our fair share of victories and we know how to respond to a defeat,” Holliday said. “That’s the game of (baseball). That’s how the big boys do it. You’ve got to be able to rest quickly and have a good, short memory of processing this game and then move on.

“We’ll show up in the right head space tomorrow for the second round of the (Big 12) Tournament.” sports.ed@ocolly.com

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It was there, in the Purdue locker room, that Becker started asking Sprang questions about OSU and the transfer portal. Becker didn’t know collegiate softball outside of West Lafayette, Indiana, but Sprang did.

“She kind of just gave me more inside information,” Becker said. “It’s easy for somebody on the team that’s been there to be like, ‘You’ll fit in right away; it’ll be great; the team will welcome you,’ because they haven’t actually done it themselves. But when you’re actually talking to somebody who’s kinda taken a leap of faith and left their school to go to a new one, I feel like they actually understand.”

Sprang had nothing but positive things to say about Gajewski’s program and her time in Stillwater. This prompted Becker to reach out to Gajewski, who expressed his interest right away, which led to them having conversations right after the Cowgirls postseason was finished.

Gajewski knew Becker would fit as a Cowgirl, there was no doubt. He also knew she’d shine in the biggest moments, much like her go-ahead hit in the seventh inning against Nebraska last weekend in the Stillwater Regional.