Tyler Wulfert felt the pressure as the moment materialized.
Bottom of the seventh. Tied ballgame. A retrospective pivotal moment in No. 19 Oklahoma State’s 9-3, series-clinching win over Texas Tech on Saturday night.
“Just trying to win the at-bat, one pitch at a time,” Wulfert said. “I was just trying not to let the pressure within the moment get to me.”
Easier said than done.
Most daunting were the parameters within the moment and the consequences that might ensue depending on Wulfert’s at-bat. The tenacity of the 5,602 in attendance at O’Brate Stadium bellowed around home plate. Wulfert was immersed within it as the spotlight shined on him in a paramount moment of Saturday’s contest.
After splitting two spots in the first inning, the Cowboys (34-16, 17-9 Big 12) and Red Raiders were scoreless from the second inning onward. Texas Tech drew first blood off a two-run home run from right fielder Austin Green in the top of the first. However, OSU countered in the bottom half of the inning off a two-out, 2-RBI double from first baseman Colin Brueggemann.
Texas Tech (30-22, 12-17 Big 12) attained multiple opportunities to plate the go-ahead run over the course of the middle innings. But a stellar start on the mound from OSU right-hander Brian Holiday — 10 strikeouts, surrendering six hits, one walk and two runs, none of which were earned, marking his 10th quality start of the season — kept the potent Red Raider offense at bay. And most importantly, it kept OSU’s hopes of pulling away late alive.
“We were kind of just set in neutral throughout those (middle innings),” right fielder Carson Benge said. “I’d say we weren’t really putting some good barrels on the ball, and (Robinson) was executing his pitches well. And nothing was really falling or going our way.
“We needed something.”
Then came Wulfert’s lead-off at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. He stepped up to home plate, poised, calm, cool and collected, “per usual,” according to Benge.
After three pitches, Wulfert faced a 1-2 count. He fouled off nine more pitches, eventually making the count 3-2. Admittedly, Wulfert said he felt the pressure compile pitch-by-pitch. Yet he remained adamant that the at-bat would not escape his grasp. ‘Not this time,” he said.
Then came the breakthrough. On the 15th pitch of the at-bat, Wulfert sat on a fastball down in the zone, sending it to right field on a line for a lead-off single. Six minutes and 15 pitches later, Wulfert’s poise at the plate paid off.
And perhaps most importantly, it provided an adrenaline boost within OSU’s dugout.
“We kind of went from hang-in-there mode to turn-it-on mode,” coach Josh Holliday said. “We were very much in pause, and Tyler put us into fast-forward play with that at-bat.”
Shortly after, center fielder Zach Ehrhard singled to right field to set up Benge for the go-ahead at-bat. On a full count, Benge homered off a two-seam fastball from Texas Tech reliever Josh Sanders, lifting it over the left field wall for an opposite-field, three-run bomb. Just like that, OSU led 5-2.
“I definitely didn’t think that I got all of it,” Benge said with a laugh. “But I felt like I got enough of it.
“It just kept carrying and carrying. And sure enough, I got enough of it.”
The Cowboys logged a fourth run in the frame off a solo shot to right field from Aidan Meola, making it 6-2 OSU. From that moment on, the entirety of the game’s momentum resided with the Cowboys. Three more runs in the eighth inning finalized all scoring and, eventually, an OSU win.
Saturday’s game was a must-win for Holliday’s group. For the Big 12 title race. For postseason and regional hosting implications. And for the general well-being of the team heading into the final weekend of regular season play..
Holliday, now in his 12th season as the coach at his alma mater, has witnessed his share of memorable at-bats. In his mind, Wulfert’s seventh-inning heroic moment might be the most memorable.
“That’s one of the best at-bats I’ve seen to memory,” Holliday said. “When those do happen, and of course, the hitter wins the battle, walks or a hit and then it leads to something else, that’s also when they really stand out…It’s a snapshot of grit on Tyler’s part. I mean, grit on that particular at-bat. Grit in terms of who he is. Grit in what he’s had to fight through over the course of the season. Grit in what he’s been through with the injury. I mean, it’s just a complement to the kid. And I’m very proud of him for it.”
