STILLWATER, Oklahoma – The Marist baseball team fell to the Oklahoma State Cowboys 5-3 on Saturday, despite outhitting the reigning Big 12 champions.

With the loss, the Red Foxes fall to 0-4 on the season.

SUMMARY:

The Cowboys opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff walk and RBI double. After a dropped fly ball by Marist, Oklahoma State made it 2-0 with a sac bunt and RBI ground out.

The Red Foxes trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third when redshirt junior Chris Tracz led off with a solo home run to right field, his first home run of the season.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when the Cowboys led off with a single up the middle. After Pichardo fell behind 3-0 to the following batter, sophomore Conor McNamara replaced him on the mound and Oklahoma State quickly extended its lead to 4-1 with a two run home run.

Marist answered in its next at bat with two outs, when redshirt senior Greg Kocinski singled, senior Matt Iantosca walked and sophomore Matt Rubayo walked to load the bases. Tracz then laced a two RBI single to center field to trim the deficit to 4-3.

In the bottom of the inning, the Cowboys regained a two run lead with a one out single, followed by back-to-back hit by pitches to load the bases. Senior Mike Coss replaced McNamara on the mound and Oklahoma State made it 5-3 on an RBI ground out.

KEY STATS:

• Red Foxes outhit the Cowboys 7-5
• Oklahoma State pitchers struck out 12 batters while Marist pitchers struck out 6
• Both teams stranded seven runners on base
• The Red Foxes batted .385 (5-13) in advancement opportunities while the Cowboys batted .556 (10-18)

GAME NOTES:

• Tracz tied a career high with two hits and one home run in the game
• Roper hit his first career double in his first at bat of the day

UP NEXT:

Marist will close out the series at Oklahoma State on Sunday at 1 p.m.