BYU beat Oklahoma State 6-5 after Easton Jones hit a walk-off home run at Miller Park on Thursday night.
In the Cougars’ half of the 10th inning, Jones came to the plate with two outs and the bases empty. He hit the second pitch into the trees beyond the fence, and with an iconic bat flip, he enjoyed the moment as he ran the bases. The crowd went wild, the lights went crazy, and BYU won the game.
After the game, Easton Jones said that there is no better feeling than a walk-off homer, and that this is the first time in his life he has ever done it.
The Cougars are now 12-12 overall, 3-4 in Big 12 play.
BYU had a rocky start and trailed the Cowboys until the bottom of the ninth inning. Justis Reiser gave up four hits, two of those with extra bases, a walk and three earned runs all in the first inning. Reiser settled down in the second inning, getting a strikeout and not giving up any more runs.
Reiser threw a total of 46 pitches, including 34 in the first inning. He struggled with his location, but he held Oklahoma State to 3 runs before handing the ball over to usual Thursday starter Garrison Sumner.
Sumner had a dominating performance, breaking his personal strikeout record (seven) by picking up 10 Ks. He consistently threw in the mid 90s. He is the first BYU pitcher this season to get double digit strikeouts. He pitched through the ninth inning, seven total innings, giving up two runs and his pitch count was 113.
In the bottom of the third inning, Tu’alau Wolfgramm hit his first career home run. He was 3-4 on the day and is now batting .407 for the season. Bryker Hurdsman also played well, stealing second and third base during the fifth inning and going 2-4 at the plate.
The Cougars were behind the Cowboys 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Wolfgramm and Luke Anderson both delivered clutch hits to tie the game. Wolfgramm singled, then Anderson, who is a .357 hitter with runners on base this season, tripled on a fly ball to right field that landed barely in fair territory. Wolfgramm scored, sending the game into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, Nate Gray came to the mound, and shut the Cowboys down by facing the minimum three batters.
Despite the win, BYU has things it can improve on moving forward. The Cougars struck out 15 times, which is more than half of the 27 outs made in a regular baseball game.
However, BYU showed grit by coming back to win the game. This is the third time this season that BYU has rallied to victory after trailing during the eighth inning.
BYU will play OSU on Friday and Saturday to finish out the three-game conference series.