Finding a way

Ryan Steele - NewsPress

May 10, 2008 10:23 pm

— Late-game heroics just come natural to Jordy Mercer.
The Oklahoma State shortstop recorded the game-winning RBI single and earned his team-leading eighth save of the season Friday as the 10th-ranked Cowboys edged Texas Tech, 3-2, in front of 1,350 fans at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
“That was a fun game and that’s what it’s all about right there,” the Taloga native said. “There’s nothing like it. Just helping the team win in a big game like this and getting back to our winning ways is really exciting.”
With the contest tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, Mercer came up with a crucial hit which drove in catcher Luis Flores — who made perhaps the defensive play of the night when he threw out Willie Rueda at third to end a Red Raider threat in the top half of the inning.
Mercer then went to the mound in the ninth, and after giving up a leadoff single to Chris Richburg, he retired three straight batters to seal the victory for O-State (36-13, 15-7), which dropped back-to-back games to Utah Valley State and No. 7 Rice earlier this week.
“Our goal was to get back on track and get back to the way we know how to play,” Mercer said. “We grinded it out — it wasn’t pretty but we did it.”
OSU coach Frank Anderson added, “(Mercer) is a great player. It looked like Taloga High School right there. ... That was pretty good.”
When Mercer arrived in Stillwater three years ago, he wasn’t even sure if he would be utilized as a pitcher. When he leaves the program, his name will be at the top of the career saves list.
Mercer posted his 16th career save Friday and has surpassed the previous mark of 14 set by Rob Linfante (1991-94) and Dennis Livingston (1982-84).
“That’s pretty cool to come in and be the saves leader,” Mercer said. “There’s a great list of those guys and I feel proud and honored.”
Joey Kenworthy’s RBI single gave the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first, but an RBI single by freshman Thomas Belza evened the score in the second.
Junior Donnie Webb scored on a throwing error in the third to put the Cowboys — who left 12 runners stranded — on top by a run, but a sacrifice fly by Doug Thennis in the sixth once again left the contest deadlocked.
“It’s such an unusual game emotionally because we didn’t win our last two games and we were a little punch drunk coming out of finals,” Anderson said.
Mercer went 3-for-4 with a double, Webb went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while sophomore Neil Medchill and Flores each went 2-for-4. Senior Robbie Weinhardt hurled just one inning in relief of sophomore starter Andy Oliver and improved to 5-0 this year.
Oliver fell into trouble early — giving up three consecutive hits to lead off the game including a double by Rueda — but settled down after a chat on the hill with Anderson and struck out back-to-back hitters.
“His deal is a little unusual in the fact that he’s probably starting to get into some uncharted waters as far as number of innings,” Anderson said. “I doubt at Vermilion (High) if he threw over 50 or 60 innings at the most.
“A little bit of it is new to him but then he reached back and competed pretty good. ... All I wanted to tell him is, ‘Concede the (runner) at third like he’s not even there, get out of this thing with one run and we’ll go on.’
Oliver threw seven innings — allowing seven hits and no walks — and struck out seven. For TTU (21-27, 6-16), Rueda went 4-for-4 and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
The series continues at 2 p.m. today.
“It’s great to get back in the win column,” Weinhardt said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit and we needed a team win to get a little confidence back. I think (Friday) was great for us, maybe give us a little momentum over the weekend.”