Oklahoma State pitcher Matt Gardner looked calm and collected on the mound Tuesday night at Allie P. Reynolds stadium.
He had every reason to be.
Gardner pitched eight scoreless innings as the Cowboys recorded their third straight win with a 6-1 victory against Western Illinois.
He allowed four hits and struck out two while facing 27 Leatherneck batters, three above the minimum.
“I thought he played really good,” coach Frank Anderson said. “I mean, he threw strikes and had to make some plays, but he didn’t really put any unforced runners on.
“Especially in midweek games, you don’t want to get into situations where you walk people and hit people and make errors.
“From that standpoint, I thought his performance was pretty clean.”
The Cowboys (21-9) struggled to get their offense in motion for most of the game and Gardner’s performance kept the pressure off the offense.
Gardner improved to 4-1 and 15-4 in his career. Tuesday was one of his most consistent performances of the season.
“It was a good day,” Gardner said. “Got a lot of ground balls, which is kind of my theme. If I can get ground balls, I usually know I’m on my game.”
The Cowboy defense, particularly the infield, did its part in a good overall defensive performance.
Ground balls proved to be the theme of the night with Gardner accounting for 14 ground ball outs.
Gardner’s consistent pitching never allowed the Leathernecks to get into an offensive rhythm.
“You’ve just got to go out and do your job and go about playing the game and everything will take care of itself,” Garner said. “If I’m doing my job and getting zeros, that’s all fine with me.”
Gardner, and the Cowboy pitching staff as a whole, is becoming more consistent as the year goes on, and that aspect of his performance was evident Tuesday.
“It feels good to keep cruising along,” Gardner said. “Just keep getting quality starts and giving us a chance to win. That’s what starters are supposed to do, and we talk about it all the time.
“[I’m] just trying to get a little sharper every time.”
Shortstop Jordy Mercer came on in the ninth inning at closer to seal the victory.
He struggled at first, allowing three hits and one earned run, but gathered himself and finished the game for the Cowboys.
“I really don’t like to bring him into the game when it’s six to nothing,” Anderson said. “I’d rather it be pretty close because then he’s a lot more locked in.
“I think it’s important for him to get into the game and just pitch from a mechanical standpoint.”
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