If you told Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock or any of his players that they would get to play one game to have a chance to got to Omaha, they'd have a simple reply.

Sign them up.

It doesn't work like that as the No. 8 Red Raiders had to play 61 games before facing off against Big 12 foe Oklahoma State in a winner-goes-to Omaha contest Sunday at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

The wait and the story line built along the way was well worth it as Kurt Wilson — a pitcher turned starting left fielder after asking Tadlock if he could swing a bat at the coach's weekly radio show — lifted a ball over the right-center field fence for the go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth that powered Texas Tech to an 8-6 win over the Cowboys.

"I was just messing around with Tadlock. See what he would say," Wilson said of his legendary write-in question which read, "When does Kurt Wilson get to bat?". "Next thing I know, I was in the lineup. It's been fun."

With the win, the Red Raiders (44-18) clinched their second straight berth, and fourth in the last six seasons, to the College World Series. OSU (40-21) will head home unable to reach the promised land for the first time since 2016. Texas Tech will play the winner between UCLA and Michigan who faced off late Sunday and did not finish by the Avalanche-Journal's print deadline.

"I don't know if I want to think about what I feel," Tadlock said about winning the decisive Game 3. "What I do know is June 26 or 27, you can win the whole thing. We're five games away from doing that, and that's a long time. There's going to be distractions along the way, but it's usually play a game, take a day, play another game. So that's not necessarily what I feel, but that's our plan. We plan on playing."

Josh Jung started the rally by hitting his second solo home run of the game too close the Red Raiders' deficit to 6-5 in the eighth.

"Unbelievable, I mean our whole lineup was just resilient today," said Jung, who likely played his last game inside The Rip after he was picked eighth overall by the Texas Rangers in the MLB Draft earlier in the week. "Oklahoma State is a big home-run hitting team. With the wind blowing out, we knew they were going to be hitting a few today. So we did all we could to elevate the baseball in the zone and get our pitch and get a good swing on it."

Cameron Warren drew a six-pitch walk before he was pulled in favor of pinch runner Max Marsuak before he advanced to third following a steal and error on OSU catcher Bryce Carter. Cody Masters got on base thanks to another walk to put runners on the corners.

It looked like Texas Tech would let another scoring chance elude them as Dru Baker struck out swinging before Wilson's swing brought the stadium to a fever-pitch and capped a four-run eighth inning.

"Yes sir. No doubt," Wilson said if it was the biggest home run he's hit in his baseball career.

"He only has like six to my knowledge," Jung said, cutting his teammate off for a quick jab.

While it was all smiles in the post-game press conference, the Red Raiders were all business as they attempted to engineer a late-inning comeback against an Oklahoma State squad which owned a 6-4 lead after the top of the eighth.

"I think you watched a game and saw every pitch had a lot put into it — whether it was the kid with the bat in the hand or the kid with the ball in the hand. Kids were competing hard," Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday said. "The room for error was very small. ... Comes down to an execution piece."

Dane Haveman, who came on in relief for John McMillon in the ninth, shook off a shaky Saturday appearance as he gained his third save and helped the Red Raiders claim their second straight berth to the College World Series. McMillon struck out six and gave up three earned runs in 3 2/3 inning to improve to 3-3 on the mound.

"They're a club that's going to swing the bat," McMillon said. "I guess, just left a couple of pitches up and they made me pay. I'm just really glad that my teammates were there to have my back when I might not have had my best stuff today. Like Kurt, Dane Haveman came in a big spot. Really gutted up for us. I'm just really proud of the way that we responded after some homers by them."

Jung agreed with McMillon about Haveman, who came into Sunday's contest after giving up a two-run homer to Cowboys power hitter Colin Simpson the day prior in the eighth. Simpson finished Sunday going 1-for-4 with two RBI in a game where the teams combined for seven home runs.

Haveman, a left-handed pitcher, may have lost the battle but had the final say as he struck out Simpson to send the Red Raiders to Omaha.

"He gave up a home run to Simpson (Saturday) that gave them the lead ultimately," Jung said. "For him to come back and to bear down and to strike him out to win today. That just shows you the kind of guy he is. He just attacked him."