OU Baseball Falls To In-State Rival ORU

The Oklahoma baseball team concluded a five-game homestand against in-state rival Oral Roberts on Tuesday night. The Golden Eagles did damage in the seventh inning, which led the team to a 5-1 win over Oklahoma.

The first inning was scoreless for both teams, ORU posting one hit while the Sooners failed to get any.

Chase Stafford got on base for Oral Roberts off a walk in the top of two, but his team failed to bring him in.

After OU got the remaining out, the team attempted to put some numbers on the score board. Anthony Hermelyn ripped the first pitch deep. Hunter Haley proceeded to strike out, before Kolbey Carpenter grounded to second base, almost resulting in a double play. Austin O'Brien then struck out, sending OU back to the field.

ORU's next appearance at the plate wasn't so successful, going down quickly. OU pitcher Adam Choplick looked good with five strikeouts, while allowing only one hit.

OU threatened in the bottom of the third inning when Josh Ake stroked one to left center for a double. Craig Aiken soon advanced him to third. With Ake in scoring position, OU popped up short to right field, making the third out.

The two teams went head-to-head, both still with no runs by the bottom of six. That was until the top of seven, when ORU busted the game open. It all started when Audie Afenir doubled to the outfield with no outs. The Golden Eagles proceeded to knock him in (on a breaking ball to right field).

With runners on second and third, Matt Whatley hit a double that took a crazy hop over Ake's head, bringing in two more scores.

Before OU's seventh inning pitching change to Shawn Hunter, Choplick posted ten strikeouts and kept the Golden Eagles scoreless. It's fair to assume the Sooners should've left in Choplick, who was dominating.

Oral Roberts escalated its lead by one in the top of eight after Stafford hit a lead-off triple, making it 4-0.

The Sooners finally got on the board at the bottom of eight, after managing a couple of base hits from Chris Shaw and Ake (4-1). The rally was short-lived, as the Golden Eagles proceeded to close the inning.

ORU tallied another run at the top of nine, before winning 5-1 on 11 hits.

The Sooners will head to Honolulu to take on Hawaii in a four-game series that begins March 12th and wraps March 15th.