OU Baseball Falls To No. 25 Texas

The University of Oklahoma baseball team dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 25 Texas in front of 6,518 at Disch-Falk Field on Saturday afternoon. The loss moved the Sooners to 23-14 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12, while the Longhorns improved to 19-16 and 6-5.

The difference in the game came by way of a three-run sixth inning for Texas. The four and five hitters in the lineup wreaked havoc on sophomore right-hander Alec Hansen. Catcher Michael Cantu worked his third walk of the day to start a one-out rally and scored the go-ahead run on a triple to right-center by third baseman Bret Boswell, his second hit of the day. Another walk and two RBI-singles would chase Hansen (4-4) from the game after 5.2 innings of work and four runs allowed on five hits and five walks to go with five strikeouts.

The Longhorns tallied the first run of the game in the second inning. Cantu and Boswell each drew a walk to lead off the inning and a sacrifice-bunt moved them both into scoring position. Designated hitter C.J. Hinojosa scored Cantu with a RBI-groundout and a diving stop by senior third baseman Joshua Ake that likely saved a run.

Oklahoma immediately responded with the game-tying run in the top of the third. Ake drew a lead-off walk and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice-bunt by freshman second baseman Kyle Mendenhall. Redshirt-senior right fielder Taylor Alspaugh then came through with a two-out, RBI-single through the right-side.

Right-hander Kacey Clemens (3-2) pitched six-plus inning to earn the win for Texas. He allowed one run and scattered six hits and two walks, while striking out four. Lefty Kirby Bellow locked down his fourth save of the season in a 1.2-inning relief outing with one hit and two strikeouts.

For the second straight day, junior right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. was brilliant out of the pen for OU. The tossed 2.1-scoreless inning with two hits allowed and five strikeouts, including three in the seventh.

The rubber-match will be an early start on Sunday; adjusted for a 12:00 pm first pitch. Redshirt-senior right-hander Robert Tasin gets the ball for Oklahoma.