Sooners Lose First Game of Big 12 Championship

Kansas State scored two late runs and OU could not respond in a 5-4 loss.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:25 pm

By: News On 6

Sooners Lose First Game of Big 12 Championship

Originally Published: May 26, 2011 12:15 AM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma baseball team lost a seesaw battle with Kansas State 5-4 Wednesday in its first game of the Big 12 Championship.

The Sooners and Wilcats fought back and forth all night, but OU could not respond when it mattered most.

OU carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning, when an RBI groundout by Kent Urban tied the game. KSU then took the lead in the top of the ninth with a clutch RBI single by Ross Kivett with a full count and two outs.

The Sooners threatened in the bottom of the inning, when a walk and sacrifice bunt combined to put the tying run on second base with one out. After a strikeout, the Wildcats intentionally walked Cody Reine to put the potential game-winning run on base.

Elliott Blaire entered as a pinch-hitter in the next at-bat with a chance to be the hero. But he flew out to right field to end the threat and seal the loss.

Before the close finish, the only scoring either team did came early in the game in one inning each. The Wildcats’ first three runs came in the second inning, when they took advantage of a costly OU error.

After retiring two of the first three batters of the inning, the Sooners had a chance to end the inning unscathed. But an error by Caleb Bushyhead allowed one run to score on the play and kept the frame alive.

Kivett and Jake Brown followed with RBI singles in each of the next two at-bats, giving Kansas State a 3-0 lead with all of their runs being unearned.

But the Sooners quickly responded with four runs of their own in the third inning that turned a three-run deficit into a one-run lead.

Tyler Ogle delivered a two-run that put OU on the board, and Cameron Seitzer tied the game with an RBI single. Ricky Eisenburg then scored on a double steal in the next at-bat for a 4-3 lead. The score remained the same until the seventh, when KSU scored its two late runs.

The loss will knock OU into the losers’ bracket of the Big 12 Championship, but will not eliminate it from contention. The Sooners now will face Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m. Friday. The Red Raiders lost 10-5 to Texas A&M in their first game.