Sooners Again Unable to Overcome Texas' Pitching

OU finished with four hits for the second straight day and did not score after the second inning.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:22 pm

By: News On 6

Sooners Again Unable to Overcome Texas' Pitching

Originally Published: Apr 30, 2011 4:34 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

AUSTIN, Texas – The Oklahoma baseball team could only score in one inning and lost its second straight game to Texas 4-3 Saturday.

For the second straight game, the Sooners had difficulty solving the Texas pitchers. The only time they got to starter Cole Green came in the second inning.

After a walk and a sacrifice bunt to start the inning, Ricky Eisenberg delivered an RBI single for the game’s first run. He advanced to second after a second walk, and then Caleb Bushyhead drove both of them home with a two-out triple. That gave OU a 3-0 lead with only two hits.

Erich Weiss led off the bottom of the third with a home run for Texas to cut into the lead, and the Longhorns took the lead in the next frame. Tant Shepherd drove two home with a single to tie the game, and then scored on a double by Paul Montalban.

At the end of the third inning, the score stood at 4-3. It did not change for the rest of the day.

The Sooners had only two more hits in the final six innings and only got a runner past first base once. That came in the ninth inning, when Casey Johnson stood on second representing the tying run with only one out. But Cody Reine struck out and Evan Mistich flied out to end the game.

Green earned a win after holding OU to three runs on only three hits in his six innings of work. Hoby Milner and Corey Knebel combined to give up only one hit in the final three innings, and Knebel came away with a save.

Burch Smith started for OU, but only made it through 2.1 innings before being pulled. He allowed all four runs on five hits and two walks in that span. Jordan John entered in relief and pitched 5.2 strong innings, allowing only three hits and no walks. But he received no offensive run support.

OU and Texas now have played twice, and the Sooners managed only four hits in both games. The two losses guarantee that Texas will win the season series for the 13th consecutive year. They will finish their three-game series at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.