Sooners Battle Elements, Late Trouble for Win

Originally Published: Jun 20, 2010 10:36 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OMAHA, Nebraska -- The OU baseball team had to fight through more than six hours of rain delays and dangerous situations in the final two innings, but still managed to beat South Carolina 4-3 Sunday.

Thunderstorms hung over Omaha for the majority of the day, causing two separate lengthy delays. The game’s first pitch was postponed for more than four hours, and then action was delayed again in the sixth inning for another two hours.

Action resumed in the bottom of the sixth with OU leading 3-2, when Jeremy Erben took over on the mound. He got into trouble in every inning he pitched.

The first batter Erben faced reached on a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, giving the Gamecocks the tying runner in scoring position with only one out. He responded with two consecutive strikeouts to get out of the inning, but he ran into much bigger trouble in the next frame.

After giving up a single, Erben walked two straight batters to load the bases with two outs. Brady Thomas ripped the first pitch he saw in the next at-bat, but it hung in the air long enough to be caught and end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Garrett Buechele made the most of a South Carolina mistake to provide the Sooners with a much-needed insurance run. Buechele popped a pitch high in foul territory, but catcher Kyle Enders dropped it. Buechele then launched the next pitch over the left-field wall to stretch OU’s lead to two.

Erben allowed the first two batters of the ninth inning to reach base, prompting OU to call on closer Ryan Duke. Duke struck out the first batter he faced, but walked the second to give South Carolina the bases loaded for the second straight inning.

Duke forced the next batter to pop out, drawing the Sooners one out away from victory. But he walked the next batter on four pitches to force in a run, drawing the Gamecocks within one. With the game on the line, Adrian Morales swung at the first pitch he saw and flew out to center field and finally ended the night nine hours after it was scheduled to begin.

The victory was the Sooners’ first in the College World Series in 15 years, and advances them in the winners’ bracket. They will face Clemson at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Clemson defeated Arizona State 6-3 Monday and is the only remaining team that was not a No. 1 seed in its regional.