Sooners' Starter Gets Back on Track in Regional Final

After getting rocked against Kansas in Oklahoma's last regular season game, Bobby Shore was dominant against North Carolina.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:47 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jun 7, 2010 12:43 AM CDT

More Norman Regional baseball coverage from Oklahoma Sports
- Sooners’ Starter Gets Back on Track in Regional Final
- Strong Pitching Propels Oklahoma to Super Regional
- Tar Heels' Bats Too Much, ORU Eliminated
- Injured Pitching Staff Comes Up Short for Golden Eagles
- Oral Roberts Avoids Elimination with Walk-Off Home Run
- Unlikely Hero Comes up Clutch for Golden Eagles
- Oklahoma Tops North Carolina in Dramatic Fashion
- Golloway's Faith Rewarded in Win over Tar Heels

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- For the second consecutive game, the Oklahoma Sooners' starting pitcher elevated them to a victory over the potent offense of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

“Whenever you only give up three runs you should win the game,” said North Carolina senior Ryan Graepel. “It’s a great credit to their pitcher because he pitched a great game.”

Bobby Shore took the mound on Sunday yet again for OU, but unlike his regular-season finale performance against Kansas, the junior right-handed pitcher kept a high-powered offense from getting going.

“Bobby stumbled late in the season and he knew that. We needed him to get back up and go hard,” said Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway. “He was terrific. We had guys step up all over the place, but it comes back to our starting pitching.”

Shore pitched 7.1 innings for the Sooners, allowing just four hits and one earned run in his outing.

“I pounded the zone,” said Shore. “Other games when I was struggling I didn’t throw strikes. Like coach Golloway said I needed to go after guys and be confident.”

After closer Ryan Duke blew his first save of the season Saturday against North Carolina, Golloway called on reliever Jeremy Erben to finish the game for Oklahoma.

The junior right-handed pitcher gave up just one hit in his 1.2 innings for OU, closing the door on a possible UNC comeback.

“Our bullpen has been strong,” said Golloway. “We’ve gone to different guys to try to play the hot hand like we did tonight.”

With back-to-back strong outings from its starting pitchers, Oklahoma gets ready to face yet another daunting offensive challenge. In six games in the Charlottesville Regional, Virginia and St. John’s have scored a combined 72 runs, an average of 12 per game.

Golloway was quick to praise his Sunday starter, but knows his work isn’t done if OU is to advance to Omaha for the College World Series.

“We’re really proud of him, but we want him to stay hungry,” said Golloway. “He’s got some more victories in him.”