OU Rally Falls Short As West Virginia Evens Series

The Oklahoma baseball team scored two runs in the ninth inning, but its rally fell short against West Virginia, 9-8 Saturday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Sooners (30-18, 12-8 Big 12) and Mountaineers (30-19, 11-9 Big 12) play a rubber game at noon on Sunday. OU will honor its seniors and graduates in a pregame ceremony beginning at approximately 11:35 a.m.

Oklahoma trailed 6-3 in the seventh inning when Peyton Graham launched his 13th home run of the season to make it 6-5. The teams traded runs in the eighth inning and WVU added two runs in the top of the ninth on a home run to take a 9-7 lead. The Mountaineers scored each of their last seven runs on two-out hits.

OU quickly mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Tanner Tredaway reached on an error, Graham singled and Blake Robertson hit a double into the left field corner to make the score 9-7. Graham then scored on an RBI ground out by Brett Squires to make it 9-8, but a ground out ended the game with Robertson on third base.

Tredaway gave Oklahoma a 3-2 lead on his three-run home run in the third inning. It was his fourth homer of the season. The Sooners chipped away with five in the last three frames but were unable to take the lead as West Virginia added runs.

The Mountaineers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by J.J. Weatherholt and a sacrifice fly, after the leadoff batter reached on a strikeout-wild pitch. The Mountaineers went ahead 4-3 in the fourth on a two-run double by Tevin Tucker, and then made it 6-3 on a double in the fifth by Braden Barry and a single in the seventh by McGwire Holbrook. A single by Austin Davis gave WVU a two-run lead again in the eighth inning and a two-run homer by Barry in the top of the ninth made the score 9-6.

Graham finished the game 3 for 5 with two RBIs while he, Tredaway and Kendall Pettis each scored two runs. OU starter David Sandlin (5-3) took the loss while WVU starter Ben Hampton (7-4) earned the win.