SOONERS LOSE TWO OF THREE AT ALABAMA
No. 12 Alabama took an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning and hung on to beat the No. 9-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 8-6 in game three of the weekend series on Sunday, in Tuscaloosa.
Oklahoma (22-5, 5-4 SEC) scored five unanswered runs but a scoreless ninth inning doomed the comeback. It’s the Sooners first series loss in SEC play.
OU got on the board with a single run in the first inning before Alabama (25-4, 6-3 SEC) struck back in the home half of the first on a three-run home run from Jason Torres.
The Crimson Tide scored single runs in the second and third innings and then got three unearned runs in the fourth to put the game away.
OU starting pitcher Malachi Witherspoon (2-2) took the loss in five innings, surrendering five earned runs on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. OU relievers Michael Catalano, James Hitt and Reid Hensley combined for four scoreless innings to finish the game.
Alabama won the opening game of the series on Friday, 8-6, and OU won game two on Saturday, 6-5.
The Sooners will play a three-game series at LSU this Thursday through Saturday.
KANSAS SWEEPS OSU
There were a lot of runs scored in the three-game series as Kansas outscored Oklahoma State 28-15 to sweep the series this past weekend, in Lawrence, Kansas.
Kansas won the Friday opener, 5-2, and won a marathon game on Saturday, 12-11 in 11 innings. In the series finale on Sunday, the Jayhawks beat the Cowboys 11-2.
With the loss, OSU fell to 12-13 overall and 1-6 in Big 12 play, while KU is now 23-6 and 6-3 in the Big 12.
There was a bright spot for the Cowboys as Brayden Smith extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a double, and Colin Brueggemann hit his seventh home run, tying him for the team lead.
Reliever Ryan Ure took the loss on the mound on Sunday, falling to 1-3 on the season. He allowed three runs on five hits in three innings, striking out three and issuing a pair of walks.
The Cowboys took an early lead with a run in the first inning and another single run in the fourth inning to put them ahead 2-1, but the Jayhawks scored two in the bottom of the fourth and used a big five-run fifth inning to seal the win.
OSU will host Kansas State this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
ORU LOSES TWO AT ST. THOMAS
The Oral Roberts baseball team was swept in Friday’s doubleheader dropping the first two games of the series 3-2 and 8-2 against St. Thomas. The third game of the series was scheduled for Saturday but was cancelled due to the inclement weather.
With the two losses, ORU is now 15-11 overall and 4-4 in the Summit League. St. Thomas improved to 13-10, 7-1 SL.
In the first game, The Tommies got the scoring started with one run in the third on an error and a two-run homer in the fourth, to take a 3-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles would strike back in the sixth and seventh innings with Keaton Campbell’s RBI single and an Owen Coil solo homer, the second of his collegiate career.
In game two, St. Thomas wasted no time scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a solo homer. They followed that up with a two-run homer in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles only runs came in the fourth inning when one run scored on Makani Tanaka’s sacrifice fly and Ethan Fender hit a double scoring Jack Schark to cut the deficit to two.
ORU will host Summit League opponent South Dakota State in a three-game series this weekend at Chapman Park.