OU Baseball: Evans Plays Hero In Sooner Win

Junior Jacob Evans started a ninth-inning rally for the Oklahoma baseball team with a lead-off, pinch-hit single and ended it in the 10th with a lead-off, walk-off solo home run in a 7-6 win over Kansas in front of 1,251 at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Thursday night. 

The Sooners reached the 20-win mark at 20-12 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 play, while the Jayhawks dropped to 11-18 and 1-3.

“I hit I fastball,” Evans said. “He was trying to get a walk right there and I was really just trying to get it over the shortstop, but I got the pitch and it flew off the bat.” 

The home run was the first of Evans' career in just his seventh at-bat; all coming in his third year at OU.

“Evans can hit because he runs into the ball,” OU coach Pete Hughes said. “He gives you a chance. I know how to pitch him because I am his coach, but he does match-up against certain guys. He gives us the chance for a homerun. We were talking about it between the innings that the flags were down and that he would really have to hit one to get it over. He has got that power; as he showed. It is who he is that we got that play at the plate. He wants to get the final three outs and he wants the last at bat. He was awesome.”

Trailing 6-2, Evans singled to left-center to open the bottom of the ninth and went first-to-third on a pinch-hit single by junior Hunter Haley. Redshirt-senior Robert Tasin brought Evans in with a single up the middle to make it a three-run ballgame and send Evans down to the bullpen to warm up. With two pinch-runners aboard, junior second baseman Kolbey Carpenter placed an infield-single to the hole at second, which loaded the bases with no outs.

Redshirt-senior right fielder Taylor Alspaugh made it a two-run game on a sacrifice-fly to the track in left, just barely in the reach of a jumping Connor McKay for Kansas. Junior center fielder Craig Aikin then lined a double past third and into the left field corner to plate one run and the game-tying run came in on an error by McKay. The Jayhawks elected to walk sophomore shortstop Sheldon Neuse and got out of the inning with two Sooners in scoring position.

“You just have to stay ready in here,” Evans continued. “All 35 of us have to be ready to go out there and do our job. I was just trying to do my job by getting on base [in the ninth]. I also had to be ready to pitch.”

After hustling down to the bullpen for a quick warm-up, Evans (4-0) returned to the on deck circle for the end of the ninth as OU went through the order. He remained in the ballgame to pitch the top of the 10th, where he registered a strikeout and made a leaping play on the mound off a high-bouncing ball in the middle of a perfect frame.

The game got off to a rocky start for Oklahoma in the top of the first. Kansas loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk, error and bunt-single. Catcher Michael Tinsley delivered two runs home with a double to right-center. Another KU run came in on a sacrifice-fly to right for three runs on two hits and two errors.

The Sooners battled back in the bottom half of the first for two runs. Alspaugh hit a one-out single to right and scored on a two-out double off the wall in left by junior Anthony Hermelyn. Neuse then drove in his team-leading 29th RBI of the year to score Hermelyn on a base hit to left-center.

After the first, Jayhawk left-hander Ben Krauth cruised against Oklahoma. He allowed just the two runs and scattered seven hits and two walks, while striking out four across 7.2 innings in a no-decision. Right-hander Stephen Villines (1-2) blew his first save of the season after entering in a three-run ballgame in the eighth. He gave up seven hits and a walk; yielding five runs, four of which were earned.

Sophomore right-hander Jake Elliott left the game in the fifth down 3-2. He gave up three runs, two earned, on eight hits and two walks without recording a strikeout. Junior RHP Thomas McIlraith was solid in relief; going 2.2-hitless innings.

The Sooners and Jayhawks go for game two Friday night at 6 p.m. Sophomore righty Alec Hansen is scheduled to take the hill for Oklahoma. The game will be the first-ever “Bark in the Park” night at L. Dale Mitchell.

Notes:

· Oklahoma is now 2-1 in the extra-inning games this season.

· The Sooners are now 9-3 when committing two or more errors.

· Jacob Evans' walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth was the Sooners' first since Matt Oberste hit a three-run shot to beat Hofstra (2/17/13).

· Evans' home run was the Sooners' first walk-off hit since Sheldon Neuse delivered a win against Texas Tech (5/22/14) at the Big 12 Championship.

· With the one-inning win, Evans improves to 4-0 this season with an ERA of 2.14.

· Evans 2-for-2 effort at the plate improves his batting average to .571 on the year.

· Evans' walk-off homer gave him his third RBI of the season.

· Anthony Hermelyn picked up his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-5 effort. He also tied for the team-lead with eight doubles.

· Oklahoma batters drove in six runs on the evening with no hitter plating more than one.

· The 7-6 walk-off win gave OU its 10th win of the year inside the friendly confines of L. Dale Mitchell Park.

· The win is the Sooners first of the year when trailing after the 8th inning. OU trailed 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth.

· Oklahoma now has seven wins and just one loss when hitting at least one home run.

· Today's game marks the 20th time this season the Sooners have outhit an opponent.

· Sheldon Neuse picked up his team-leading 11th two-out RBI in the first and recorded his 11th multi-hit game.

· Taylor Alspaugh recorded his ninth multi-hit game and is hitting .441 (15-for-34) over the last eight game, including a team-leading .458 average in Big 12 games.

· The Sooner bench was hitting .300 (6-for-20) in pinch-hit opportunities entering the night and went 3-for-3 to start the ninth to push their collective average to .391.