OU Baseball Tops Jayhawks

The University of Oklahoma baseball team took down Kansas, 6-3, to claim the series.

Friday, April 3rd 2015, 10:55 pm

By: News 9


The University of Oklahoma baseball team took down Kansas, 6-3, to claim the series in front of 1,289 at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Friday night. The win lifted the Sooners to 21-12 overall and 5-3 in the Big 12, while the Jayhawks dropped to 11-19 and 1-4.

Oklahoma never trailed in the game as three runs came home in the bottom of the first. The inning was set up by a lead-off walk, followed by a single through the right-side from junior first baseman Anthony Hermelyn. Sophomore shortstop Sheldon Neuse kept the inning going with a two-out single through the left-side to plate the first run of the game. Junior left fielder Alex Wise added to the Sooner lead with a two-run double into left-center.

“Rather than clawing back we were able to create distance,” head coach Pete Hughes answered to the difference between game one and two. “We allowed them to climb back in; which is not speaking negatively about our opponent. When you have someone down in your park and you have the chance to win a series, you go after it. We need to bring a better energy level to the park tomorrow but the conditions were not very offensive. I knew runs were going to be hard to come by, but I thought we did a great job, specifically with two outs; we had quite a few two-out RBIs. That was the story of the game.”

Kansas didn't go quietly and responded immediately for two runs in the visitor's half of the second. A two-out KU rally started with a single to right by second baseman Colby Wright. After a walk put two runners aboard, center fielder Joe Moroney hit a soft-grounder up the middle that drove in Wright from second and a throwing error home put two runners in scoring position.

Neither side pushed a man across in the third through sixth innings. The Sooners went to work in the seventh with a walk to senior third baseman Joshua Ake and a single by junior second baseman Kolbey Carpenter. After OU failed to sacrifice both into scoring position, junior center fielder Craig Aikin sliced a single into the left-center gap that brought in Ake. Carpenter, who went first-to-third on the base hit, scored on the next play; a sacrifice-fly to center off the bat of Hermelyn.

Each side would add another run in the late innings. Junior catcher Chris Shaw crushed a double to left-center into the wind and scored on Carpenter's third single of the day. In the top of the ninth, the Jayhawks put on a brief, two-out rally against junior lefty Jacob Evans, who struck out the first two batters he faced, with back-to-back doubles from left fielder Connor McKay and third baseman Matt McLaughlin to cut the deficit to three.

Sophomore right-hander Alec Hansen got the win for the Sooners to improve to 4-3. He lasted six-plus innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and five walks to go with nine strikeouts. Junior RHP Ralph Garza Jr. was strong through two-hitless frame of relief with a strikeout.

Lefty Blake Weiman (0-5) took the loss for Kansas. He pitched 6.1 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out four. The Jayhawk offense was led by second baseman Colby Wright, who went 3-for-3 with a run scored.

Oklahoma goes for the sweep on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 pm first pitch. Redshirt-senior right-hander Robert Tasin (Klein, Texas) is slated to make his fourth start of the season.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

April 3rd, 2015

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024