Sunday College Baseball Roundup

The Cowboys and ORU picked up wins on Sunday, while the Sooners fell in the series finale to Sam Houston State. 

Sunday, April 26th 2015, 8:45 pm

By: News 9


Cowboys Beat Texas Tech For Series Win

LUBBOCK, Texas — Oklahoma State captured its fifth Big 12 Conference series win of the season Sunday with a 6-3 win over 18th-ranked Texas Tech in the series rubber game at Rip Griffin Park.

With the win, the No. 9 Cowboys moved back into first place in the Big 12 standings with a 12-6 league mark while they improved to 29-14 overall.

“That was a gut check,” said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. “This was a challenging trip that started for us with our bus being broken down on the side of the highway for five hours on Thursday night, and it continued Friday when we didn't play very well and lost the first game of the series.

“Our team was staring at a pretty stout challenge working uphill, and they answered that challenge. I could not be more proud of how competitive we were collectively, player-to-player, staff, the whole group. We came out Saturday and Sunday with a very strong resolve to play better and more representative of the spirit of competition which Big 12 baseball demands.

“My hat's off to the kids for the effort and toughness they displayed against a very tough Texas Tech team. It's hard to go to Lubbock against a great team, great fans and challenging elements and win a series, and our kids did it.”

On Sunday, OSU got home runs from Ryan Sluder and Gage Green to aid a Cowboy bullpen that saw five relievers allow just two runs over the final eight innings to secure the victory.

Texas Tech (27-17, 10-8) jumped out to an early lead against OSU starter Tyler Nurdin, but the Cowboys' senior southpaw was able to limit the damage.

The Red Raiders loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first following two singles and a walk, and the home team took a 1-0 lead when Nurdin plunked Tyler Neslony with a pitch. However, a double play and a strikeout kept TTU from adding to its lead.

Holliday's ballclub answered in the top of the second. Tim Arakawa was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and back-to-back walks to Sluder and Dustin Williams loaded the bases. Up next, Bryan Case delivered a game-tying RBI single, and two batters later, Green collected an RBI on a fielder's choice to give the Cowboys' a 2-1 advantage.

In the third, Texas Tech would tie the game when Neslony smacked a solo home run off OSU reliever Carson LaRue, but the deadlock would not last long.

The fourth inning saw an OSU power surge as the Cowboys took control of the scoreboard.

Sluder got things started with a leadoff home run, a mammoth blast that stayed just inside the left-field foul pole and gave OSU a 3-2 edge. A two-out rally saw the Cowboys increase their lead as following a single by Jacob Chappell, Green crushed a Matt Withrow offering into the TTU bullpen in right field for his fifth round tripper of the season.

The Red Raiders plated their final run in the fifth, but OSU answered in its next at bat to double its lead when Green tied his career-high with his fourth RBI after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Cowboys up, 6-3.

Over the final three innings, TTU threatened to cut into its deficit, but the Red Raiders left runners stranded in each frame.

In the eighth, the home team had runners on second and third and one out, but Trey Cobb got out of the jam by getting a foul out and a groundout to end the inning.

The ninth would get even more interesting for the Cowboys and closer Koda Glover. After retiring the first batter he faced, Glover gave up a single and a walk. An infield fly recorded the second out, but a single by Neslony loaded the bases and brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Eric Gutierrez.

But Glover got Gutierrez to ground to Arakawa, who flipped to Donnie Walton at second base to get the final out and seal the OSU win.

LaRue earned the win to improve to 2-0 as the freshman right-hander worked four innings and recorded four strikeouts, both marking career highs, while Glover picked up his fifth save of the season and first since March 17.

OSU returns to action Tuesday at 6 p.m. when the Cowboys host Arkansas-Little Rock at Reynolds Stadium.

Sooners Rally too Late; Drop Series

NORMAN, Okla. – The No. 23 Oklahoma baseball team dropped the finale and the series to Sam Houston State in an 8-5 game in front of 1,143 at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Sunday afternoon. The Sooners, whose 10-game win streak on Sundays was snapped, fell to 29-18 overall, while the Bearkats improved to 24-21.

The game was scoreless through the first four innings as OU redshirt-senior right-hander Robert Tasin and SHSU right-hander Sam Odom traded zeroes on the scoreboard.

Sam Houston broke the game open in the fourth with four runs on four hits and a pair of Oklahoma errors. Second baseman Jake MacWilliam led off with a double to the wall in left and scored on a single through the right-side by catcher Collin Yelich. A single by right fielder Travis Lee and a passed ball put two runners in scoring position with one away. Wyatt Powell, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter early and stayed on to patrol left field, then executed a safety-squeeze to bring in one run and make it a 2-0 game. The next two runs came in on a dropped line drive to left field for a four-run frame.

The Bearkats put a four-spot on the board in back-to-back innings as they plated four on three hits in the sixth.

Tasin (7-2) took the loss in five-plus innings of work. He left with two runners in scoring position and nobody out in the sixth. For the game, Tasin surrendered six runs, four earned, on six hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts. Odom (3-4) got the win for SHSU in a 7.1-inning start. He held the Sooners to just one hit through the first two innings before being pulled after two hits in the eighth. For the game, Odom struck out six and walked three as he allowed three runs; one of which was unearned.

Junior first baseman Kolbey Carpenter carried the Oklahoma lineup with a 3-for-5 performance. He doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and singled in the eighth without a single hit in between for the Sooners. Carpenter added two runs scored with a hit and a run in both the eighth- and ninth-inning rallies. Junior center fielder Craig Aikin added a 2-for-5 day, both hits coming as a part of the two rallies with a run scored and one driven in.

Oklahoma returns to action Tuesday night at Wichita State. The game will be televised on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

Notes:

• Kolbey Carpenter had his nine-game hit streak snapped with a 0-for-5 day.

• Taylor Alspaugh extended his reached base streak to 21 with a walk and a single.

• Chris Shaw's home run was his fifth of the season and first since facing Central Arkansas (3/31).

• The Sooners surpassed last season's home run total with Shaw's becoming the 31st of the season.

• OU starting pitchers have lasted through the sixth inning in 25 games this season.

• Oklahoma moved to 4-2 in extra innings this season and 9-3 in two years under Pete Hughes.

• The Sooners turned their Big 12-leading 46th double play of the season to end a SHSU scoring threat in the ninth.

Golden Eagles Walk-Off SDSU With 8-7 Win in 10 Innings

TULSA, Okla. – Oral Roberts used a game-tying two-run homerun in the eighth and an RBI single in the 10th to come back and beat South Dakota State 8-7 in 10 innings Sunday afternoon at J.L. Johnson Stadium.

Although ORU has had plenty of late-inning heroics this season, Sunday marked just the second win when trailing after seven innings, and the first walk-off win this year. ORU has also out-scored opponents 3-1 in extra innings this season.

Matt Whatley provided the game-winning RBI single in the 10th, capping off a 4-5 day at the plate. Whatley scored three times as well. Anthony Sequeira was 3-5 at the plate with two RBI and was the winning pitcher, closing out the final four innings without giving up a hit, striking out six Jackrabbits. Derrian James had just one hit in the game, but it was a big one, tying the game 7-7 in the eighth inning on a two-run homerun, his fourth homerun of the season.

Paul Jacobson led SDSU's offense with three hits, while Zach Coppola and Tony Kjolsing each had a pair of hits. Andrew Clemen took the loss on the mound, pitching the 10th inning for the Jackrabbits.

Turning Point

With two outs in the eighth, Whatley doubled off the wall in right center, and Derrian James brought him home with a towering two-run homerun to tie the game, 7-7.

Individual Leaders

Oral Roberts: Whatley was 4-5 at the plate, scoring a team-best three runs in the game. James and Sequeira each had a pair of RBIs.

South Dakota State: Jacobson had three hits while Luke Ringhofer had two RBIs.

Inside the Box Score

- With a stolen base in the first inning, Whatley swiped his 14th base of the year, passing Bob Zupcic for fourth in the ORU freshman record books.

- After Kjolsing led off the fifth with a triple, he was erased on a great play by Dean Wilson, who fielded the ball deep in the hole and fired home to erase the runner.

- Sequeira had his longest outing of the season on the mound at four innings. Prior to Sunday, Sequeira had not gone more than two innings in any of his 16 outings. He also recorded a season high six strikeouts.

- ORU had four extra base hits in the game, including doubles from Whatley, Sequeira and Rolando Martinez, as well as James' homerun.

Scoring Summary

- ORU wasted no time jumping on top as Whatley and James reached, moving to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Brandy. A groundout scored the first run, and a throwing error kept the inning alive and scored the second ORU run of the inning.

- ORU made it 3-0 in the first on an RBI double down the line from Martinez, scoring Audie Afenir from first.

- Sequeira ripped a one-out double down the line in the third inning and came around to score on a single up the middle from Logan Domenico, giving ORU a 4-0 lead.

- Ringhofer got SDSU on the board in the fourth, pulling a two-run homerun to left to cut ORU's lead to 4-2.

- The Jackrabbits tied the game in the sixth, getting the first two batters on with a single and a double. After a pitching change, the first two pitches got past the catcher allowing two runs to score.

- A single to right by Kjolsing allowed SDSU to take a 5-4 lead in the sixth, and a squeeze play pushed across another run.

- A fifth run in the inning scored on a shallow single to center from Eric Danforth, putting SDSU up 7-4.

- Whatley started the bottom of the seventh off with a double down the line and came around to score on a Sequeira single to make it 7-5.

- After a double off the wall by Whatley, James crushed one over the wall in left to tie the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth.

- Dean Wilson led off the 10th inning with a single to left, and after a Chase Stafford sacrifice bunt, Whatley brought him home with a shallow fly ball to right field, giving the Golden Eagles the 8-7 victory.

Up Next

The Golden Eagles will not have a midweek game this week and will travel Friday to face Omaha.

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