OU Baseball Tops Kansas, Wins Big 12 Championship

The Sooners are the 2013 Big 12 Champions.

Sunday, May 26th 2013, 6:08 pm

By: News 9


Oklahoma captured the 2013 Big 12 Championship with a 7-2 victory over Kansas Sunday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Sooners (40-10), the No. 4 seed in the tournament, jumped to the lead early and added insurance late while stifling the 6-seed Jayhawks (34-25) with a trio of pitchers and several remarkable defensive plays.

Oklahoma took advantage at the outset with a three-run first inning.

Max White reached base on two outs after catch Ka'iana Eldredge interference with his swing on a foul ball. Matt Oberste walked in the next at-bat and Hector Lorenzana hit into the opposite gap in right field to score White from second. Oberste scored on a wild pitch from KU starter Frank Duncan (4-6) and then Anthony Hermelyn finished the plate appearance scoring Lorenzana with a single to left field.

Kansas answered in the bottom half as leadoff batter Justin Protacio singled up the middle and then scored on a sacrifice fly to batters later.

The Sooners extended their lead in the third inning. Oberste smacked Duncan's high 2-2 fastball into the bleachers behind left field, scoring White, who was aboard due to a fielder's choice, for two more runs.

The Sooners escaped with Jayhawks in scoring position in the second, third and fifth innings with spectacular defensive efforts. With runners at second and third in the second, Garrett Carey fielded a grounder deep at third base and turned it through Hector Lorenzana at second to Matt Oberste, who needed to lunge into splits to make the out at first. In the next inning, Lorenzana backhanded a line drive and flipped to Oberste.

Kansas added one run in the fifth when Dakota Smith led off the inning with a double and was batted in on Eldredge's sacrifice fly. But the Jayhawks would do no more damage. Kevin Kuntz lined back to OU reliever Jacob Evans, who quickly dropped his glove to snare the ball before it could ricochet off his hip.

Evans (7-2) came on in relief of Ethan Carnes with one out in the third and pitched a career-high five innings. Kyle Hayes earned his second save in as many days after finishing the final 1 2/3 innings retiring five of the final six batters and ending the game with a looking strikeout to Eldredge.

Hayes earned hero status with the home crowd Saturday after striking out the only two batters he faced to seal a 7-6, 11th-inning victory over Kansas State.

Oberste completed his performance with four RBIs, collecting his final pair with a single through the left side in the ninth that scored Craig Aikin and Jack Mayfield.

The Sooners wore light blue, the color of Oklahoma's state flag, T-shirt with the word "HOME" outlined in a stencil of the state in honor of the victims of a May 20 tornado that devastated nearby communities.

Oklahoma went undefeated in the tournament, sweeping through three games of pool play before defeating the Jayhawks, giving the Sooners a five-game winning streak and momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Jonathan Gray, who pitched a complete game shutout in OU's opening game of the Big 12 Championship against Baylor Thursday, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The all-tournament team included Sooners Hermelyn, Oberste, Lorenzana, Garrett Carey and Max White.

Oklahoma earned its 40th victory, becoming one of just three teams (Rice and Florida State) to reach 40-plus wins in each of the past five seasons. It was Oklahoma's first conference tournament title since capturing the crown in the league's inaugural season in 1997.

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