Sooners swept by Cougars in doubleheader

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NORMAN, Okla. -- The Sooners fell behind early in game two of the doubleheader on Saturday and lost 8-5 to visiting Washington State in eight innings.  OU lost the first game of the doubleheader, 4-3, and trails the weekend series 3-0 heading into tomorrow's finale at 1 p.m.

"We didn't get off to a good start and we have a young club that needs to learn from this," said OU head coach Sunny Golloway.  "I wouldn't say we played poorly but we have to learn how to finish (games).  The game came down to them making a terrific play and us making a bad play in right field."

Tied at five runs apiece in the bottom of the seventh inning, OU had a chance to put the game away with junior J.T. Wise on first base and sophomore Spencer Selby at the plate.  With Andrew Davis (2-0) on the mound, Selby drove a 1-0 pitch deep to the gap in right center, but WSU right fielder Jared Prince tracked the ball down and dove to make the game-saving catch. 

Washington State took the defensive momentum into its at-bat in the top of the eighth.  With runners on first and third and two outs on the board, Paul Grain drove a shot to the wall in right field and OU freshman Casey Johnson covered a lot of ground to put himself in position but was unable to hold on as two runs scored off the error.  The Cougars tacked on another run off senior Jake McCarter's wild pitch to take an 8-5 advantage.

OU attempted another comeback in its last at-bat, but was unsuccessful after placing runners on first and third and one out as Ross Humes earned his fourth save of the year. 

The Sooners stranded 11 base runners overall in the contest and lost their third straight game.

For the third time in the series, the Cougars' offense jumped on the Oklahoma starting pitcher.  In game three it was Michael Rocha, who allowed five runs, four earned off 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings.  Rocha was relieved by senior Ryan Mottern (0-1) in the sixth inning and was credited with the loss.  Mottern lasted two innings before giving way to McCarter for the final two outs of the game.

Trailing 5-0 after the top half of the fourth inning, The Sooners rallied with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Selby led off the frame with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field.  Freshman Tyson Seng singled home freshman Casey Johnson and senior Mike Gosse's single to right center field plated two more runs.

The Sooners tied the game at five runs apiece in the bottom of the sixth inning on senior Mike Gosse's single through the right side of the infield, scoring Seng from second base.

The series finale is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday as OU sophomore Andrew Doyle (3-1) will take the mound and look to salvage the series.  The game will be aired on KOKC 1520 AM with Chuck Kelly and DeWayne Vaughn providing the on-air talent.