FROM PRESS RELEASE
NORMAN, Okla. — The Sooners (22-9-1 overall, 3-4-1 Big 12) bounced back one day after dropping the series opener with a 5-3 win over No. 14 Texas (20-10, 6-5) on Saturday in front of 1,808 fans at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
OU was forced to rally for the second straight game but came out on the winning end in game two. The last time OU entered the third game of the Texas series tied at one game apiece was in 2004.
The fifth inning was the decisive frame for OU as it received a pair of two-out singles from Mike Gosse and J.T. Wise to break the 2-2 tie and take the first lead of the series. Casey Johnson tied the game in the fourth inning with his second home run of the season.
“Our guys keep fighting back and I can’t say enough,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “I am proud of our guys, and have been all year, for the way they continue to come back and fight. We keep telling them that it’s going to pay dividends and I thought it did for us today.”
Andrew Doyle (5-2) got the starting nod for OU and earned the win after seven strong innings, despite allowing two runs in the first inning. Doyle only struck out two batters but limited the Texas offense to three runs and seven hits a day after Texas scored 10 in the series opener.
For the second straight game, the visiting Longhorns struck first with two runs in the first frame. Doyle surrendered back-to-back singles to lead off the game and following a strike out of Jordan Danks, Brandon Belt brought home both base runners on a single up the middle.
The OU offense answered in the bottom half of the first on Aljay Davis’ RBI single to the gap in right-center field. The base knock brought home Jamie Johnson, who tripled off the left-field wall to begin the frame. The Sooners No. 1 and No. 2 hitters in the lineup finished with a team-high two hits apiece in the game.
Casey Johnson helped OU tie the ball game in the bottom of the fourth with a shot over the right-field fence. The home run was the 28th for Oklahoma and the 15th this season with zero runners on base.
The Sooners came right back in their next at-bat and plated two runs with two outs to take a 5-2 lead. After UT starter Ken Kasparek (1-2) struck out Trey Sperring and Tyson Seng to begin the fifth, the Sooners laced together four consecutive singles, including RBIs from Gosse and Wise.
Seng contributed again in the bottom of the sixth as the Sooners scored for the third straight inning. Seng blooped a two-out single to center field and scored Matt Harughty all the way from first base, giving OU a 5-2 lead heading to the seventh.
The Longhorns got one more run on Doyle in the seventh inning before the right-hander’s outing ended. Doyle was relieved by Ryan Mottern in the eighth inning after giving out back-to-back singles. Mottern entered a difficult situation with two runners on base and zero outs but halted the Texas rally with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to first to end the inning.
“Mottern is fifth-year guy and has a lot of experience and he has seen Texas a lot,” added Golloway. “So you could see he had a lot of poise in today’s game and his experience paid off really big for him. That was not an easy situation right there.”
Closer Jake McCarter pitched a spotless ninth inning to record his Big 12-leading ninth save of the season and set up Sunday’s rubber match.
The series concludes on Sunday with game three, slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. The game will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM following OU softball (noon first pitch) and will feature OU’s Michael Rocha (2-0, 3.89 ERA) against UT’s Riley Boening (2-0, 3.55 ERA). The first 500 fans through the gate will receive OU pom poms.
