FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Texas 11, Oklahoma 10
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Sophomore David Hernandez chipped an 0-2 offering for an RBI single to cap a three-run rally and lead the Texas Longhorns to a come-from-behind 11-10 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship baseball action at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark Saturday morning
With Texas trailing 10-8 in the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell drew walks from Jake McCarter to leadoff the frame. Chase Anderson came in to pitch for the Sooners and induced a pop up on a bunt attempt by Russell Moldenhauer for the first out. Brandon Belt reignited the rally with a single to rightfield, plating Danks and trimming the lead to 10-9. Preston Clark struck out looking to bring Hernandez to the plate with two outs. Hernandez swung at strike two in the dirt, but a wild pitch allowed Russell to score from third and put Belt in scoring position. Hernandez golfed the next pitch into centerfield for the game-winning run.
Oklahoma (34-24-1) had ninth-inning heroics of its own to take the lead. With Texas nursing an 8-7 advantage, Casey Johnson hit a leadoff double to centerfield. Doug Buser attempted a sacrifice bunt and when none of the Longhorns picked it up it resulted in a single, putting runners at the corners. An error on a fielder’s choice grounder by Aaron Baker drove in Johnson with a game-tying run. Oklahoma scored two more runs when Aljay Davis was hit by a pitch with bases loaded and Mike Gosse drew a bases-loaded walk, staking the Sooners to a 10-8 lead.
Texas (36-20) drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning. Michael Torres reached base on a fielding error to lead off the inning and scored on a double down the leftfield line by Jordan Danks. With two outs, Brandon Belt singled to plate Danks and stake the Longhorns to a 2-0 advantage.
The Longhorns tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Kyle Russell singled to centerfield and scored on a double to rightfield by Russell Moldenhauer. Belt followed with a walk and Preston Clark drove in Moldenhauer with a double down the leftfield line.
Oklahoma broke the scoring seal in the top of the fourth inning. J.T. Wise and Casey Johnson hit singles to ignite the Sooners’ offense. Jarod Freeman sacrificed the runners over with a bunt, a walk drawn by Aaron Baker loaded the bases and Bryant Hernandez plated Wise with a groundout to first base, closing the Texas margin to 4-1.
The Longhorns inflated the cushion to 6-1 with a pair in the home half of the fourth when Cameron Rupp hit a leadoff single up the middle and Travis Tucker followed with a two-run home run down the leftfield line.
The Sooners had a six-run uprising in the top of the seventh to take the lead. Hernandez and Jamie Johnson sandwiched singles around a Matt Harughty walk to load the bases. Cole Green relieved UT starter Kenn Kasparek on the mound and issued a walk to Davis, plating Hernandez and cutting the lead to 6-2. With one out, a wild pitch scored Davis and put runners at first and second. Green retired Wise on strikes, but a walk to Casey Johnson reloaded the bases and Jarod Freeman unloaded them with a game-tying, three-run triple down the rightfield line. Baker gave Oklahoma a 7-6 lead with a single up the middle.
Texas knotted the game in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Russell doubled to the gap in leftfield, moved to third on a groundout by Moldenhauer and scored on a single down the leftfield line by Belt.
The Longhorns reclaimed the lead in the eighth inning. Cameron Rupp drew a walk with one out and moved to third on a two-base throwing error on a pickoff attempt. Tucker singled through the left side of a drawn-in infield for the go-ahead run.
Belt spearheaded the Texas arsenal, going 3-for-4 with one run and three RBI. Tucker went 2-for-4 with one run, one home run and three RBI. Russell went 2-for-4 with one double and three runs scored. Danks went 2-for-4 with two runs, one double and one RBI.
Casey Johnson and Baker each went 2-for-4 for Oklahoma with Johnson logging a double and two runs and Baker posting one run, and two RBI. Bryant Hernandez added a pair of hits and Freeman had a team-high three RBI.
Keith Shinaberry (2-1) earned the win for Texas retiring the only batter he faced with a strikeout.
Anderson (5-4) was saddled with the loss, allowing one run on two hits and one strikeout over 0.2 innings.
The loss eliminated Oklahoma from the tournament. The Longhorns need a win from Texas A&M against Missouri to advance to the championship game on Sunday.
Texas A&M 6, Missouri 2
OKLAHOMA CITY – Kyle Colligan, Jose Duran and Luke Anders each hit home runs and Barret Loux tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings to lead No. 9 Texas A&M to a 6-2 win over ninth-ranked Missouri in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Saturday afternoon before 7,418 fans at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
The victory pushed A&M’s record to 43-16 on the year, while Mizzou fell to 38-19.
http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?PRID=14570&SID=MBA&fg=1
Oklahoma State 11, Nebraska 5
OKLAHOMA CITY (OSU Athletics) — Oklahoma State won its second game of the Big 12 Conference Baseball Championship with an 11-5 triumph over seventh-ranked Nebraska Saturday at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
With the victory, the No. 6 Cowboys improved to 42-16 on the season. They must now wait to see if Baylor defeats Kansas State Saturday night, which would move OSU into Sunday’s tournament championship game against Texas.
OSU’s win over the Cornhuskers on Saturday was its ninth win over a Top 10 opponent this season as the Cowboys improved to 14-7 against ranked teams.
The victory also tied a milestone for OSU under coach Frank Anderson as the 42 wins are the most ever under the Cowboys’ head coach. Last year’s club also notched 42 victories.
OSU collected 12 hits in the win over NU, with four different Cowboys collecting two hits, and Tyler Lyons earned his team leading 11th win of the season on the mound.
The Cowboys got on the scoreboard first with a four-run rally in the third. After back-to-back singles by Tyrone Hambly and Donnie Webb put runners on first and third, OSU executed a double steal, with Hambly scoring to put OSU up 1-0.
The Cowboys were not done. A two-out single by Matt Hague plated Webb from second, and Dean Green followed that by crushing a two-run home run to center field. The blast was Green’s fifth homer of the season.
NU (40-14-1) trimmed its deficit to three in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Mitch Abeita, but the Cowboys answered with another rally in the fourth.
This time, it was a three-run outburst by the Cowboys. Neil Medchill led off the inning with a triple, and Flores followed with a double to make the score 5-1. Two batters later, Hambly doubled to bring home a run, and Hague plated OSU’s final run of the frame on a sacrifice fly.
The Cornhuskers chipped away at OSU’s lead in the middle innings and made the score 8-5 in the sixth on an RBI single by Andy Cotton.
Nebraska threatened to get even closer in the seventh. OSU reliever Matt Peck hit Jake Opitz with a pitch and then walked Mitch Abeita to bring the tying run to the plate with just one out.
But the Cowboys’ brought Robbie Weinhardt out of the bullpen, and after hitting the first batter he faced to load the bases, the senior right hander got Tyler Farst to ground into an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the frame, OSU buried the Huskers with three unearned runs, getting RBI singles from Webb and Tom Belza and a sacrifice fly by Tyrone Hambly.
Weinhardt did not allow a run or a hit over the final 2.2 innings to earn his fourth save of the season and secure the win for Lyons.
Lyons, a sophomore southpaw, improved to 11-2 with a six-inning effort. His 11 wins are the most by a Cowboy pitcher since Spencer Grogan had 12 in 2004.
Hague, Green and Hambly each collected two RBIs in the contest.
Kansas State 3, Baylor 2
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – For the first time in school history, Kansas State will advance to the title game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship as the Wildcats defeated Baylor, 3-2, Saturday evening at Bricktown Ballpark.
With the win, K-State improved to 29-28 overall and won Pool 2 with a 2-1 record, including a Wednesday-night win over Oklahoma State, who also finished pool play at 2-1. The victory moved Kansas State to 5-5 all time in the Big 12 Championship. The loss dropped Baylor to 32-26 overall and finished the championship with a 1-2 record.
Kansas State starting pitcher Justin Murray (3-2) picked up the win after allowing two runs, while spraying seven hits in 6.0 innings of work as he walked three and also stuck out three. Reliever Trevor Hurley and Ben Hornbeck were also effective as the duo combined to allow just one hi in 1.1 innings, while striking out two.
Closer Daniel Edwards broke the single-season record with his 12th save as the right hander threw the final 1.2 innings while not allowing a hit and striking out three batters.
Kansas State was led offensively by Nate Tenbrink, who went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Byron Wiley also recorded a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with one RBI, while Drew Biery drove in two runs in his 1-for-4 effort.
Down 2-1 after a Baylor two-run sixth, the Wildcats took back their one-run lead in the bottom half of the inning as Tenbrink and Justin Bloxom hit back-to-back singles to lead off the frame. Following a strikeout, Biery hit a pitch up the middle to plate Tenbrink and tie the game at two. Wiley was next and hit another single back up through the box to score Bloxom and give the Cats their 3-2 lead.
The Wildcat pitchers avoided a Baylor scoring opportunity in the seventh inning as Murray walked the first man he faced to lead off the inning and was lifted for Hurley. The junior proceeded to strike out Raynor Campbell for the first out, and Kansas State went back to the pen to bring in Hornbeck. The tall left hander gave up a hit to Beemer Weems, but forced Ben Booker to fly out. Following a walk to put runners on first and second, Shaver Hansen fouled out to Rob Vaughn to end Baylor’s last scoring threat of the night and Edwards did the rest.
Baylor’s first scoring chance of the night came in the third as Paul Miles reached and went to second on an error and Weems forced a one-out walk. Booker was next and hit a fly out to right, which allowed Miles to go to third. But Murray came back to strike out Aaron Miller to end the frame.
Murray again avoided trouble in the fourth inning as back-to-back singles by Hansen and Dustin Dickerson put runners on first and second with no outs. Following a fly out, Gregg Glime grounded into a double play to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
Kansas State punched across the first run of the game when Tenbrink lead things off with a single, and then stole second base. Following a Bloxom walk, Jason King sacrificed both runners up and Biery hit a RBI ground out to score Tenbrink and give the Cats a 1-0 lead.
Baylor answered the run with a pair in the top of the sixth when Booker doubled down the right field line and, two batters later, Hansen drove him in with a single to tie the game at two apiece. Hansen then stole second base during Dickerson’s at bat, but Vaughn’s throw went into center field, allowing Hansen to move to third. Dickerson hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Booker, and giving Baylor a 2-1 lead.
Kansas State will now take on Texas in the title game of the 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The game, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch, will air live on FSN.
