No. 24 Baseball Comes Back Against Iowa State

May 12, 2000

AMES, Iowa - Down 10-2 after four innings, the 24th-ranked Oklahoma baseball team came back to win, 12-11, against Iowa State Friday afternoon at Cap Timm Field. OU first baseman Rick Park belted three home runs in the game to spark the 10-run rally in the late innings of the game. The three home runs by Park tied a school record for most home runs in a single game, shared by seven other Sooners and most recently accomplished by current teammate Jeremy Vidales in 1998. Closer Jeff Bajenaru picked up his 17th save by finishing the final 1.2 innings for the Sooners as Rocky Cherry (7-5) earned the win in relief.

The game became a home run hitting contest as the two teams combined to nail nine home runs, of which the Sooners accounted for five. Park and Bajenaru hit back-to-back solo shots to lead off the eighth inning to register the third back-to-back set of the season for the Sooners and give OU the lead for good. Park's second home run, a three-run homer, ignited a six-run Sooner rally in the fifth inning to pull Oklahoma to within two runs.

After the Cyclones added what would be their final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, the Sooners posted two runs in the top of the sixth and eigth innings. Cherry and Bajenaru held ISU scoreless over the final four innings to allow OU's offense to grab the lead.

Leftfielder Aaron Runk paced the Cyclones offensively with a 4-for-6 afternoon with three runs scored and four RBIs, which included two home runs. Reliever Charly Bigwood suffered the loss to fall to 4-4 on the season.

The two teams meet again tomorrow at 1 p.m., while the Sunday tilt has been changed to 10 a.m. due to a conflict in travel plans for the Sooners.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 24 Baseball Comes Back Against Iowa State

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