Completed Event: Baseball versus (2) Georgia Tech on May 31, 2026 , Win , 15, to, 8
Final
Baseball
15
vs (2) Georgia Tech
8
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Kitch Home Run Lifts Oklahoma To 5-4 Win Over Texas Tech
May 03, 2003 | Baseball
May 4, 2003
NORMAN, Okla. - A walk off home run by Oklahoma junior shortstop Denver Kitch in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Sooners to a 5-4 victory and helped them complete an important Big 12 Conference series sweep Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The three-game sweep propelled OU past Tech in the league standings and moved them into eighth place which, for the moment, puts them into position for a conference tournament berth. Oklahoma improved to 19-25 overall and 7-14 in the Big 12 with its fifth-straight conference victory and its fifth win in the last six games. Texas Tech dropped to 26-23 overall and 7-16 in the league.
With the game tied at 4-4, Kitch picked the perfect time to hit his first home run of the season as he crushed the 1-1 offering from TTU reliever Jeff Karstens (7-4) over the left field fence to give the Sooners a walk-off victory. Sophomore relief ace Jarod McAuliff (2-4) earned the win after working the final 2.1 innings and allowing only one run on three hits.
Oklahoma seniors Eddie Cornejo and Reggie Willits combined to provide for half of the Sooners' 12 hits as both players went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run each with Cornejo contributing two RBI. The duo teamed up for two of the scores as Cornejo drove in Willits with RBI-singles to account for the only runs in the third and seventh innings.
The Sooners fought back to tie the game three times before taking a brief 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, Tech responded at the top of the eighth inning by getting the lead-off man on with a single as center fielder Cody Fuller drove him in in the next at bat on a double to left field to tie the game at four.
The Red Raiders plated single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to grab an early 3-2 lead. Fuller also had a hand in two of the first three scores as he collected a RBI-single to plate third baseman Josh Haney for the Raiders' first run in the second inning. With the game tied at 2-2 entering the top of the fourth inning, Fuller scored the tie-breaking run on a ground out by catcher Cooper Fouts after collecting his second single of the contest.
The Sooners tied the game at 3-3 as they once again generated a two-out rally that was capped off by a RBI-single by freshman third baseman Russell Raley (2-for-4) that scored Cornejo. It was the the second time in the last two games that the Red Raiders had chosen to intentionally walk the batter in front of Raley and he made them pay by driving in runs in both instances.
One of OU's offensive highlights in the game came in the bottom of the second inning when junior catcher Spencer Wyman (1-for-2) hit his team-leading eighth home run of the year to deep center field.
Oklahoma takes the week off to focus on final exams before facing Kansas State in a conference showdown in Manhattan, Kan., for a three-game set over the weekend. The series opener is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Frank Myers Field.
SOONER GAME NOTES:
* Senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo also extended his season long hitting streak today to seven games.
* The sweep over the Red Raiders gives the Sooners their first Big 12 Conference series sweep over Tech and the team's first conference sweep of the year.
Thursday, June 25
Wednesday, June 24
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
