Baseball Holds On For 9-6 Win Over USC

Oklahoma scored nine runs in the first four innings and held on to defeat Southern Cal, 9-6, Saturday afternoon in the Kia Baseball Bash at Goodwin Field. The top of the Sooner lineup accounted for most of the team's offensive production as seven of the 11 hits and three of the eight RBI came from the first four batters. OU starter Casey Brown (2-0) turned in a solid start on the mound to hold USC in check through the first six innings. OU's remains the only undefeated team in tournament play and the second-straight win moved the Sooners to 7-1 on the year. USC dropped to 3-6 overall with the loss.

Offensively, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon was the Sooners' top hitter in the game. Sheldon recorded hits in his first three at bats, drove in two runs and scored two more.

Brown rebounded from a shaky start last week against Southeast Missouri State to hold USC to seven hits and only two earned runs, while striking out four and walking only three.

Box Score

“We had control of the game and then we just relaxed and let them get back into the game. We won, but the lesson learned is you have to keep going and not let up,” said Oklahoma head coach Larry Cochell.

The Sooners' key inning came in the fourth when they opened up a seven-run lead with a five-run frame. The Sooners collected five hits in the inning and took advantage of three costly USC errors. The first error occurred on the first batter of the inning to freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey (1-for-4) who reached base on an error by the Trojan second baseman.

After USC secured the first out of the inning on the next batter, the flood gates opened as OU scored runs in three of its next four at bats. Sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (2-for-5) singled to center field and moved all the way over to third base after the centerfielder threw the ball into the Sooner dugout for the two-base error. His single allowed Ivey to come home for the 5-2 lead.

OU continued to bring runners in as Sheldon followed with a RBI-single to plate Raley and scored from first base himself on an error by the USC third baseman. After a wild pitch advanced junior third baseman Matt Bose (1-for-2) to third base, junior shortstop Brenan Herrera (0-for-3) successfully executed the squeeze bunt to bring Bose home.

With the bases loaded on two walks and a hit batter, Ivey stepped to the plate for the second time in the inning and drove in senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire (2-for-3) with a single for the final run of the frame.

The Trojans mounted a small rally in the final three innings of the game with four late runs. USC ran Brown from the game after scoring a run on two singles and an error in the seventh inning. They then got to the Sooner bullpen as freshman righty Ryan Mottern allowed two more runs to score on a groundout and an error by Bose. All runs in the inning were unearned due to the two Sooner errors.

WIth the Trojans threatening again in the eighth inning with a leadoff walk, junior righthander Daniel McCutchen came in and got Oklahoma out of the jam. McCutchen allowed another walk to the first batter he faced, but was then able to retire five of the next seven batters to close out the game. The only costly mistake he made was surrendering a solo homer to Trojan centerfielder Daniel Perales with two outs in the ninth inning.

“That was big for him (McCutchen) because he was real nervous coming in and he was able to settle down and pitch well,” commented Cochell on McCutchen's performance.

Oklahoma's offense set the pace early by scoring four runs in the first three innings. Senior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi (1-for-5) led off the game with a walk and, after stealing second, scored on a single by Sheldon for the first run of the game.

OU continued to manufacture more runs in the second and third innings with the help of some key extra base hits. McGuire started the second frame with a double, the first of his pair of two-baggers on the day, and scored two batters later when freshman catcher Josh Stinson (1-for-4) stroked a single to right to bring him in.

In the third inning, OU plated two more runs to extend the lead to 4-1. Sheldon started things off with a double down the left field line and was followed by a walk to Bose. Two batters later, McGuire recorded his second double of the game and drove in both baserunners in the process.

Senior righthander Mark Roberts (1-1) takes the mound Sunday for Oklahoma against third-ranked Georgia Tech at 1:30 p.m. (CST). The Ramblin' Wreck are expected to throw junior righty Andrew Kown (1-0) on the mound.

Baseball Holds On For 9-6 Win Over USC

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Baseball Holds On For 9-6 Win Over USC

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