Creighton Downs No. 20 Oklahoma, 9-7, In Baseball Action

NORMAN, Okla. - Creighton used a large inning to secure victory as the Bluejays defeated No. 20 Oklahoma, 9-7, Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Bluejays (6-8) batted around the order in the fifth inning and scored eight runs to erase a three run deficit for the win. Offensively, junior rightfielder Andrew McGuire and junior third baseman Matt Bose both set and tied career bests in hits, respectively, with three each to pace the Sooners (11-6).

“The big innings keep killing us. We need to find someone who can come in and get some outs,” said Oklahoma head coach Larry Cochell referring to the second time in the last week that a similar situation has occurred.

“Other than that, I was happy with the way we swung the bats. We let a couple of opportunites get away early and it ended up getting us in the end.”

Box Score

After going hitless through the first four frames, Creighton broke out its bats in the fifth inning to plate eight runs on eight hits and grab an 8-3 advantage. Oklahoma starter Casey Brown (2-2) gave up four hits and hit a batter on five of the first six batters to allow two runs to score. Brown left the game with the bases loaded and gave way to junior righty Daniel McCutchen. All three baserunners scored as Creighton continued to tag McCutchen for two more run-scoring hits and took advantage of an error to score another to add three more runs to the damage.

Freshman Ryan Mottern then entered the game and quickly got the second out of the inning on a strikeout, but then gave up a single and a double to allow two more runs to score. Mottern finally got the Sooners out of the inning with a inning-ending strikeout.

Following Creighton's eight run frame, Oklahoma made a valiant attempt to climb back into the game. Bose (3-for-5) went deep to left field with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to get a run back and cut the Bluejays' lead to 8-4.

The Sooners cut the lead further in the seventh inning by scoring three more runs. Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (2-for-5) sparked the rally with a leadoff base hit and scored on a triple to center field by junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (1-for-4). Two batters later, sophomore second baseman Ryan Rohlinger (1-for-4) put runners at the corners by drawing a walk. Sophomore pinch hitter LaFringe Hayes (1-for-1) then doubled home Thornton and moved Rohlinger over to third base into scoring position.

Rohlinger crossed home plate as a ground out to second base by freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey (0-for-1) to bring the Sooners to within a run at 8-7.

The Bluejays however tagged on an unearned run in the eighth inning to cushion their lead and Creighton hurler Scott Reese finished off the final 2.2 innings to pick up his second save of the series.

Oklahoma scored a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead. Sophomore shortstop Russell Raley (0-for-4) reached second base on a throwing error by the Bluejays shortstop. Following back-to-back base hits by McGuire (3-for-5) and Sheldon to load the bases, Thornton plated Raley with a sacrifice fly to left field. Bose then followed with a RBI-single to drive in McGuire for another run.

In the third frame, Sheldon drove in McGuire, who had tripled to lead off the inning, with a groundout to second base for a 3-0 Sooner lead.

The Sooners hit the road for mid-week play and travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face TCU on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. at Lupton Stadium.