No. 18 Oklahoma Falls, 8-7, At No. 25 Wichita State

WICHITA, Kan. - No. 18 Oklahoma threatened to come from behind in the top of the ninth inning but No. 25 Wichita State held on for an 8-7 win Tuesday night at Eck Stadium.

After taking a seemingly commanding 5-0 lead after the top of the first inning, the Sooners succumbed to the clutch hitting of the Shockers as Wichita State rallied for all eight of their runs following two outs in an inning. Oklahoma fell to 34-19 with the loss as Wichita State improved its season mark to 39-13.

Box Score

“If you're going to win close ballgames, you have to make pitches when they count and we weren't able to do that tonight,” commented OU head coach Larry Cochell. “Mike Swindell obviously wasn't sharp tonight, but we were able to get back in the game. Our pitchers just didn't make pitches when we needed them to the most.”

The Sooners attempted a last minute comeback in their final turn at bat, but came up just short as Shocker hurler Danny Jackson retired the final three batters for his first save of the season. With a pair of Sooners in scoring position after a single by freshman leftfielder Ryan Mottern (2-for-2) and a double by sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (3-for-5) to begin the top half of the ninth inning, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (1-for-4) brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Oklahoma jumped out to an early 5-0 lead at the end of the top of the first inning. The Sooners chased WSU starting pitcher Kyle Touchatt from the game after the first three batters in the order reached base and a run scored on a RBI-single by Sheldon. Junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (1-for-5) welcomed the new Shocker hurler, Kyle Banick, to the game with another RBI-single to add a second run to OU's total.

After Banick loaded the bases, he walked in the third run by issuing a free pass to freshman catcher Josh Stinson (0-for-2). With the bases still full of Sooners, junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi (1-for-2) brought in two runs with the Sooners' fifth hit of the inning to cap off the scoring with OU ahead 5-0.

The Shockers responded with five runs over the next two frames, all with two outs, to tie the game. WSU plated a single run in the first inning courteousy of a RBI-base hit by third baseman Brandon Green. In the second inning, the first three Wichita State runs came off the bat of leftfielder Phil Napolitan who hit a three run homer. The next run scored as a walk to first baseman Logan Sorensen following the home run came back to haunt the Sooners as Sorensen eventually scored after two consecutive fielding errors by OU allowed him to advance around the bases and score.

Swindell was responsible for the first five runs after lasting only 1.2 frames with most of the damage caused by the five walks he issued. Fellow senior Casey Brown (5-3), who relieved Swindell, suffered the loss after allowing two more runs to score, including the game-winner, in 3.1 innings of work.

The Sooners briefly took back the lead in the top of the fourth inning with a single run to take a 6-5 advantage. An error by the WSU shortstop allowed Scuderi, who had earlier walked, to come home from third base to score.

Wichita State continued to collect several clutch run scoring base hits in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames to score their next three runs and take an 8-6 lead. Sorensen doubled home a run in the fourth inning to knot the game at 6-6, while catcher Joe Muich and rightfielder Drew Moffitt in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Despite the loss, a couple of hitting streaks were extended in the game. Thornton improved his season best hitting streak to 11 games, while Sheldon extended his mark to 12 straight.

Oklahoma now turns its attention to Nebraska as the Sooners head north this weekend for a three-game set in Lincoln, Neb., in hopes of improving their standing in the Big 12 Conference race. The series begins Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Haymarket Park.

No. 18 Oklahoma Falls, 8-7, At No. 25 Wichita State

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No. 18 Oklahoma Falls, 8-7, At No. 25 Wichita State

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