Pitching Leads Oklahoma Past UTPA

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 21 Oklahoma baseball team opened a five-game home stand on Tuesday with a 4-1 win over Texas-Pan American at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Despite trailing by one run early in the ball game, the Sooners rallied to post their 12th win in the last 13 games. OU has registered seven comeback victories in the last 10 games.

OU also remained perfect at home in 10 appearances to improve its overall record to 14-5. UTPA dropped to 9-17 after its third meeting with OU this season. The Broncs split two meetings with the Sooners to begin the season at the 2007 UTPA Classic in Edinburg, Texas.

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“This was not our best offensive performance tonight but we did win this game with speed on the base paths and solid pitching,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “Those are two positives we can take into tomorrow's contest as we continue to learn more about this young team and prepare for the beginning of the Big 12 Conference season.”

The Sooners received another strong outing from starter Joseph Hughes who won his third straight start to improve to 3-1 on the season. The lefty struck out four batters and limited UTPA to one run off five hits and two walks.

Ryan Mottern pitched a hitless inning and two-thirds before Garrett Richards tossed a perfect ninth for his Big 12-leading sixth save.

Cody Cisper (0-4) took the loss for the Broncs despite pitching a complete game. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks, but committed one of the two errors on the evening and surrendered a run on a wild pitch.

UTPA scored the game's first run in the second inning and held that lead until the Sooners' at-bat in the fifth. In that frame, leadoff hitter Aljay Davis (2-for-3) plated Jackson Williams (1-for-3), who doubled earlier in the inning, on a single to center field.

That run was followed by two unearned runs as OU took advantage of three Broncs' miscues in the inning. With one out and runners on first and second, Cisper failed to pick off Aaron Ivey at second base, allowing him to score while Davis moved up two bags after catcher Osiel Flores dropped the throw from center field. During the next at-bat, Davis scored from third base on a wild pitch.

The Sooners added an insurance run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cory Williamson. The fly ball to center field was deep enough to bring home Aaron Baker (1-for-4) all the way from second base.

Baker reached base earlier on a single through the right side of the infield and extended his team-leading hitting streak to 19 games. The streak is the tied for the best in school history by a freshman, equaling the mark set by Darron Cox in 1987. The 19-game streak is also tied for the fifth best in OU history.

Devin Shepherd (1-for-3) also extended his hitting streak to five games with a single in the sixth inning. Over the last five games, the freshman has eight hits and his batting average has jumped from .184 to .278.

The Sooners and Broncs will conclude the two-game set on Wednesday at noon. OU will continue the home stand this weekend with a three-game series against Michigan State.

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