OU Drops Big 12 Opener to Texas A&M

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 20 Oklahoma baseball team struck first during Friday's Big 12 opener with No. 8 Texas A&M, but fell 7-3 in front of 975 fans at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Sooners, who have dropped five straight Big 12 openers, fall to 18-7 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play while Texas A&M improves to 22-3 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

Despite striking out a season-high 16 batters on the night, OU's winning streak was halted at three games as Texas A&M collected seven runs off 10 hits, including three home runs, and capitalized on two OU errors. The Sooners also brought a five-game winning streak into tonight's game against top 25 foes. OU's last loss to a ranked squad came on Feb. 9 against then-No. 4 South Carolina.

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“We are disappointed with the loss and we have to assume the responsibility to come back and really play well tomorrow,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “We had a lot of strikeouts tonight but its not about how many guys you strikeout in a game, its about how many guys you don't allow to score.”

Stephen Porlier (4-1) suffered his first defeat of the season despite striking out a season-high 12 batters. Porlier surrendered all three of Texas A&M's homers and gave up five earned runs total in his seven innings pitched. Ryan Mottern finished the game for the Sooners with two innings of one-hit ball and four strike outs.

The Aggies' David Newmann improved to 4-0 after allowing three runs on five hits. Newmann lasted 6 1/3 innings and struck out five Sooners before giving the ball up to Kyle Nicholson who allowed two hits over the final 2 2/3.

While Texas A&M collected five extra base hits, the Sooners' offense struggled with an 0-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position and stranded nine base runners overall.

“That has been our Achilles heel all season offensively (hitting with runners in scoring position),” said Golloway. “ I am not sure what its going to take to improve in that area. We have identified that problem and somebody has to step up at the plate and get it done in a crucial situation.”

OU struck first with Joe Dunigan's solo homer in the bottom of the second inning and Texas A&M knotted things up with a single run in its next at-bat in the third. The Sooners had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom half of the third but could not take advantage of two Texas A&M errors as they stranded a runner on third.

From the fourth inning on, the Aggies extended their lead with a pair of runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Texas A&M was led by the trio of Brandon Hicks (1-for-5, two RBIs), Kyle Colligan (1-for-4, two RBIs) and Luke Anders (2-for-4, RBI), who all homered in the contest.

For Oklahoma, Aljay Davis' collected his sixth multiple-hit performance in the last eight games. The Sooners' leadoff hitter finished Friday's game with two hits and two runs scored. Aaron Reza drove in two runs on an error in the fifth and a ground out in the seventh. Reza is third on the Sooners with 23 RBIs despite missing the first six games of the season.

The conference foes will resume the series on Saturday, March 24 at 3 p.m. in Norman. The game will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM and will feature OU's Heath Taylor (4-0, 1.86 ERA) throwing opposite Texas A&M's Kyle Thebeau (2-0, 5.30 ERA).

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