Oklahoma Falls Short at No. 7 Texas

AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 17 Oklahoma Sooners fell 4-3 at No. 7 Texas on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The loss drops Oklahoma to 20-8 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 while Texas improved to 24-8 and 6-1.

The Longhorns broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning on Kyle Russell's nation-leading 17th home run of the season and took a two-run advantage on a balk in the seventh.

“I thought our guys played a good game but sometimes you just don't come out on top,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “We walk away tonight from a disappointing loss and our young men are down, but we will bounce back tomorrow.”

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Texas started the evening's scoring with Chance Wheeless' RBI-single in the bottom of the second inning. The squeeze bunt came with two outs and the bases loaded, but Texas stranded three base runners following Wheeless' at-bat.

The Sooners responded in the top of the third on Joseph's Hughes lead-off home run down the left-field line. Hughes' solo homer was the first of his career and tied the game at one.

Texas regained the lead in the bottom of the third frame on Preston Clark's run-scoring fielder's choice and Oklahoma battled back to tie the game at two runs apiece after Aaron Ivey drove a ball to left field to score Aaron Baker.

With a one-run lead in the seventh inning, the Longhorns increased their cushion to two runs on Stephen Porlier's balk with Jordan Danks on third base.

Devin Shepherd brought OU within striking distance with a RBI-single through the right-side of the infield in the eighth inning but the Sooners' rally eventually fell short. Oklahoma has rallied 10 times this season for victory but is 0-7 when trailing after eight innings.

Porlier dropped to 4-2 after allowing four runs off nine hits and a walk in seven innings pitched. Porlier struck out four Longhorns before turning the ball over to Nich Conaway in the eighth, who struck out two batters in his relief appearance.

“Stephen did his job as a Friday-night guy by giving us an opportunity to win and keep our bullpen intact for games two and three,” said Golloway.

Texas connected for nine base hits in the ball game which marked just the second one-run loss OU has suffered this season (Michigan State). Oklahoma countered with eight base knocks by eight different Sooners, including run-scoring hits from Hughes, Ivey and Shepherd.

The Red River Rivalry continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Austin and will be followed by the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. Game two is expected to pit the Sooners' Heath Taylor (5-0, 2.06 ERA) against the Longhorns' Adrian Alaniz (7-1, 1.89 ERA).

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