OU Drops Series Opener at Baylor

WACO, Texas -- The No. 19 OU baseball team's late rally fell short at Baylor during a 4-2 defeat in the first of three games at Baylor Ballpark on Thursday. The loss, the Sooners' fourth consecutive in a series opener, dropped OU's overall record to 22-10 and 3-4 in Big 12 play. Baylor improved to 18-14 and 3-7 in conference play.

The Sooners fell behind 1-0 in the fourth inning and the lead increased with the Bears' three-run seventh.

Trailing by four, OU made its move in the ninth inning with two runs off two hits. Aaron Baker's two-run single up the middle brought the Sooners within striking distance, but the rally ended with Devin Shepherd's strikeout with two runners on base.

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For the second time this season, OU lost a game while outhitting the opponent. The Sooners held a 4-3 advantage on Thursday night and fell to 17-2 when leading that statistic.

“I thought Stephen (Porlier) pitched well again but our hitters have to take responsibility for scoring runs in these series openers because we have received some solid pitching performances in those games,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “Baylor played really well tonight and (Jeff) Mandell pitched outstanding. In a power conference like the Big 12, you are going to run into some solid pitching efforts and we ran into one tonight.”

Baylor plated the game's first run on Aaron Miller's double to left-center bringing home Chase Gerdes, who reached base earlier in the inning on an error.

OU starter Stephen Porlier put together arguably the best outing of his career with 11 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Porlier surrendered the first two runs off the ball game on two hits and walks.

Nich Conaway took over for the Sooners' starter with one runner on base and after striking out his first batter, a hit-by-pitch and home run followed to give the Bears' a 4-0 lead.

Despite the effort by Porlier, who dropped to 4-3, OU's offense did not provide the necessary run support as Baylor's Jeff Mandell lasted eight strong innings. The Bears' starter improved to 4-5 as he struck out five and allowed one run on two hits and two walks.

Due to the threat of inclement weather on Saturday, games two and three of the OU-Baylor series have been moved to a doubleheader on Friday, April 6 (3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.). The first game on Friday, set for a 3 p.m. first pitch, will be heard only on the internet (Yahoo) and the finale, set for a 6:30 p.m. start, can be heard on 1520 AM.

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