Baseball Wins 7-5, Sweeps Bulls

March 19, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
OU	0	0	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	0
USF	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	1	5	12	2

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Blue (4-0)	5.0	4	2	2	0	2
L - Carlin (0-1)	3.0	6	5	5	2	2
S - McCarter (6)	1.2	3	1	1	0	1

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
USF - Smith	4	0	3	2	0	0
OU - Baker	4	1	2	2	0	0

Sooner Baseball Central

2008 OU Baseball Media Guide

TAMPA, Fla. -- Oklahoma improved to 17-5 on the season with a 7-5 win over South Florida on Wednesday night in the final game before the Big 12 season begins this weekend. The Sooners built a 6-0 lead but the Bulls rallied late before senior Jake McCarter nailed down his sixth save. The loss dropped South Florida to 10-8 overall.

OU's five runs in the third was the difference as it finished with 11 hits, the sixth time in the last seven games that the offense had 10 or more hits. Sophomore Aaron Baker (2-for-4) and senior Aljay Davis (1-for-3) led the way with two RBIs each.

"I was pleased with the guys' effort tonight," said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. "They are playing hard and we continue to see improvement with this young team."

The Sooners' offense got to work in the top of the third inning with five runs off five hits. Senior Mike Gosse scored the game's first run on senior Aljay Davis' RBI single to center field. Davis scored two batters later on sophomore Spencer Selby's RBI single and was followed by a pair of doubles off the bats of sophomore Aaron Baker (two RBIs) and freshman Tyson Seng (RBI).

After OU starter C.J. Blue held USF hitless for the first three innings, the Bulls got on the board with a two-run triple by Ryan Lockwood. The extra-base hit got past a diving Casey Johnson in right field, and Lockwood attempted to record the inside-the-park home run, but was gunned down at home after the relay from Johnson to senior Mike Gosse to junior catcher J.T. Wise.

OU gave Blue extra insurance in the fourth inning on Davis' squeeze bunt, scoring sophomore Jamie Johnson. The Sooners took a 7-2 lead in the fifth on an error charged to shortstop Addison Maruszak on Casey Johnson's grounder with Selby scoring from third.

Blue lasted five innings in the start, facing just three batters over the minimum, and held USF to two runs and four hits. Blue (4-0) struck out two batters and did not walk a Bull and his counterpart, Junior Carlin (0-1), took the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits in the three-inning start.

South Florida cut the lead to four runs with sophomore Garrett Richards on the mound as Brandon Smith drove home Lockwood in the sixth inning. Richards allowed one run in relief and was followed by senior Ryan Mottern, who also gave up a USF run.

In the bottom of the eighth, with runners on second and third with one out, OU went to McCarter. The right-hander did his job in the eighth, forcing USF to fly out twice to end the frame. The Bulls made things interesting by plating a run in the ninth and putting the tying run on second base.

The Sooners will continue the six-game road trip this weekend with a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska where they will battle the Cornhuskers in the Big 12 series opener. Nebraska (15-3) overall began the Big 12 season last weekend with a three-game sweep of Kansas State.

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