Sooners Lose High-Scoring Affair

May 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
OU	0	0	0	4	7	1	0	3	0	15	14	2
KU	0	2	0	3	2	0	4	6	X	17	16	1

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Smyth (4-4)	1.2	3	1	1	0	3
L - Rocha (3-3)	0.1	3	4	4	0	0
S - none	-	-	-	-	-	-

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Selby	5	2	2	4	0	1
KU - Waters	5	3	3	5	0	1

Game Notes
Spencer Selby's grand slam was his eighth dinger of the season ... The grand slam was the first by a Sooner since Joe Dunigan hit one vs. Kansas State on April 22, 2007 ... Selby's four RBI's tied his career high ... Matt Harughty's three RBI performance was the sixth time he has acomplished the feat in his career ... All nine starters accounted for a hit against the Jayhawks with five Sooners connecting for two hits ... Chase Anderson's six strikeouts tied his career high that he set against South Florida earlier this season (March 18).

Sooner Baseball Central

2008 OU Baseball Media Guide

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Oklahoma Sooners (29-18-1, 6-12-1 Big 12) lost a hard fought offensive battle on Friday, dropping a 17-15 decision to the Kansas Jayhawks (27-22, 6-13 Big 12) at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Jayhawks used a six-run eighth inning to win the series opener.

The Sooners had the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth with two outs and Mike Gosse on second base, but Aaron Baker's deep-fly ball to left-center field was caught at the wall to end the threat and the game.

"It was a tough loss. Bottom line is it was a slug fest and they ended up scoring runs late that really hurt us," said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. "Ten runs in the seventh and eighth innings, I haven't seen anything like that."

OU starter Andrew Doyle struggled at times but left the game in the fifth with the Sooners down 5-4, but the Sooner bullpen could not hold the KU offense at bay.

The Sooners led 12-7 after the top of the seventh and 15-11 after the top of the eighth, but KU scored 10 runs over the final two frames.

Michael Rocha was handed the loss after allowing four runs on three hits in a third of an inning. Chase Anderson (seven runs, six hits) and Jake McCarter (one run, one hit) also struggled out of the Sooner bullpen.

Kansas got things started in the bottom of the second after Erik Morrison doubled to shallow right. Preston Land stepped to the plate and drew a walk to set up Jimmy Waters.

Waters hit a ball down the first base line and the ball escaped first baseman Aaron Baker, which allowed Morrison to score from second. Next up, Tony Thompson drove a ball to left field for a run scoring single that plated Land. The run pushed the Jayhawks lead to 2-0.

The Sooners took the lead in the top of the fourth with a Spencer Selby grand slam which cleared the fence in left-center field. The dinger was Selby's team-leading eighth this season and second in as many games.

The Jayhawks countered in the fourth with three runs to retake the lead at 5-4.

The Sooners fought back in the fifth to take the lead while knocking two Kansas pitchers off the mound. Mike Gosse started things with a walk and was followed by a Baker walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Selby stepped to the plate and calmly singled to center.

Tyson Seng delivered a clutch single for OU to plate Selby and Sperring. Jaime Johnson added a two-run triple and Davis brought home Johnson to give the Sooners a 10-5 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth Thompson hit a Chase Anderson offering over the left-field fence to bring Kansas within four runs as the score moved to 11-7.

Wise increased the Sooners advantage to 12-7 in the sith with a double that plated Baker, who walked to lead off the frame.

Kansas continued to nibble away at OU's lead in the top of the seventh with a three-run home run by Waters off Anderson. Kansas added another run in the frame to cut the lead to 12-11.

OU again increased its advantage in the top of the eighth as Matt Harughty drove a double to the gap in right center passed the diving KU center fielder. The extra-base hit cleared the bases and brought around Gosse, Wise and Sperring.

Despite trailing 15-11 in the bottom of the eighth Kansas rallied again. Waters struck again with a two-run double to center. After KU tied it at 15 runs apiece, Buck Afenir put the Jayhawks ahead for good, 17-15, with two RBIs off a single to center field.

"We didn't pitch well enough to win. We have to come back and keep fighting in the next two games," added Golloway.

The Sooners and Jayhawks return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Hoglund Park for game two of the series. The game will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM.

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics