Sooners Drop Opener to Wildcats

May 9, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
KSU	2	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	6	13	2
OU	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	4	9	2

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Hutt (5-4)	6.2	6	3	3	2	0
L - Erben (1-3)	1.0	3	2	2	1	1
S - Edwards (10)	1.1	1	0	0	0	0

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	2B
KSU - Biery	5	0	3	2	0	2
OU - Wise	4	0	2	1	1	1

Game Notes
Mike Gosse's third-inning homer, his sixth of the season, came 37 games after his fifth dinger on March 8 against Western Illinois ... With a single in the fourth inning, Trey Sperring extended his season-best hitting streak to eight games ... Sperring has hit safely in 13 of the last 14 contests ... Jamie Johnson has hit in 13 consecutive games after his single in the seventh inning ... Johnson has hit safely in 28 of the last 30 games ... J.T. Wise's RBI double in the eighth inning marked the eighth run he has plated in the last six games.

Sooner Baseball Central

2008 OU Baseball Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma Sooners lost their fourth straight game on Friday, suffering a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Kansas State at L. Dale Mitchell Park in the opener of a three-game Big 12 series.

The loss drops OU to 29-21-1 overall and 6-15-1 in Big 12 play. While the Sooners remained in ninth place in the Big 12 standings, the Wildcats (24-25, 8-14) moved into a tie for seventh with the Kansas Jayhawks.

OU trailed throughout the game and was never able to overtake Kansas State after it plated two runs off two doubles and an error in the first inning with Jeremy Erben (1-3) on the mound.

Aaron Baker and J.T. Wise led the Sooner offense and combined for four of the team's nine hits on the night, but it was not enough to avoid OU's fifth loss of the season on Friday by three runs or less.

"A lot of little things," said OU head coach Sunny about the loss. "It's funny, when it's not going good, a lot of little things are magnified. When you're playing well, you can make a mistake and it doesn't get magnified and you just keep rolling along. That's just baseball."

C.J. Blue was the first reliever out of the Sooner bullpen on Friday and he allowed the Wildcats to increase their advantage to 4-0 in the third inning with a pair of doubles and a sacrifice fly. Blue entered the ball game after Erben walked the first batter of the second inning.

The Sooners cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second on Mike Gosse's sixth home run of the season and first since March 8. The long ball was hit with two outs and scored Jamie Johnson, who walked earlier in the frame.

Following a scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings for both teams, Kansas State regained the four-run advantage in the top of the seventh inning. Once again, the Wildcats' offense connected with doubles off the bats of Justin Bloxom (3-for-5, RBI) and Drew Biery (3-for-5, two RBIs). KSU also benefitted off an error on first baseman Aaron Baker, the second of the night for OU, and a wild pitch by Ryan Mottern, which eventually allowed the first run of the frame to come around.

Despite the two errors in the game, the Sooners displayed some stellar defense thanks to three assists from Jamie Johnson in right field. Johnson threw down runners at home plate in the third, seventh and ninth innings. Ryan Mottern was also solid in holding the KSU offense at bay. The senior reliever tossed the final 2 2/3 innings and allowed one run (unearned) off four hits and a walk.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, OU continued to rally as Wise doubled in Baker to cut the lead to 6-4. The Sooners loaded the bases with two outs in the frame after pinch hitters Casey Johnson (walk) and Jarod Freeman (hit by pitch) were issued free passes by KSU closer Daniel Edwards. With two outs and Jamie Johnson at the plate, Edwards recorded a big out getting Johnson to swing at strike three and end the frame.

The Sooners stranded the 10th and final base runner in the bottom of the ninth. Baker collected his second hit of the game on a double to left field with two outs, but he was stranded to end the contest.

KSU starter Brad Hutt improved to 5-4 with 6 2/3 innings of work. Hutt allowed three runs off six hits and two walks and Edwards notched his 10th save of the season.

The Sooners and Wildcats continue the three-game set on Saturday at 7 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The game, which will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM, will feature OU's Andrew Doyle (6-3, 4.24 ERA) against KSU's A.J. Morris (4-2, 5.17 ERA).

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