Sooners Edge Wildcats, Even Series

March 21, 2009

No. 13 OU 12, Kansas State 11 | Box Score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
OU	0	0	4	5	1	1	0	1	0	12	14	2
KSU	4	0	0	1	3	2	0	1	0	11	16	1

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Seng (4-0)	5.0	6	6	5	3	0
L - Marshall (0-2)	1.0	4	4	3	0	0
S - Duke (4)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Hernandez	5	2	2	4	0	1
KSU - Biery	5	1	2	4	0	1

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MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The No. 13 OU baseball team battled Kansas State for three hours and 51 minutes on Saturday and after 23 runs were scored, the Sooners came out on top, 12-11. Aaron Baker's solo home run in the eighth proved to be the difference as OU evened the series at one game apiece.

OU fell behind 4-0 after the first inning, but battled back and didn't trail again after the top of the fourth. The come from behind victory was the 13th of the season and it improved OU's overall record to 19-5 and 1-1 in Big 12 play. Kansas State's seven-game winning streak was snapped as it dropped to 18-4 overall and 1-1 in conference action.

The Sooners' offense snapped out of Friday's slump by scoring 12 runs off 14 hits, while the Big 12's top hitting team, in terms of batting average, tallied 11 runs off 16 hits. Baker (2-for-2, HR) was one five Sooners to collect a multi-hit game on Saturday and one of four individuals to connect for a homer (Jamie Johnson, Bryant Hernandez and Matt Harughty).

Hernandez fininished with a game-high four RBIs, tying a career high.

“We have some really tough individuals and we fought back hard in the game,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. “We understood the game was never over, even after six straight singles and falling behind 4-0 in the first.”

OU starter J.R. Robinson was unable to battle out of the first inning and after surrendering four runs off six hits, Tyson Seng (4-0) came in out of the Sooner bullpen with two runners on and one out. The reliever produced an inning-ending double play and forced KSU into another twin killing in the second to face the minimum.

Matt Harughty cut the lead in half in the third with his third home run of the season. The two-run shot brought around Kaleb Herren and left Kansas State with a 4-2 lead. The long ball was the first hit of the game for the Sooners but not the last of the inning. Jamie Johnson doubled to the gap in right center field and after Casey Johnson recorded the first out of the frame, Bryant Hernandez followed with a two-bagger to the same location to bring home Johnson.

KSU starter Lance Hoge's struggles in the third inning continued as he hit Aaron Baker before being relieved by Evan Marshall, who surrendered a RBI single to J.T. Wise. The single by Wise capped off the four-run inning and extended his season-best hitting streak to nine games.

The Sooners batted around for the second consecutive inning in the fourth and the 13th time this season. The big inning was highlighted by Hernandez's three-run homer to dead center field. The round tripper came after Casey Johnson delivered a sacrifice fly to left field. Later in the frame, Garrett Buechele doubled down the left-field line to give OU a 9-4 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Seng retired the first two batters in order but ran into trouble as the Wildcats loaded the bases. Despite giving up a RBI single hit deep in the hole to shortstop Bryant Hernandez, Seng avoided any further damage.

Oklahoma led 9-5 going into the top of the fifth and Jamie Johnson helped the Sooners regain the five-run advantage with his team-leading seventh homer of the season. The solo shot cleared the fence in left-center field and helped pad OU's sixth multi-homer game of the season and first since March 6 against UCLA.

KSU continued to rally and tallied three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to end Seng's outing. Chase Anderson faced the two batters in the sixth and benefitted from the Sooners' third double play of the game to end the frame.

Baker added insurance to the Sooners' lead with a solo homer in the eighth that soared over the fence in right field, but the two-run advantage was short-lived as KSU came right back in the bottom half of the frame and hit a solo homer of its own off Carter Jurica's bat. The dinger was the second of the day for the Wildcats and it cut the lead to one, 12-11, after eight innings of action.

While Seng earned the win by holding KSU's offense at bay, Chase Anderson was effective for 2 2/3 innings before giving way to Ryan Duke. The Sooners' closer recorded his fourth save of the season despite placing the game-tying run at third base and the go-ahead score at second.

Oklahoma and Kansas State conclude the series on Sunday at noon. The game will be broadcast live on KOKC 1520 AM. The series finale can also be followed with a live telecast on Fox Sports Kansas City (DirecTV Ch. 672, Dish Network Ch. 447).

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