No. 11 OU Falls in Series Finale

April 11, 2009

Texas Tech 5, No. 11 OU 1 | Box Score |

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
TTU	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	10	1
OU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	4

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Bettis (4-0)	9.0	4	1	1	4	9
L - Hubbard (1-2)	3.0	2	2	1	3	4
S - none	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

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NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 11 Sooners' three-game winning streak and chances at a Big 12 sweep ended in a 5-1 defeat to Texas Tech in the third and final game of the series on Saturday in front of 1,672 fans at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Oklahoma (28-8, 8-4) won game one, 6-0, on Friday and game two, 4-0, earlier in the day, but was unable to come back from a 5-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Texas Tech (16-22, 7-8) entered the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead and plated three more runs in the frame behind Chad Bettis' (4-0) complete-game victory. Bettis allowed one run on four hits and four walks in the nine-inning outing. He also struck out nine batters opposite OU's Antwonie Hubbard. The Sooners' starter dropped to 1-2 after three innings of work, despite allowing one earned run.

“You have to tip your cap, Bettis threw extremely well,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway.

The Sooners avoided the first shutout of the season on Ross Hubbard's sacrifice fly in the ninth, which plated Aaron Baker. The play nearly resulted in extra bases for the Hubbard, who pinch hit in the ninth. However, Taylor Ashby made a diving catch down the line to record the second out of the final frame.

Ashby also hurt the Sooners at the plate, as he finished the game with two hits and two of the Red Raiders' three RBIs.

Baker had a game-high three hits for the Sooners in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader and has recorded three multiple-hit games in his last four outings.

The Red Raiders jumped on top with a 2-0 advantage in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Scott LeJeune and a failed pick off that led to another run. The Texas Tech runs ended a 36-inning scoreless streak posted by the OU pitching staff in the last five games, which included three straight shutouts.

The two runs in the third also chased Hubbard out of the game after he struck out four batters before giving way to Jeremy Erben.

Erben held the Red Raiders scoreless for three innings and has not given up a run in his 6 2/3 innings of work since coming back from an elbow strain. Chase Anderson relieved Erben and followed suit until the ninth inning, where he surrendered the final three runs, two of which were earned.

“It's getting there after getting Porlier back, getting Erben back and Hubbard back,” added Golloway, when asked about the pitching staff's strong play in the last two weekends. “We feel like we have four or five quality starters and I thought Stephen pitched really well and experience took over for him today.”

Since getting the three mentioned hurlers back on the staff, the Sooners have limited the opposition to a .267 batting average and 4.27 runs scored per game. Included in that span is three shutouts and a 2-1 victory at Missouri.

OU returns to action on Tuesday, April 14 against No. 19 TCU at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Following the midweek contest, the Sooners hit the road to battle No. 9 Texas in Austin for a three-game set. The Longhorns are 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Sooners in the Big 12 standings.

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