Wise Lifts Sooners Over Aggies

May 15, 2009

No. 13 OU 6, No. 16 Texas A&M 5 | Box Score |

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

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Doyle (7-4)	7.0	6	4	4	4	5
L - Raley (7-2)	6.0	9	6	6	1	3
S - Duke (13)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Hernandez	4	2	2	3	0	1
TAMU - Gonzalez	4	2	2	3	0	2

GAME NOTES
The flags at LDM were at half-staff in memory of former Sooner Wayman Tisdale, who passed away Friday morning ... Prior to the game, Power Roofing and Exteriors will present a check for $4,150 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oklahoma in memory of Mitchell Whitaker, a special friend of the OU Baseball Team. Throughout the season, the company has donated $50 for each of the 83 home runs hit by the Sooners. Power Roofing will continue to give $50 for each home run hit through the end of the regular season ... Jamie Johnson extended his career-high hitting streak to 16 games with a leadoff home run in the first ... With three homers, the Sooners have 18 multiple home runs game on the season, including 10 in Big 12 play ... The Sooners have connected for three or more round trippers in 11 games this season ... OU has 86 homers in 2009 and 51 of those have come in Big 12 play, a program best since the league formed in 1997 (previous was 50 in 1998) ... OU has 149 runs driven in with two outs this season, including a Big 12 leading 28 from J.T. Wise ... The Sooners have double digit hits in all but 12 games this season.

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NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 13 Sooners hit three home runs en route to a 6-5 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M during Friday's series opener in front of 1,236 fans at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

J.T. Wise's 17th home run of the year, a two-run blast in the fifth inning, gave OU a 6-4 advantage as Ryan Duke recorded his 13th save of the season.

The win was the 500th of head coach Sunny Golloway's career and improved OU's overall mark to 38-16 and to 15-10 in Big 12 play. With two regular season games left to play, the Sooners are in third place in the conference standings behind Kansas State (14-9-1) and ahead of Missouri (16-11) and Texas A&M (14-11).

“We've told our guys all year that five was the number. “If we can keep them to five or less and we can score five or more, we'll win,” said Golloway who is 165-94-1 at OU.

Andrew Doyle (7-4) tossed seven innings and out pitched Brooks Raley, who dropped just his second game of the year in 13 starts. Raley entered Friday's game with four home runs allowed in 84 1/3 innings but surrendered three to the Big 12's leading offense in the first five frames.

Doyle battled windy conditions throughout most of the contest with five strikeouts after walking four batters and giving up six hits.

“You just have to figure out a way to give your team a chance to win and not get caught up in the elements,” said Doyle. “You just had to buckle down and make pitches.”

Texas A&M also showed some power on Friday night with four home runs of its own. Three of the shots came off Doyle in first four frames and four of the Aggies' runs came with two outs on the board. The Sooners countered with five two-out RBIs as clutch hitting proved to be the key to Friday night's game.

“Getting guys on base was the difference,” said Bryant Hernandez, who hit his 11th home of the season in the third inning. “We did a good job at the plate.”

Jamie Johnson gave OU an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after leading off the frame with a solo home run. The leadoff bomb marked the fifth time this season that Johnson led off a game by clearing the fences and the eighth of his career.

Texas A&M quickly countered in the top of the second with a pair of solo home runs from Kyle Colligan and Kevin Gonzalez.

The long ball came into play again in the bottom of the third on Bryant Hernandez's three-run blast, his 11th of the year.

Down 4-2, the Aggies rallied again and received another home run off Gonzalez's bat, this time a two-run shot that tied the game at four runs apiece.

After Wise, who is tied for the Big 12 lead with 17 homers, crushed the go-ahead home run in the fifth, Texas A&M mounted a rally with a solo homer by Luke Anders in the eighth.

The two teams combined for 10 runs in the first five frames, but Anders' home run was the only run scored after the fifth inning.

Alex Wilson held OU to one hit in relief out of the Texas A&M bullpen. J.R. Robinson retired the first two batters he faced in relief of Doyle, but gave up the last run of the game. Jeremy Erben recorded the final out of the eighth and Duke closed out the game for the Sooners with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including two strikeouts. Duke is tied for the Big 12 lead with Texas' Austin Wood.

The series resumes on Saturday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game two is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.

SATURDAY'S FREE CLINIC CANCELLED
Due to inclement weather in the Norman area, Saturday's free youth clinic at L. Dale Mitchell Park has been cancelled.

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