Captains Lead OU to FIfth Straight Win

OU 12, Valpo 9 | Box Score (PDF)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
VU	2	0	1	0	0	0	6	0	0	9	9	1
OU	0	5	2	0	2	0	0	3	X	12	11	2

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Erben (2-0)	1.2	0	0	0	0	1
L - Frane (0-1)	0.2	3	2	2	0	1
SV - Duke (3)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Buechele	5	2	2	4	0	1
VU - Gaedele	4	2	2	4	1	1

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It wasn't easy but the No. 20 Sooner baseball team improved to 5-0 with a 12-9 win over Valparaiso in game one of the Jacksonville Invitational on Friday.

Oklahoma led 9-3 after six frames as starter Zach Neal began with five solid innings, but the Crusaders rallied with six runs in the top of seventh.

However, senior captain Ross Hubbard paced a three-run affair in the bottom of the eighth after he delivered the go-ahead run on a RBI single for OU. The base knock broke a 9-9 tie and the Sooners later added another run in the frame off a wild pitch, and Kaleb Herren's RBI double to center gave OU a three-run cushion.

After Neal and reliever Michael Rocha combined to surrender the six runs in the seventh, senior captain Jeremy Erben tossed 1 2/3 innings of perfect baseball to record the win for OU.

For the second straight week, Erben came out of the bullpen to deliver a win. This time, Erben did not allow a run or hit and had a strikeout before Ryan Duke closed the game out for his third save of the season (19th of career).

"This game is about overcoming challenges and picking each other up," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. "Things did not go exactly as planned or by design today but our guys did a good job, and you have to tip your cap to Valparaiso for battling like they did."

The visiting Crusaders took the game's first lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run home run by Kyle Gaedele.

The lead was short lived as OU tacked on five runs in the bottom of the third, marking the third time this season OU has plated five or more runs in a frame.

After missing a golden opportunity with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, the Sooners took advantage of the same situation in the second inning with a two-out grand slam off sophomore captain Garrett Buechele's bat over the left-field fence. Buechele's bomb was his team-leading second of the year and the ninth for the Sooners in 2010 (second grand slam).

Buechele finished with two of the Sooners' 11 hits on the afternoon. OU's offense has had 10 or more hits in each of its five games this season.

OU tacked on two more runs in the third inning with back-to-back RBI singles by Elliott Blair and Danny Black, then a costly error by second baseman Karch Kowalczyk allowed two more Sooner runs, both unearned, to cross the plate in the fifth.

The Sooners have come from behind to win three of their five games and have matched the 5-0 start recorded in 2009.

Friday's game was the first meeting between OU and Valpo and started a stretch that will see the Sooners play eight games in 10 days, including the home opener next week on Tuesday, March 2 against UT-Arlington.

OU returns to action on Saturday against host Jacksonville at 3 p.m. CT. The game can be heard live on the Sooners' flagship station, KREF 1400 AM.