Gibson Leads Sooners Past Mavericks

No. 17 OU 4, UTA 3 | Box Score (PDF) |

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

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Gibson (2-0)	7.0	4	2	1	1	4
L - Beck (0-1)	4.0	4	3	3	1	4
SV - Duke (4)	1.0	2	1	1	0	1

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Buechele	4	1	2	4	0	1
UTA - Choice	4	1	2	0	0	0

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March 2, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 17 OU baseball team (7-1) won 4-3 over UT-Arlington in the home opener on Tuesday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners have won two straight since dropping the first loss of the year on Saturday night at Jacksonville.

"Winning a tight game, 4-3, is good for us first and foremost," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. "Because when every pitch matters, your team stays focused and stays in it. Overall, we are pleased. It's a win, we'll put it in the right column, learn from it and move forward."

Freshman left-hander Ryan Gibson won his second straight start with seven innings of four-hit baseball. Gibson struck out four batters and allowed two runs, one earned, with one walk.

"He's really looked good," said Golloway on Gibson's performance. "There's a reason he was drafted last June in the Major League Baseball draft. What we wanted to do, is not put too much on him too early, and bring him along, and he's showing that he is ready for more. It's Tuesday, he pitched well, and there is a good chance we can bump him to the back side of the weekend rotation and let him start taking off from there."

The Mavericks (2-5) struck first with a leadoff double that eventually came around to score on a throwing error by OU catcher Bryan Groth.

OU wasted little time in mounting its third comeback victory of the season with a three-run third inning.

Sophomore Garrett Buechele paced the Sooners' offense again on Tuesday with his seventh multiple-hit game of the season, which featured a three-run homer in the third that have OU a 3-1 lead.

Buechele added another hit and another RBI to his stat line with a single to right in the fifth inning. The 2009 Big 12 Freshman of the Year is hitting .500 on the season with three homers and 12 RBIs.

"I cant say enough about the leadership he (Garrett) brings to our club," said Golloway. "Buechele is just a tremendous leader. On and off the field, he does a good job for us."

Danny Black also continues to impress at the plate for Oklahoma upping his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the third on Tuesday.

In the top of the sixth, UTA cut the lead to two runs off Bryant Lopez's single up the middle. The leadoff double that began the inning was one of very few errors made by Gibson, who has now struck out 13 batters and allowed one earned run in two starts spanning 12 innings. On Tuesday, the freshman faced the minimum amount of hitters in five of his seven innings.

Gibson was followed by another strong relief outing by senior Jeremy Erben (one inning, one hit, two strikeouts) and then junior Ryan Duke recorded his fourth save of the year and 20th of his career in the ninth.

The save, which places him eight behind Jeff Bajenaru for the all-time lead at OU, did not come easy as the Mavericks plated one run off two hits in the frame.

The Sooners return to action on Thursday to host South Florida at 3 p.m. The game kicks off the Sooner Classic which will also feature games against Western Illinois and Stephen F. Austin over the weekend.

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