Erben and Reine Lead OU to Clutch Win

No. 12 OU 4, No. 11 TCU 2 | Box Score (PDF)

Jeremy Erben turned in another stellar outing on Tuesday

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
OU	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	11	2
TCU	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	9	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Erben (6-0)	7.2	6	2	1	4	9
L - Gerrish (1-2)	6.1	9	3	3	0	6
SV - Duke (9)	1.1	2	0	0	0	2

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Reine	3	0	2	1	0	0
TCU - Featherston	3	2	2	0	0	0

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April 6, 2010

FORT WORTH, Texas -- No. 12 Oklahoma recorded a quality win on the road in a 4-2 ball game over No. 11 TCU in front of 3,924 fans at Lupton Stadium on Tuesday night. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Sooners who improved to 23-6 overall, while the Horned Frogs fell to 20-7.

Jeremy Erben (6-0) tied a career high with 7 2/3 innings after relieving starter Drew Verhagen in the first inning. Erben entered with the bases loaded and induced a double play before recording a ground out to end the threat. The clutch showing in the bottom of the first by Erben preserved a 2-0 lead for the Sooners as he tossed a career-high 120 pitches and scattered two runs (one earned) off six hits and four walks.

"That was really a good college baseball game," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. "There was some quality defensive plays tonight along with some great at-bats and quality pitches. Our guys really played well and proud of the way they responded after last weekend."

Erben allowed an unearned run in the second inning and one other score in the sixth but the Sooners added extra insurance late in the contest with Cody Reine's RBI single in the sixth and Danny Black's run-scoring triple in the ninth. While Erben provided the clutch performance on the mound with a career-high nine strikeouts, the OU offense plated three of the four runs on the night with two outs.

"Jeremy was outstanding as usual tonight," said Golloway. "He has turned in clutch performance after clutch performance for us all year"

Despite the extended outing, Erben still set the table for closer Ryan Duke who recorded his ninth save of the season in as many chances and moved within three of Jeff Bajenaru's career total of 28. Duke tossed the final 1 1/3 innings and received the team's third double play of the evening in the ninth to close out the game.

OU has won five straight over TCU, including five of the last six in Fort Worth, and owns a 50-21 advantage in a series that has turned into a tightly-contested rivarly between two programs ranked in the top 25 annually.

"It's turned into a huge rival game," added Golloway who is 8-2 against TCU as OU's skipper. "Every one of them that I have been a part of has been tight and that speaks volumes about the student athletes on both sides and the programs they represent."

Oklahoma struck early with a double from Cameron Seitzer in the top of the first to plate Tyler Ogle and Garrett Buechele followed with a RBI single to right.

TCU's Paul Gerrish (1-2) suffered his third career loss to the Sooners after allowing nine of 11 hits on the night. Buechele, Reine and Casey Johnson paced the Sooner offense with two hits apiece.

Gerrish started the game and lasted 6 1/3 innings before being relieved in the seventh by Trent Appleby, who closed out the game. Gerrish gave up three runs and struck out six batters.

The Sooners return to Norman to host Missouri in a three-game set at L. Dale Mitchell Park on April 9-11. The series opener on Friday is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch while game two on Saturday will get underway at 2 p.m. Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m. and tickets are available by calling the OU Ticket Office at 800-456-GoOU.

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