University of Oklahoma Athletics

Saturday, June 2
Charlottesville, Va.
5:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

4
vs
5

Appalachian State

Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short, OU Falls 5-4

June 02, 2012 | Baseball

June 2, 2012

 


5

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
 Appalachian State 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 10 0
 Oklahoma 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 2 4

Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery

 


4

 
 Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
W-Arrowood (11-0) 7.2 2 1 1 3 9
L-John (8-7) 8.0 8 4 2 1 7
S-Frankoff (1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1
 
 Leaders AB R H RBI BB HR
OU - Mistich 3 0 1 1 1 0
ASU - Holmes, T. 4 2 3 1 0 0
 
 Game Notes
OU and Appalachian State met for the first time today ... The Sooners have committed 11 errors in their last three NCAA tournment games ... OU is 76-68 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with five straight losses dating back to the 2010 College World Series ... OU is 23-12 in the opening game of its 35 regional appearances ... Appalachian State is 3-6 in the NCAA Tournament and recorded its first win since 1973 (NC State) ... The Sooners are 12-11 in one-run games in 2012 79-46 under head coach Sunny Golloway ... OU is 10-14 when giving up 10 or more hits this season ... Caleb Bushyhead and Evan Mistich extended their current hitting streaks to four games.

 Related Links

 Roster | Coaches | Schedule | Statistics | Main
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The No. 23 Sooners scored four runs in the final two frames, including three in the ninth, but fell short to Appalachian State, 5-4, in the first game of the NCAA Charlottesville Regional on Saturday.

It marked the 2012 tournament opener for both teams after all of Friday's action was rained out. No. 1 seed and host Virginia topped No. 4 Army, 9-1, earlier today.

Oklahoma (38-23) will face Army (41-14) Sunday morning at 10 a.m. CT in an elimination game. The winner of that contest will face the loser of the Virginia and Appalachian State game at 6 p.m. CT.

The Mountaineers improved to 40-16 behind a solid pitching performance by Ryan Arrowood, who improved to 11-0 on the season. He took a no-hitter and a 2-0 lead into the seventh before Caleb Bushyhead singled up the middle with one out in the frame. However, Bushyhead did not score and was one of eight Sooners stranded on the night.

“We have to tip our cap to Appalachian State,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. “That's their first win in a regional in a long time so you have to commend them. More importantly, I think the way [Ryan] Arrowood pitched was outstanding. He was really moving right along.”

In the eighth, Arrowood retired the first two batters before walking two Sooners and allowing a RBI single to Evan Mistich. But that was the second and final hit for OU, which had the tying run at second base with two outs before the game ended.

Arrowood finished with nine strikeouts and gave up one run off two hits and three walks. He was relieved by closer Nathan Hyatt, who was searching for his 16th save of the season. Instead he nearly blew the lead after two walks, a hit batter and a balk and allowed three runs to score before Ryne Frankoff recorded the final three outs for his first save of the year.

“When you're down like that you have to make them throw strikes,” said Golloway. “We huddled our team up, and even though it was a 5-1 deficit, we really believed that we would be able to come back and win the ballgame. There were just too many things that happened early on. Did we feel like that we could come back though? Absolutely.”

Sooner starter Jordan John dropped to 8-7 despite giving up two earned runs in eight innings of work. John posted seven strikeouts and gave up eight hits, but also committed two of the four Sooner errors in the game.

The Mountaineers plated two runs in the top of the third after a leadoff double scored on a one-out single up the middle by Noah Holmes. An unearned on a throwing error by John allowed the second run to score but Cody Reine saved a potential third run on a throw from right field to the plate.

Appalachian State added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and then back-to-back doubles in the ninth created a 5-1 advantage.

The Sooners will be making their first appearance against the Black Knights of Army. OU's Jonathan Gray will start opposite Army's Logan Lee (LHP).

“We will have the same approach we've had all year, one game at a time,” said Bushyhead. “You have to go out and win that game, that day, and honestly, our team is set up to play just like this. We have a really deep bullpen and a lot of starters. We've said it all year, 'win one of the first two and then our arms later on will beat the other guys' arms later on in the tournament.' It hurts losing tonight but we are going to come back out optimistic tomorrow, knowing that we have a chance to win this thing.”



Johnson and Carmichael Postgame vs North Carolina
Monday, June 02
BB Highlights: OU 9, UNC 5
Monday, June 02
Johnson, Dickerson, Willits Postgame vs North Carolina
Sunday, June 01
BB Highlights: OU 17, Nebraska 1
Sunday, June 01