OU Eliminates Virginia, Heads to Final Day

June 3, 2012

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Virginia	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	4	9	2
Oklahoma	0	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	X	5	4	3

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Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Overton (6-3)	8.1	7	3	2	2	11
L - Halley (9-2)	3.0	3	4	3	1	4
S - Ladd (2)	0.2	2	1	1	0	0

Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Mayfield	2	0	1	3	1	0
UVA - Taylor	5	1	4	1	0	0

Game Notes

The Sooners lead the series with Virginia 3-2 ... OU and the Cavaliers met in the 2010 Charlottesville Super Regional when the Sooners won games two and three to advance to the CWS ... Four of Matt Oberste's six homers on the year have come in the last five games (5 RBI) ... Four of his six have also come after the regular season concluded ... Jack Mayfield collected the first three RBIs of his NCAA tournament career ... It marked the fourth multi-RBI game of the season for Mayfield and second in the last 12 games ... Erik Ross had his second multi-stolen base game of the year with two swipes in the seventh inning ... He leads OU with 19 and had three stolen bases against Hartford on Feb. 26 and has seven in his career ... Caleb Bushyhead extended his hitting streak to six games with a RBI single in the seventh ... The Sooners are 13-11 in one-run games in 2012 after playing in those situations in each of the last five games ... OU is 80-46 under head coach Sunny Golloway.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Dillon Overton struck out a career-high 11 batters and Jack Mayfield had a three-run triple in the fourth inning as No. 23 Oklahoma eliminated No. 15 Virginia from the Charlottesville Regional with a 5-4 win.

It marked the second time in three years that the Sooners eliminated the Cavaliers in the NCAA tournament. OU took two out of three games in the 2010 NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional.

“We want to compliment Virginia and Coach O'Connor,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. “What a wonderful season they've had. I know it's the second time we've been in here and eliminated them, but they were outstanding. We tip our hat to them.”

The No. 23 Sooners held a 5-1 lead going into the ninth inning as Overton recorded one out before Kindle Ladd recorded his second save of the season. Two of the runs in the final frame came around to score as the potential third out dropped between Cody Reine and Jack Mayfield in shall right field. But Kindle Ladd recorded the final out to extend the Sooners' season.

“Dillon pitched outstanding,” added Golloway. “Kindle Ladd had a great outing as things were falling apart around him. We realize we committed more errors but we happened to score more runs. We feel very blessed. Now we move on tomorrow to play a very worthy opponent.”

Oklahoma (40-23) advances to its sixth regional final in the last eight years against Appalachian State (41-16) at 3 p.m. CT on KREF 1400 AM. The Sooners will have to defeat the Mountaineers twice. The second game will begin 50 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

Matt Oberste hit his sixth home run of the season and fourth in the last five games in the bottom of the second inning. The solo shot to left led off the frame and gave OU the first lead of the game.

In the fourth, Mayfield ripped a triple into the gap in left-center field to clear the bases and give OU a 4-0 lead. It marked the first runs driven in by Mayfield in the NCAA Tournament.

After striking out the side in the fourth inning, Overton gave up his first run (unearned) in the fifth. Virginia drew a leadoff walk but that threat was quickly extinguished with a 4-6-3 double play. But nine-hole hitter Keith Werman reached on an error and then scored on Chris Taylor's double to right-center field.

Overton struck out the side in the sixth inning and has 25 in his last three appearances. Each of the three Sooner starters in the regional have lasted at least seven innings and all had at least six strikeouts. Overton is the first Sooner since Daniel McCutchen (11 strikeouts vs. TCU in 2006 Norman Regional) to have 11 strikeouts in an NCAA tournament game.

“Going out with a lot of confidence is what you need,” said Overton. “Especially in times like this. I have confidence with my defense behind me. They struggled a little bit late in the game, but it happens, its baseball. You just have to be tough and obviously everything worked out.”

OU regained a four-run advantage in the seventh after Erik Ross scored on Caleb Bushyhead's RBI single up the middle.
Ross began the seventh inning by reaching first on a Virginia error, and then stole second and third base to up his team-leading total to 19.

Ross' run proved to be the decisive run in the game and dropped Virginia starter Shane Halley to 9-2 on the season.