Sooners Fall to Aztecs in Series Opener

Friday, March 6

Norman

6:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

11-4

San Diego State

10-4

San Diego State

Oklahoma

Photo by: Jackson Stewart

Sooners Fall to Aztecs in Series Opener

March 06, 2020 | Baseball

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NORMAN – The No. 11 Oklahoma baseball team rallied with two runs in the ninth inning, but fell short against San Diego State, 5-4, Friday evening at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Senior designated hitter Brady Lindsly hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to pull OU within a run. Junior center fielder Tanner Tredaway and junior first baseman Tyler Hardman also homered in the game. It was the third homer of the season for all three players.

The Sooners (11-4) struck first on Tredaway's homer in the first inning, but the Aztecs (10-4) took the lead with four runs in the third. Hardman homered in the fifth and SDSU added a run in the seventh before Lindsly's two-run blast in the ninth.

Junior Cade Cavalli (1-2) struck out nine over 7.0 innings. He bounced back from the four-run inning to toss four straight scoreless frames, allowing just two hits in that span. Junior Aaron Brooks came on to start the eighth and retired all six batters he faced, striking out four. SDSU starter Michael Paredes (1-1) earned the win with 5.0 innings of work, and third baseman Casey Schmitt pitched the ninth and earned the save.

"The admirable thing, what (Cavalli) did was settle back in, and he just started pitching," Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. "That's what he can do and that's what he did last week. He's going to get better every outing and he's going to grow from every outing. He learned a lot tonight. They did a good job of keeping us off balance early in the game. Credit to them."

Tredaway led off the first inning with a solo home run off the scoreboard structure in left center field, giving OU a 1-0 advantage. San Diego State took the lead with four runs in the top of the second on two-run singles by second baseman Mike Jarvis and Schmitt.

Hardman's solo homer off the scoreboard in the fifth cut it to 4-2. The Aztecs added a run in the seventh on an RBI single through the right side by Schmitt, but Harlan fired a strike to Graham at third base to catch the runner trying to from go from first to third on the play. Mitchell then threw out Schmitt stealing second to end the inning. It was his fifth caught stealing of the season.

Tredaway hit a one-out single to left in the ninth inning, and Lindsly followed with the opposite-field two-run homer to make it 5-4. A groundout and a line out to right field ended the game. The Sooners threatened with runners in scoring position in four other innings but could not bring home a run.

The Sooners and Aztecs continue the series at 2 p.m. Saturday. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a free OU water bottle and the Midway Deli food truck will be on hand for Food Truck Saturday.