Sooners Beat Aztecs in Extras, Clinch Series

Sunday, March 8

Norman

1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

13-4

San Diego State

10-6

San Diego State

Oklahoma

Photo by: Joshua R. Gateley

Sooners Beat Aztecs in Extras, Clinch Series

March 08, 2020 | Baseball

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NORMAN – Freshman Peyton Graham raced home to score the winning run from second base on an infield ground ball, and the No. 11 Oklahoma baseball team defeated San Diego State 9-8 in 10 innings to clinch the series on a blustery and wet Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Graham led off the bottom of the 10th with an infield single and stole second. After a walk to freshman pinch hitter Logan Kohler, senior outfielder Brady Harlan hit a grounder to second base, but the throw got away toward the first base dugout, allowing Graham to score the winning run.

Senior Jason Ruffcorn (1-0) retired all six batters he faced over the last two innings to earn his first win of the season. He struck out four batters, including all three in the 10th inning. SDSU third baseman Casey Schmitt (0-1), who had two hits and scored a run, pitched the final 2.1 innings and took the loss. The Sooners (13-4) also won 8-4 on Saturday to clinch the series over the Aztecs (10-6), which claimed the opener 5-4 on Friday night.

Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson credited his players running hard to first base on infield grounders as making the difference in the game.

"Ultimately, it came down to three hard 90s," Johnson said. "One of them was Peyton in the last inning, where he ran a hard 90 even though he could've not run hard. (Carter) LaValley had a competitive at bat and Harlan ran a hard 90. That really was ultimately what separated the game at the end of the day. I like the spirit of our team, coming back and finding a way to tie the game and win the game."

Steady winds blew 20 mph out of the south toward left field all day, and rain began to fall in the late innings, starting with a drizzle and increasing to light rainfall by the end of the game. The 10th inning would have been the last, regardless of the score, due to a travel curfew.

Graham's stolen base in the 10th inning gave Oklahoma 29 steals through 17 games this year. OU recorded 29 steals in the entire 2019 season. Junior first baseman Tyler Hardman went 3 for 6 with an RBI and two runs scored and freshman center fielder Connor Beichler singled in two runs, walked twice and scored. Graham went 2 for 5 and scored three runs, and senior second baseman Conor McKenna and senior shortstop Brandon Zaragoza also recorded two hits apiece.

The Sooners took advantage of a pair of SDSU miscues in the eighth inning to tie the game, 8-all. Hardman reached on an error, then scored when the throw from second to first on an infield hit by freshman pinch hitter Carter LaValley sailed into the dugout.

Oklahoma scored in each of the first four innings to jump out to a 7-2 lead, but San Diego State pulled within 7-5 in the sixth inning and took an 8-7 lead with three runs in the top of the eighth.

OU plated three runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Graham and a two-run base hit by Beichler. With runners on the corners and two outs in the second, Hardman started a double steal from first, getting into a run down to allow Zaragoza to cross the plate before the tag was made to end the inning, extending the lead to 4-1.

In the third, sophomore left fielder Diego Muniz fouled off five two-strike pitches before driving a sacrifice fly to right center, scoring Graham. McKenna then swatted an RBI single through the infield to score Beichler. Tredaway led off the fourth with a single and stole second, scoring on Hardman's base hit up the middle to make the score 7-2.

San Diego State right fielder Jaden Fein drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a run in the fourth on a base hit. Left fielder Ryan Orr doubled in a run, then scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning, and a double play scored a run in the sixth to bring the score to 7-5. The Aztecs took an 8-7 lead with three runs in the eighth on a base hit by catcher Wyatt Hendrie and sacrifice flies by first baseman Brian Leonhardt and second baseman Mike Jarvis.

With the Sooners holding on to a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning, Schmitt tripled off the left center field wall, but Beichler and Zaragoza executed a perfect relay throw to junior catcher Justin Mitchell at the plate in time to get Schmitt at home plate to prevent him from scoring on the play.

Oklahoma is on the road for five games next week, beginning with a midweek contest at UT Arlington on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. OU then travels to Cal Poly for a four-game series that will run from Thursday through Sunday.