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O-State may have done and excellent job at silencing the Sooner bats on Friday night in Tulsa but there was no such doing Saturday night as Oklahoma rocked OSU pitchers to the tune of eight runs scored off eleven hits for an 8-4 victory, forcing a rubber match on Sunday.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Kyle Ottoson put the first three batters on base with a lead-off single followed by two walks. Erik Ross scored on a Caleb Bushyhead sacrifice and the Jack Mayfield and Hunter Lockwood came in on a Cody Reine triple.
Saturday Night Big XII Baseball Scores
Oklahoma 8, Oklahoma State 4
Air Force 3, Kansas 0
Texas A&M 7, Texas Tech 2
Kansas State 14, Nebraska-Omaha 5
Missouri 5, Texas 4
The Sooners then added another run in the second to take a 4-0 lead when Matt Oberste went yard as the lead-off batter. Oberste struck again in the fourth when his single scored Reine to give OU a 5-0 lead. Oklahoma's final three runs came in the seventh when Oberste, Garrett Carey and Hunter Lockwood all scored to push the lead to 8-0. Oberste may have made his case for a Big XII Player of the Week award with his 4-for-4/2 RBI performance.
Jonathan Gray was spectacular in his start. He went seven innings, allowing just two runs in four hits and kept the Cowboys at bay for the majority of the night, striking out seven in the process. OSU didn't get their first hit of the game until the fourth inning and were held scoreless until the eighth. Junior Jake Fisher is credited with the save after going two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two batters along the way.
OSU made things interesting in the eighth when they plated four runs to draw within 8-4 but that would be it as Fisher relieved Steven Bruce to retire seven of the final eight OSU batters.
Now things are set for a pivotal rubber-match on Sunday for the conference series. The winner most likely will take the fourth seed in the Big XII Tournament and will have their hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid kept alive. First pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 4:00.