In the series preview I had pegged the opener of the Oklahoma/Pepperdine series as a pitcher's duel as both teams threw their aces on Friday. I couldn't have been more wrong and the seventeen runs scored further proved that.
Oklahoma has had the luxury of not needing to score very many runs when Dillon Overton was on the mound. The Sooner ace entered into Friday's game with a 0.56 ERA and a 3-0 record. He managed to improve that record to 4-0 but failed miserably in protecting his ERA. Overton gave up six runs off of six hits during his six innings of work in which he struggled to control his fastball. The four walks that he allowed were more than his previous three appearances together.
Friday's Big 12 Baseball Scores
Indiana 8, West Virginia 5
Baylor 9, California 0
Eastern Michigan 6, Kansas 4
Oklahoma State 4, UC Davis 2
Oklahoma 10, Pepperdine 7
Jacksonville 5, TCU 3
La Salle 6, Texas Tech 5
Standord 2, Texas 0
This time the roles would be reversed as it would be Overton who needed to be bailed out by the offense. The Sooners struck first when Craig Aikin scored on a Max White sacrifice in the bottom of the first inning. However, it was the third inning that put Oklahoma in charge with a commanding lead. Matt Oberste's single into left field scored Aikin for the second time in the game. That run would be followed up by an onslaught of six other Sooners who would score in the inning, putting OU up by a margin of 8-0 at the end of the third frame.Pepperdine didn't pack it up though. Instead, they attacked Oklahoma's ace and rocked him in the top of the fourth for a total of six runs to make the score 8-6. Overton survived the inning and pitched the fifth and sixth innings, keeping the Waves off the board and only facing seven batters. At the end of the day it would be his worst performance of the season but, in an amazing testament to his to his ability, he struck out ten batters without complete control of his fastball.
The Sooners added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to get their final total of 10 for the game. Pepperdine made it interesting again in the ninth with a two-out rally that scored Chris Amezquita but Robert Tasin picked up the save by getting Devin Carter to ground out to third-baseman Garrett Carey.
Oklahoma's 10-7 win preserved their perfect record on the season, and improved them to 10-0. They host Pepperdine again on Saturday afternoon at 2:00. The Sooners will be putting Jonathan Gray on the mound to throw against the Waves' Corey Miller.