For a while on Saturday afternoon it appeared as if Oklahoma's game against Baylor was going to follow the same path as the Friday evening game did. Baylor took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Brett Doe singled to left and scored Jake Miller. The Sooners would go down in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings and would only get to four batters in the third and sixth. By all accounts Baylor was on their way to another narrow victory via a pitcher's duel. Then the seventh inning happened.
Saturday's Big 12 Baseball Scores
|
Iowa |
4 |
Kansas State |
11 |
Iowa City, Iowa |
|
Kansas |
1 |
Texas |
2 |
Lawrence, Kan. |
|
Liberty |
9 |
West Virginia |
2 |
Lynchburg, Va. |
|
Baylor |
1 |
Oklahoma |
3 |
Waco, Texas |
|
TCU |
1 |
Oklahoma State |
4 |
Fort Worth, Texas |
Matt Oberste broke a four-game hitting slump to lead Oklahoma off with a double. Kolby Carpenter then moved him to third on a sacrifice but before Hector Lorenzana brought him home with a single to left field. That would mark the end of Baylor's starting pitcher, Max Garner, who had put together six solid innings of pitching by holding Oklahoma scoreless. However, unlike Friday night, a pitching change would be the answer for the Bears.
A fielding error by Baylor shortstop Jake Miller, off the bat of Garrett Carey, allowed Lorenzana to score and gave Oklahoma its first lead of the weekend. Carey would end up scoring in the top of the ninth, off a Craig Aikin single, to give OU an insurance run but they really wouldn't need it, ultimately prevailing 3-1.
Sooner Starter Dillon Overton picked up where Jonathan Gray left off on Friday night. He was dominant from the mound, striking out eight batters and allowing just one run off six hits through eight innings of work, lowering his ERA to 2.20 for the season. Jacob Evans earned his seventh save of the year by pitching the ninth. He faced four batters, striking out one and allowing one hit. The save ties him with Texas' Corey Knebel for the most in the Big 12. Overton's win was his seventh of the season which is tops in the Big 12. Gray and Overton also lead the conference in strikeouts with 81 and 59 respectively.
Most importantly Oklahoma's win on Saturday guarantees that they'll make it through the weekend with the best record in the Big 12. At 8-3 even a Sunday loss to Baylor (6-4) would have the a half game ahead of the Bears. Adam Choplick takes the mound for the Sooners on Sunday as they go for their fourth consecutive conference series win.