For most of the game, Saturday evening, the Sooners we an even match with their weekend tournament host Central Florida...most of the game except for one inning. With the score tied at 1-1 going into UCF's at bat in the bottom half of the fourth, things slipped away from Oklahoma rather quickly.
James Vasques led off the inning, for UCF, with a single and then was advanced to second when Erik Barber reach base after being hit by a pitch. Sam Tolleson then became the third consecutive UCF batter to reach base in the inning when his bunt advanced the runners and landed him safely at first base.
Saturday's Big XII Baseball Scores
|
Kansas |
9 |
Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
8 |
Snowbird Classic; Port Charlotte, Fla. |
|
UC Davis |
10 |
Kansas State |
5 |
Gael Invitational; Moraga, Calif. |
|
Oklahoma State |
10 |
Oakland |
4 |
Stillwater, Okla. |
|
Texas |
4 |
Stanford |
3 |
Austin, Texas |
|
Texas Tech |
7 |
Oral Roberts |
2 |
Brooks Wallace Memorial Series; Lubbock, Texas |
|
Baylor |
15 |
Austin Peay |
1 |
Waco, Texas |
|
Oklahoma State |
7 |
Oakland |
10 |
Stillwater, Okla. |
|
Texas A&M Corpus Christi |
4 |
TCU |
7 |
Kleburg Bank College Classic; Corpus Christi, Texas |
|
Oklahoma |
1 |
Central Florida |
4 |
UCF Tournament; Orlando, Fla. |
|
San Diego State |
2 |
West Virginia |
1 |
San Diego, Calif. |
With the bases loaded, Morgan Brooks drew a one out walk that put UCF up 2-1 and Sooner starter Adam Choplick in a really bad spot. Facing the very next batter, Choplick lost control allowing to score on the with pitch and advancing the base runners further. Appearing as if he'd lost his confidence, Oklahoma's starter then pegged Dylan Moore and Derrick Salberg in back-to-back at bats and just like that we had our final score of 4-1.
Drew Krittenbrink and Robert Tasin were able to come in and pitch shutout ball for the final 5.1 innings but the damage had already been done in the fourth.
While its easy to sit back and cast the blame of this loss on Oklahoma's pitching, it has to be noted that Oklahoma came into the game as the Big XII's top offensive team and was held to just five hits on the game. Hunter Haley was the only Sooner to record more than one hit and was also the only OU player to cross home plate when he gave the Sooners a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd.
Oklahoma appeared as if they were going to pull a two-out rally in the seventh when Haley's single was sandwiched between Craig Aikin and Sheldon Neuse walks to load the bases. It wasn't meant to be though as the next batter in the lineup grounded out to third base and ended the Sooner threat. That's as close as OU got to matching the Golden Knights in runs but at the end of the night the bats just weren't popping for the Sooners.
Ohio State has been the hottest team in Orlando after beating Central Florida on Friday night and then taking down The Citadel on Saturday. The Buckeyes will be Oklahoma's final opponent in the UCF Tournament in a game that's scheduled to start at 9:00 CST.