A pitcher's duel quickly turned into a slugfest in Oklahoma's finale at the Arizona State Classic in Surprise, AZ. Unfortunately it was a game that saw the Sooners fall short, dropping their weekend record to 2-1.
After the two teams went scoreless through the first four and a half innings, Oklahoma cracked the goose egg when Mac James scored off a Kolby Carpenter sacrifice to right field. Gonzaga answered by posting three runs in the top of the sixth but Oklahoma answered back in the bottom half of the inning by pushing across Craig Aikin, Sheldon Neuse, and Niko Buentello to regain their advantage at 4-3.
After a stalemate in the seventh the Bulldogs exploded for three more runs in the top of the 8th to take their final lead of 6-4. Oklahoma would put runners on in the eighth and ninth innings but wouldn't be able to take advantage in either inning.
Oklahoma's final rally attempt failed when Craig Aikin hit into a double play, with runners on the corners, to end the game. Taylor Alspaugh led the team in batting by going 3-of-4 from the plate with an RBI. Aikin and Hermelyn joined Alspaugh with having a multi-hit game by going 2-of-4 at the plate.
Freshman pitcher Jake Elliott is saddled with the loss. He pitched 7.1 innings, giving up 5 runs off 5 hits while striking out 4 of the 27 batters he faced. Ralph Garza, Jr. came into the game to pitch 1.2 innings of relief. He gave up a run off two hits and recorded a walk and a strikeout.
The loss drops Oklahoma's season record to 7-4 and ended a two-game winning streak. The Sooners are scheduled to play a two-game home series against Abilene Christian beginning on Tuesday.