It didn't take long for the Sooners to notch their first run of the 2016 baseball season, and it didn't take long for the Northeastern Huskies to jump on Oklahoma starter Jake Elliott. Sheldon Neuse knocked in Alex Wise in the bottom of the first to give OU a 1-0 lead but the Huskies responded by plating two runs in the top of the second frame and then kept the Sooners on their heels for the majority of the evening.
Oklahoma tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning but couldn't make a push towards the lead. The Huskies retook the lead for good in the top of the seventh when Pat Madigan knocked in Charlie McConnell on an RBI single up the middle, giving us the final score of 3-2. That was all the offense Northeastern would need to produce as they rendered Oklahoma's bats useless from the mound.
Junior Aaron Civale fanned eight Oklahoma batters through his 7.1 innings of work, and more importantly shut down the Sooners when runners were on base. "He was as good as advertised," Oklahoma coach Pete Hughes said of the Huskies' ace. The Sooners registered eight hits in the game but were held to just 1-14 with runners on base and 1-8 with runners in scoring position. "Two-out hitting...that tells the story of the game," Hughes added.
Neuse's first inning RBI was the only hit with runners on base and the Gold Spikes nominee was 2-for-2 from the plate after also drawing two walks.
Jake Elliott falls to 0-1 on the season after allowing two runs, off six hits, in six innings of work.
The Sooners will continue their series against Northeastern on Saturday afternoon with a double-header that begins at 1:00.