There's no questioning the fight left in Pete Hughes' baseball team. Nor can you deny the improvement they've made over the final half of the season. The Sooners started conference play by getting swept by Texas Tech, in Lubbock, and late Friday evening they walked off the field having dealt the Big 12 regular season champions a 17-4 mercy rule defeat in the minimum of seven innings.
The Red Raiders started off by scoring two runs in the top of the opening frame but Oklahoma answered in the bottom half with 2-RBI single from Sheldon Neuse to tie things up. Tech regained the lead in the top of the third off a Cory Raley single that scored Michael Davis.
Trailing 3-2 going into the bottom half of the third, Oklahoma responded by sending eleven batters to the plate and taking a commanding 8-3 lead. Not willing to rest on the cushion they've built, the Sooners continued to pour it on by scoring nine more runs over the fifth and sixth innings, resulting in the second worse loss of the season for the Red Raiders.
Senior Alex Wise collected a team-high five RBI for the Sooners and was one of seven Oklahoma batters to knock in a run on the afternoon. Freshman pitcher Dylan Grove went the full seven innings for OU, giving up just seven hits and improving his season record to 3-1.
The loss eliminated the Red Raiders from the conference tournament and set Oklahoma up with a rematch against West Virginia. The Soones must beat the Mountaineers twice on Saturday in order to advance to Sunday's conference championship game. Game one will be at 9:00 am Saturday morning.