Oklahoma Sooners Baseball: Sooners Win Series Opener vs. No. 2 Texas Tech

Behind the arm of Dylan Grove and the bat of Renae Martinez, the Oklahoma Sooners were able to take down the No. 2 team in the nation on Friday evening in front of a large and boisterous crowd at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners improved to 24-5 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play with the 6-2 victory.

Grove, a sophomore from Moore, Okla., pitched 6.0 innings while only allowing a run on two hits while striking out 11 batters. Vincenzo Aiello earned the save by allowing only one run on two hits through the final 3.0 innings.

Martinez boosted his average to .329 with his three-run gapper in the bottom of the 8th. The senior catcher brought his RBI total up to 20 with the hit.

After opening the top of the 1st with a pair of walks, Grove allowed a one-out RBI single to Hunter Hargrove to open the scoring. However, Grove was then able to limit the damage by striking out a pair of batters to end the frame.

The Sooners opened the bottom of the 2nd with a walk and a single, and Martinez moved the runners over with a sac bunt. Brylie Ware then scored when Tech’s shortstop unsuccessfully tried to throw Walker out at third base of a fielder’s choice. Oklahoma then took the lead when Kyle Mendenhall was able to stay alive long enough on a pickle to allow Walker to score on a 3434 double play.

Brandan Zaragoza then led off the bottom of the third with a single and a steal before moving to 3rd with a sac bunt. He would later make it home on a Flansburg single to push the score to 3-1 in favor of the Sooners.

Following a single and a walk in the top of the 6th, Grove loaded the bases after a very tough call on a full count. However, Grove showed some serious mettle by striking out Brian Klein to end the threat a preserve the lead.

With the bases loaded in the bottom half of the 8th, Renae Martinez drove one into the gap in left-center to clear the bases and give OU a 6-1 lead. Texas Tech added another run in the top of the 9th, but Aiello sealed the deal with a strikeout on the next at-bat.

Check out the postgame interviews with Grove, Martinez, and head coach Pete Hughes: