Oklahoma Sooners Baseball: Sooners Sink No. 2 Texas Tech With Walk-Off Homer

After some disappointing innings for the Sooners leading up to the final frame, junior infielder Kyle Mendenhall put the team on his back in the bottom of the 9th. After going down 0-2 to lead things off, the California native blasted one over the wall in left-center to give Oklahoma a 5-4 victory over the No. 2 Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The win gave Oklahoma a 2-1 series win over the Red Raiders and improved the Sooners’ Big 12 record to 4-2. The Sooners also improved to 25-6 overall on the season.

Mendenhall will obviously go down as the hero in this one, but credit must also be given to Oklahoma’s relievers. After starter Nathan Wiles allowed four runs through 4.0 innings, Connor Berry and J.B. Olson came in to combine for 5.0 no-hit innings. Olson earned his second win of the season while striking out four through 3.0 innings.

Another offense hero was Renae Martinez, who picked up two more RBIs on Sunday. Martinez ended the weekend with six total runs batted in.

Oklahoma opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 1st when Steele Walker drove Ben Hollas home from third with a single up the middle. Martinez them made it 3-0 by drilling one over the right fielder’s head and bringing home Jack Flansburg and Walker, respectively.

Tech was able to put one on the board in the 3rd, and then added three runs on three two-out hits in the 4th to give Tech the lead. OU responded in the 5th when Hollas scored on a fielder’s choice, tying the game at four runs apiece.

After Oklahoma stranded a runner at third with one out in both the 7th and 8th, Mendenhall took a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left-center to win the series for the Sooners in the bottom of the 9th.

Oklahoma will play a midweek game against ORU on Tuesday, but the real fun starts this coming weekend when the Sooners travel to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on FS1.