No. 11 Oklahoma’s Series-Opening Woes Continue in Loss to No. 16 Alabama

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s Game 1 struggles continued on Thursday.

The No. 11 Sooners lost the opener of their series against Alabama 10-7. OU has now dropped its last three series openers, as it lost Game 1 in its road trips against LSU and Texas.

Like those series-opening losses to the Tigers and the Longhorns, the Sooners didn’t get the best out of their starting pitcher.

LJ Mercurius made it only 1 ⅓ innings before OU coach Skip Johnson removed him from the contest. Mercurius allowed seven earned runs on five hits, two hit-by-pitches and one walk.

Mercurius’ younger brother — freshman reliever Xander Mercurius — came in to relieve him with one out in the second inning. The Crimson Tide scored three runs on the freshman Mercurius and led 10-1 by the time the Sooners were able to record the third out.

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The rest of the game was less disastrous for the Sooners.

Xander Mercurius settled into the game after the second inning. He allowed only one hit following Alabama’s eight-run frame and struck out seven Crimson Tide batters during his six innings of work out of the bullpen.

Oklahoma’s bats also found life in the fifth inning, when the Sooners plated three runs on home runs from Nolan Stevens and Trey Gambill.

The Sooners logged three hits over the next three innings, but none of those runners came across to score. In the ninth, Alec Blair hit a solo home run and Camden Johnson got two more on the board on a two-RBI triple — but Alabama's commanding lead proved to be too much for the Sooners to overcome.

For OU, Gambill and Jaxon Willits each recorded two base hits as the team combined for 10 knocks. The Crimson Tide also finished with 10 hits — Bryce Fowler went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs, while Brady Neal went 4-for-4 with two extra-base hits.

Over the last three weeks, the Sooners’ opponents have outscored them 31-8 in Game 1s. Cameron Johnson — who will start for OU on Friday — was Oklahoma’s starter in its 7-1 loss to LSU, while LJ Mercurius started in the Sooners’ 14-0 defeat against Texas.

With the loss, Oklahoma is 20-9 overall and 4-6 in SEC play. The Sooners must win the final two games of the series against Alabama to get back to .500 in conference. Before getting swept by Texas on the road last week, Oklahoma was in a seven-way tie for first place in the league’s standings.

Alabama is now 24-7 and 7-3. The Crimson Tide have won nine games in a row, as they swept Florida and Auburn in their last two SEC series.

The Sooners will go for revenge at 1 p.m. on Friday. The series will conclude on Saturday, and first pitch of that game is slated for 2 p.m.

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