No. 15 Oklahoma Rallies Late to Take Series Opener Against No. 25 Florida

The Sooners trailed by two runs in the eighth inning, but they mustered enough timely hits to open their series against the Gators with a victory.

Oklahoma infielder Connor Larkin celebrates after a hit against Florida. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — The Sooners didn’t have many answers for Florida starting pitcher Aidan King on Friday.

But everything changed when the Gators removed him from the game.

Trailing by two, the Sooners scored three runs off of two Florida relief pitchers to take their first lead of the game in the eighth inning. OU shut down the Gators in the top of the ninth to seal its 4-3 win.

From start to finish, the Sooners struggled to do any damage against King.

OU didn’t put a runner on the bases until the third inning. The Sooners loaded the bases that inning, but King forced Trey Gambill into a two-out groundout.

King pitched another one-two-three inning in the fourth before OU got its only run off of King — on a fielder’s choice from Jason Walk — in the fifth.

The Sooners got two more runners on in the sixth, but King once again shut down their threat. King then struck out the side in his final inning.

King’s superb outing was nothing new for the right-handed pitcher. He entered Friday’s game with a 7-2 record and an SEC-best 1.78 ERA.

But Florida’s other pitchers didn’t have the same success as King.

Ernesto Lugo-Canchola made it only two batters before the Gators pulled him in favor of Joshua Whritenour. With no outs, Infielder Jaxon Willits tied the game with a triple into right-center field before Dasan Harris drove in Deiten Lachance on a single to give OU its one-run lead.

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The Sooners logged two hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch by the time the Gators ended the inning.

Throughout the game, Oklahoma’s pitchers performed well enough to allow for the late rally.

Kadyn Leon held the Gators scoreless for the first two innings before former Friday starter LJ Mercurius entered the game. Mercurius allowed only one run — unearned — in his four innings of relief, and his strong showing out of the bullpen helped the Sooners enter the seventh inning tied 1-1.

Relief pitcher Xander Mercurius had the shakiest night out of OU’s staff, as he walked in a run in the seventh inning before allowing a solo home run in the eighth. Those two runs allowed Florida to lead 3-1 in the eighth.

Jason Bodin pitched a hitless eighth inning in relief of Mercurius before Jackson Cleveland closed out the game in the ninth.

OU first baseman Connor Larkin was the only player on either squad to record multiple hits, as he notched two. Florida logged seven hits as a team, while Oklahoma logged six. 

With the win, Oklahoma is 30-14 overall and 12-10 in SEC play. The Sooners had lost five of their last six series openers before Friday’s win.

Florida dropped to 29-17 and 11-11 with its loss.