Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Take Down No. 16 TCU to Even Series
Losing skid ended.
After their third straight loss on Friday night, Oklahoma continued their series with No. 16 TCU at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, TX.
The Sooners got back on track in decisive fashion, besting the Horned Frogs 11-7 on Saturday afternoon.
Right-hander David Sandlin got the start for Skip Johnson’s club, and he would deliver a strong performance against one of the top teams in the Big 12.
The JUCO transfer worked into the sixth inning allowing four runs to cross, but navigated numerous treacherous situations to give the OU bats time to build a lead.
Oklahoma got the scoring started in the third inning, striking for three runs on a Peyton Graham two-run single in which he would later come in to score on a throwing error.
The Sooners then added onto that lead two innings later, with Diego Muniz picking up an RBI groundout later followed by a clutch two-run single by Wallace Clark to balloon the lead to 6-0.
After TCU got two runs back on a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth, Oklahoma would come right back with a big four-run inning in the sixth.
Graham, Tanner Tredaway and Jimmy Crooks all picked up RBI knocks along with Muniz getting another run in on a sacrifice to have OU soundly out in front 10-2.
The Horned Frogs once again got two runs back on another two-run shot in the bottom of the frame, but it only put a light dent in the Sooners’ big advantage.
Kendall Pettis worked his way around the bases in the seventh for another OU run, initially getting hit by a pitch before moving around on a steal, a balk and a wild pitch.
After Sandlin departed in the sixth, left-hander Chazz Martinez recorded the final ten outs out of the bullpen allowing just a late three-run home run to secure the 11-7 win.
The victory evens the series and improves Oklahoma to 28-17 on the year and 10-7 in conference play.
The rubber match of the three-game set is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday back at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth.