Oklahoma Drops Second Consecutive Conference Series in a Tight Battle with the Tide

NORMAN — From the first to the beginning of the bottom of the fifth, Alabama pitchers retired 13 of 17 Oklahoma batters, with only one Sooner reaching at least second. As the opportunities went by, OU's first inning blunder loomed larger and larger.

Despite forcing a decisive game for Saturday, Oklahoma could not overcome one bad inning and squandered opportunities, losing 3-2 and the series to the Crimson Tide. It's OU's second conference series loss in the last two weeks after winning their first two against Texas A&M and LSU.

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The left-hander Trent Collier (1.93 ERA) got the call to start in Saturday afternoon's rubber game for No. 11 Oklahoma against No. 16 Alabama. They typical day three starter Cord Rager sat out, dealing with lat tenderness — Skip Johnson said the freshman's future wasn't worth the risk of playing him.

Oklahoma (21-10) and Collier started off with turbulence. An ill-timed shift led to a base hit. That was followed by another base hit. A walk loaded the bases. Then two back-to-back pitches resulted in a wild pitch and a passed ball to allow Alabama (25-8) two runs.

Trey Gambill, Oklahoma Sooners — Trey Gambill heads to first after a hit. | Carson Field, Sooners On S

Eric Hines cracked a shot to deep center that Jason Walk lost in the sun, resulting in an error and the Tide's third run.

But Oklahoma bounced back when they had their chance. Where base-running aggression bit them last week in Austin, it earned the Sooners their first run of the game when Trey Gambill beat the tag at the plate after a Brenden Brock base hit.

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"I thought we gave that game away for sure," Johnson said afterwards. "We've got to keep the ball in front of us. We've got to play fundamental baseball. We beat ourselves in that inning."

It took almost two hours for the OU to find an offensive spark against the pesky Alabama. They found it in an unorthodox way.

Down 3-1 with two outs and bases loaded in the fifth, Kyle Branch singled up the middle where second basemen Brennan Holt attempted to throw out Deiten LaChance for the third and final out. LaChance beat the force out, running a few feet passed the bag — allowing Drew Dickerson to score.

But LaChance wasn't done trying to add another run. After beating the tag, he rounded towards third to buy time for Alec Blair to reach home. Alabama short stop Justin LeBron applied the tag to LaChance but not before Blair appeared to score to tie the game.

Alec Blair, Oklahoma Sooners — Alec Blair at the plate. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

A review would show that Blair didn't reach in time, leaving the Sooners still behind at 3-2.

OU would continue to have chances in the final three innings. Solid performances from their bullpen allowed minimal damage at the plate from Alabama. But the Soners had trouble making the most of any opportunity after a batter reached a base.

Oklahoma's inability to do much damage at the plate counter balanced their superb pitching performances on the day.

"Early in the year, we're getting two-out hits," Johnson said. "Now, we haven't got a two-out hit in a while. So, that goes back to having confidence, that goes back to trying too hard. You've got to deal with it and keep playing."

The Sooners will head back on the road for a Monday clash against Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, OU will take on Vanderbilt in Nashville for a weekend series beginning Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m.