Oklahoma Shut Out in Thursday Night Loss to Texas

If Cameron Johnson's evening — which lasted not even two innings and 68 pitches — last Thursday against LSU was a bad dream, LJ Mercruius' (5-2) outing against the No. 2-ranked Texas Longhorns was a night terror.

The No. 8 Sooners (19-6) fell 14-0 to Texas (21-4) in a game that was only close for the initial 10 minutes. Oklahoma threatened early in the first inning when Trey Gambill attempted to make it to home plate following a Brendan Brock ground out, but the Horns made the throw to get the third out.

After that, it was all burnt orange.

Skip Johnson moved the elder Mercurius into the weekend starting role following Johnson's shaky performances against Texas A&M and LSU — he will start on Friday. It may have not mattered who pitched for the Sooners on Thursday night as the Longhorns looked the part as one of the more dominant teams in the sport.

Mercurius' day ended after three innings, 63 pitches, 10 hits and seven runs — each earned.

Oklahoma Sooners, Skip Johnson — Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Texas scored four runs in the first inning, three in the third and four in the fourth. Until the start of the fifth inning, the Sooners were never able to get more than one runner on base. Down 11-0, OU could have made things interesting when Camden Johnson came to the plate with bases loaded and two outs.

Johnson’s at bat came up empty, and just like the rest of the night, the Sooners couldn’t cash in — three left aboard and the run rule in play.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

The Longhorns were coming off a midweek loss to Big 12 foe Houston. Losing a midweek game isn't anything to worry about — Texas also lost to Tarleton State in a midweek game earlier this season. But UT blew a seven-run lead in the seventh and eighth innings before losing 9-7.

There would be no Texas meltdown against their rivals from north of the Red River

Texas logged 17 hits on the evening, with three players logging three hits each. One of those players, Casey Borba crushed a ball to deep center for a two-run home run in the sixth inning — his ninth of the season. In addition, Borba also had a monster day driving runs home with six RBIs.

Up and down the lineup, the Longhorns showed Oklahoma that they are legitimate national championship contenders. How will OU respond?

The Sooners will look to rebound quickly tomorrow night when they take on Texas in Austin, Friday at 7 p.m. The lesson will be for OU to make the game competitive — when games have been decided by two runs or less, Oklahoma is 8-0.