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OU Baseball: Oklahoma Falls to Texas Tech in Opener

Jackson Nicklaus had three RBIs, including the game-tying hit in the ninth, but the Sooners couldn't hold on in extra innings.
John E. Hoover|
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Falls to Texas Tech in Opener
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Falls to Texas Tech in Opener

Oklahoma dropped its series opener with Texas Tech on Friday night, a 13-7 loss at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Sooners delivered some ninth-inning heroics to complete a rally and send the game into extra innings, before the collapse.

With OU down 6-5, catcher Diego Muniz opened the ninth with a double down the right field line. Kade Fletcher replaced Muniz on the base paths and scored on a single to right by Jackson Nicklaus.

The Red Raiders then scored seven runs in the 10th on a pair of singles, a bases loaded walk and a grand slam.

Sophomore center fielder John Spikerman hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the 10th for the final score.

Texas Tech opened with a run in the first inning and another in the second. 

Oklahoma responded with a run off an RBI triple by Nicklaus in the second.

The Sooners took the lead after a three-run third inning.

Sophomore third baseman Wallace Clark tallied a two-out double and DH Caden Powell walked. Muniz ripped a double down the right field line to score Clark and Powell. Muniz stole third and Nicklaus walked to put runners on the corners. 

Texas Tech made a pitching change and hit the next two batters to push across another run to make it 4-2.

The Red Raiders closed the gap in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.

Texas Tech added three runs in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead, but the Sooners narrowed the gap on a sacrifice fly by Nicklaus in the bottom of the seventh.

Muniz was 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and two doubles. Nicklaus led the Sooners with three RBIs.

The Sooners used seven pitchers as starter James Hitt pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. Reliever Aaron Weber earned the loss (0-2) and Tech's Brandon Beckel improved to 5-0.

The series continues Saturday with a 4 p.m. start at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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