Oklahoma drops Big 12 opener at Texas
AUSTIN, TX – The Red River Rivalry is at its best in overtime — or in this case, extra innings.
Oklahoma dropped its Big 12 Conference opener at No. 9-ranked Texas 4-3 in 11 innings Friday night at Disch-Falk Field.
The Sooners (12-9, 0-1 Big 12) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and held the Longhorns (16-6, 3-1 Big 12) scoreless from the third inning until the 11th.
OU tied the game in the eighth inning when catcher Jimmy Crooks crossed the plate on a wild pitch, but a two-out, walk-off double by Texas' Douglas Hodo scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th.
“I thought it was a really good game,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. “We came out hot, and got a little too aggressive in situations, which is not a bad thing. I’d rather tell them to whoa than giddy-up. In that situation, you just have to make sure you slow yourself down a little bit and get good pitches to hit.”
OU starter Wyatt Olds struck out eight over his six innings, retiring the final eight batters he faced. He did not walk a batter and allowed no hits after the second inning. Jaret Godman and Ledgend Smith combined to retire the side in the seventh, Jason Ruffcorn struck out two across the eighth and ninth innings and Luke Taggart (0-2) notched two strikeouts over 1.2 frames, including a swinging miss to strand a runner and send the game to the 11th inning.
Wyatt Olds
OU Athletics
“Olds kind of settled in and started making quality pitches, which was really good for him,” Johnson said. “The bullpen was outstanding. All-in-all we played pretty well.”
Oklahoma struck right away with three straight hits to produce two runs in the top of the first inning. Third baseman Peyton Graham lined the first pitch of the game into right field and scored on a wild pitch after Crooks' base hit. First baseman Tyler Hardman then doubled into the left center field gap to give OU a 2-0 lead.
Texas went ahead 3-2 in the second inning on a solo home run by first baseman Zach Zubia, an RBI double by second baseman Mitchell Daly and a single by Hodo.
After five scoreless frames, the Sooners tied the game at 3-all in the top of the eighth. Crooks reached on a fielder's choice, went to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch.
Daly drew a walk in the 11th inning and scored on Hodo's double.
OU pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and just one walk in the game. Cole Quintanilla (3-0) earned the win for Texas.
Oklahoma and Texas continue the series at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.