OU Tops TCU Baseball In 12
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NORMAN, Okla. – A bases loaded passed ball in the 12th inning gave No. 16 Oklahoma the 3-2 victory over TCU Friday afternoon. The Horned Frogs battled back with a run in the ninth to force extra innings.
TCU dodged a bullet in the bottom of the 11th as Oklahoma had the bases loaded with two outs. Alex Young came on and got a fly ball to end the inning. The Frogs weren’t as lucky in the 12th as the Sooners once again loaded the bases, this time with nobody out.
Max White led off the frame with a base hit and moved to third on a double off the bat of Matt Oberste. After an intentional walk to load the bases, Young’s offering to Hector Lorenzana was swung on and missed, but the ball eluded the glove of the catcher and bounced to the backstop to allow the winning run to cross the plate.
The Horned Frogs forced extra innings with an unearned run in the ninth inning. Jerrick Suiter lined a pinch-hit single through the left side. Derek Odell reached on a one-out fielding error by the shortstop and both runners moved up 90 feet on a passed ball. Witte made the miscues hurt as he
hit a sacrifice fly to center to knot the game at two.
Oklahoma opened the scoring in the second inning. A one-out walk to Kolbey Carpenter opened the doors for the Sooners. Three batters later, Oklahoma had the bases loaded with two outs. Hunter Haley dropped a single into centerfield to give Oklahoma a 1-0 lead.
The Sooners threatened to add to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as Garrett Carey led off the inning with a base hit. A head’s up play by Jantzen Witte on a sacrifice bunt erased the lead runner for the first out. Jack Mayfield followed with a base hit to left, but Morrison retired the final two batters of the inning to keep the deficit at one.
Cody Jones got the Frogs rolling in the top of the sixth as he doubled to left center to open the inning. Kyle Bacak laid down a perfect bunt and reached first without a throw to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Boomer White wasted no time, attacking the first pitch he saw and drilling it to deep right for a sacrifice fly and a tie game.
Three straight hits by the Sooners in the eighth led to the go-ahead run. Mayfield started the inning with a base hit up the middle. Back-to-back bunt singles loaded the bases, forcing TCU to bring the infield in. Oberste hit a hot shot right at short, but the ball ricocheted to Odell, allowing the Sooners to score the go-ahead run. Odell corralled a line drive and turned it into an inning-ending double play, keeping the deficit at one, enabling the Frogs to tie the game in the top of the ninth.
Preston Morrison pitched eight strong innings for the Horned Frogs. He allowed just two runs on nine hits, walked three and struck out three in the no-decision. Riley Ferrell walked one and gave up a hit in 1 2/3 innings of work. Travis Evans surrendered a pair of hits in an inning pitched. Young (3-2) took the loss after giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk.
TCU falls to 9-12 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play. Game two against the Sooners is set for Saturday afternoon. Brandon Finnegan will square off against Dillon Overton at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest+.
