Berry stays in to pitch the ninth for OU. Harlan leads off batting lefty, for Texas. A fly ball to right is softy hit, for one away. Righty hitting Cantu is up, with an out. He continues to struggle at the plate, his average down to .194. He was a good hitter for the Horns last season. A full count and he walks, the seventh for the Sooners today. This brings Gurwitz to the plate, batting righty, with a man on and one down. Another soft pop to right, is two away. Top of the order is Kody Clemens, batting lefty, with a man on and two gone. Need a key hit, for a big insurance run. It's about half full or was, not the usual crowd, when both teams were really good, in the past. Clemens walks and it puts two aboard. So Jones gets a chance to deliver a huge run, with two on and two down. He walks to load the bases on free passes. Kacy Clemens bats lefty, with the bases loaded, on wildness. Coach out and not surprisingly a change is made.
The next pitcher for the Sooners is a lefty, as you might expect, in Shawn Hunter, yet another freshman. He faces Kacy Clemens, batting lefty, with two outs, the bases loaded. This could be the game, a two out knock could really go a long way to winning this game. A ground ball to second goes 4-3, to retire the side. Hope that doesn't come back to bite Texas, the Horns leave them loaded. Bottom of the ninth, Texas leads 5-3.
Travis Duke comes in to pitch for the Horns, the senior lefty, will try to get a save. Leading off for the Sooners is lefty hitting Walker. Maybe Duke is just in to get the lefty hitter. A full count and a big pitch coming. A grounder to second is a big first out. Skip out and now Mayes is coming in, pitching change.
The Texas closer at present, Connor Mayes comes in, trying to close out the Sooners. He is a sophomore right hander. He faces righty hitting Wise, one down. He has two hits today. A ground ball to third is a 5-3 out two. A pinch hitter is Cade Harris, batting for Andritsos, at DH. He bats lefty, with two gone, the last hope for OU. Another full count and you don't want a walk here. A little looper to left and it falls and Harlan lets it go over his head, another single and error, this one an E-7, puts the runner on second. Skip out and he wants Sawyer I bet, pitching change.
Left hander is Josh Sawyer, in to face the lefty hitter, as he tries to close out OU. That lefty hitter is a pinch hitter, in Hunter Haley, with a man on and two down. A little pop and Sawyer has it, for the rare 1U out, to end the game. Texas wins the game 5-3, evens the series at 1-1, back in a bit.
Elsewhere in the Big 12 today: Texas Tech rocked K-State 10-3 in the first of two games (last night’s delayed due to weather). Okie State dropped its second in a row to W. Virginia, 4-3. The cat-skinners beat Kansas 2-1 to even the series. Update: Tech won the second game versus K-State, 10-4. Tech is in the catbird seat in the Big 12, with a 7-1 conference record.
It was a real struggle, but the Horns win and even the series at 1-1. It sets up a big game tomorrow, to see who takes the series. Texas was outhit 9-5 by OU, but nine Sooner walks issued, and a key error really helped. Yesterday the Horns had six hits, but only scored a single run. It started very well as walks, two doubles, and the key OU error got the Horns up 4-0. With the wind blowing out hard to right, it looked like a lot of runs would be needed to win. OU scored two runs in the second, an unearned run to cut it to 4-3, in the fourth. Then for the second day in a row, the bullpen shut down OU, for the rest of the game. Texas added one more, in the sixth, had other opportunities, but the scored never changed again. So tomorrow becomes critical for both teams, OU could sink out of site in the conference, Texas needs to close in on the .500 mark for the year. It would also keep Texas in the upper tier, in the conference standings. See you tomorrow.
Thank you NB I could not watch the game or even keep track on here So to be able to read an inning by inning recap now is just amazing. Please know how much we appreciate it.
