Saturday College Baseball Roundup

Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. — Jake Fisher had a career night on his first career start, leading the No. 11 Sooners to a 8-0 win over Texas Tech in a game that began Friday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park before lightning suspended play after eight innings.

The game was delayed at the end of the eighth inning, with the final three outs being recorded Saturday.

Fisher completed his appearance with a career high 10 strikeouts in seven full innings of work. Primarily a reliever, Fisher had pitched just 20 innings in 13 previous appearances.

The Sooners found offensive success early. Junior first baseman Matt Oberste led off the game with a single and scored the first off when senior left fielder Max White doubled out of the clean-up spot. Oklahoma scored one more run in the first when White made it home after Colt Bickerstaff reached on a fielder's choice.

OU maintained a 2-0 lead until the bottom of the fourth when senior shortstop Jack Mayfield hit a three run home run over the left field wall, his sixth of the season, sending in Kolbey Carpenter and Hector Lorenzana, giving the Sooners a five run advantage over Texas Tech.

In four games since moving from leadoff to No. 9 in the batting order, Mayfield has batted 8-for-16 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. He had three homers and 13 RBIs in OU's first 38 games.

Bickerstaff scored from a Lorenzana single in the fifth and Oklahoma added two more in the sixth.

Fisher left in the eighth allowing just seven hits. Robert Tasin replaced Fisher in the eighth with two on base and one out, but kept the shutout intact. Lightning strikes halted play after the eighth.

In the game originally scheduled for Saturday, right-hander Jonathan Gray allowed one run on just two hits in seven and one-third innings as the Oklahoma won its fifth-straight game with a 6-2 victory over Texas Tech.

In front of a season-high 2,668 fans on a beautiful day at L. Dale Mitchell Park, Oklahoma (33-10, 10-4 Big 12) ensured a series win over Texas Tech (19-24, 5-12 Big 12).

Gray opened the game with three-straight strikeouts and added two more in the top of the second inning.

OU came out hot in the bottom of the first with three runs to break the game open. Matt Oberste scored the first run on a one-out fielding error that allowed Anthony Hermelyn to score. Colt Bickerstaff followed with a double to right-center to score both Craig Aikin and Hermelyn.

A 3-0 lead was all Gray needed, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He struck out seven and improved to 8-1 on the season.

The Sooners added two more runs in the sixth when Matt Oberste doubled to right to score Jack Mayfield and Hector Lorenzana.

Texas Tech responded with two runs in the seventh, which snapped a streak of 22 straight scoreless innings by the OU pitching staff.

Oklahoma answered back with one run in the bottom of the eighth for the game's final tally.

Jacob Evans, who pitched an inning and a third to close the game, earned his eighth save of the year. The freshman entered the game with two outs and two runners but allowed no runs on no hits. He struck out three.

The Sooners look to complete the sweep of Texas Tech in Sunday's series finale at 1:00 p.m.

Oklahoma State

OMAHA, Neb. – Oklahoma State pushed its winning streak to four Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park as the 24th-ranked Cowboys swept a doubleheader against Nebraska on the second day of the TD Ameritrade Classic.

OSU needed 10 innings to win the opener by a 5-3 count, and in the nightcap, Tyler Nurdin tossed a complete game gem, getting his first-career win in a 4-0 shutout performance.

With the sweep of the Cornhuskers, OSU improved to 31-11 on the season. The Cowboys will close out play in Omaha Sunday when they take on Creighton at 5:05 p.m.

Saturday's opener marked the 14th time this season OSU has won in come-from-behind fashion, and the Cowboys improved to 5-1 in extra inning contests.

The Cowboys took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning on back-to-back RBIs by Saulyer Saxon and Donnie Walton, but NU scored a run in the sixth and two in the seventh off OSU starter Jason Hursh to take a 3-2 advantage into the eighth.

But the deficit certainly didn't faze the Cowboys.

And in the eighth, OSU made good on that confidence and continued its trend of collecting clutch two-out RBIs. This time it was Robbie Rea's single with two outs that brought home Tanner Krietemeier to tie the score at 3-3.

After nine innings, the score remained tied, but the Cowboys wasted little time changing that in the 10th. Walton led off the frame with an opposite-field double down the line, and after advancing to third on a wild pitch, he scored the go-ahead run on a double by Randy McCurry. Two batters later, it was Rea with yet another two-out RBI single to put OSU on top, 5-3.

That was all OSU needed as Brendan McCurry slammed the door on the Huskers to earn the win and improve to 5-2. The junior right-hander was dominant on the bump, working the final 2.1 innings and striking out four.

Pitching would also be the story in the nightcap, and this time, OSU wouldn't need its bullpen.

In tossing the shutout, Nurdin needed only 94 pitches, and he allowed just four hits. He did not issue a walk and struck out four as he improved to 1-2 on the year.

The complete game was the third of the season by a Cowboy hurler and only the second that covered nine innings.

OSU's offense got Nurdin all he needed with two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Randy McCurry's RBI double plated the Cowboys' first run, and Romero followed with a single to make it 2-0. In the seventh, Rick Stover mashed the first home run of his career, a solo shot that carried into the bullpen in left field, and Krietemeier brought home the final run with a single.

Krietemeier led the OSU offense on the day as he was 5-for-9 against his former team, while Rea added four hits and two RBIs.

Oral Roberts

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University baseball team got a 12-strikeout performance from junior Alex Gonzalez in game one of a double header Saturday, winning the contest, 7-2, before dropping the second game, 12-9.

Battling injuries, Jose Trevino blasted a pair of three-run home runs in the first inning of each game. He finished the day with five hits and eight runs batted in, including a three for four outing in game two.

Kevin Cho and Logan Domenico combined for five hits in the two-game set, while Matt Brandy, Austen Colt and Brandon Healy had four hits on the day.

Alex Gonzalez was outstanding in the opening contest, striking out a season high 12 with just four hits in seven innings en route to his sixth victory of the season. Nathan Garza (0-4) was credited with the loss in game two, while Drew Bowen pitched four innings and allowed four runs in the start.

The Golden Eagles record moved to 14-26 overall and 9-8 in Southland Conference play. Sunday's contest against Nicholls State (23-21, 6-11 SLC) is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Game One

Trevino quickly put the Golden Eagles on the board in the opening inning of the afternoon with a three-run blast that scored Cho and Domenico who each singled earlier in the inning.

The Colonels got on the board in the top of the fourth as Matt Richard doubled and scored two batters later on a Phillip Lyons double.

Already leading 3-1, the Golden Eagles quickly added four more runs to break open the game in the bottom of the fifth. After singles from Brandy and Domenico to start the inning, Trevino singled in his fourth RBI of the game to score Brandy. Domenico crossed the plate as Tyler Boss reached on an error by the Colonel shortstop.

On the same play as the misplayed groundball at short, the left fielder had his own issues fielding the ball which allowed Domenico to score and Trevino to advance to third. Trevino eventually scored on a groundout to give the Golden Eagles an 8-1 lead.

Nicholls added its final run of game one in the top of the ninth as Tyler Duplantis scored on an infield single from Mike Barba. Duplantis was the only Colonels with multiple hits in the first game.

Mike Suk took the loss for the Colonels, giving up six runs on nine hits in 4 innings on the mound.

Game Two

In the second game, the Golden Eagles rattled off a season high 18 hits, nine more than the Colonels.

Eight of the nine ORU runs came in the first and the fourth innings. Three consecutive singles started the game for the Golden Eagles as the first run crossed the plate on a single by Domenico to drive in Cho. Trevino then followed with his game two home run to score both Brandy and Domencio.

In the fourth, ORU got RBI singles from Healy, Brandy and Domenico, scoring a fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Trevino, his fourth RBI of the game.

After the Colonels cut the ORU lead to 8-5, the Golden Eagles added their ninth run in the bottom of the fifth as Nate Goro started the inning with a triple and scored on a Williams sac fly.

Unfortunately, it was errors that doomed the Golden Eagles in the nightcap, committing two on a single play in the top of the seventh that allowed a pair of runs to cross the plate with two outs. That was followed by a single off the bat of Matt Richard that plated two more runs.

Brandon Jackson had three hits and scored twice in the second game for Nicholls, while Richard drove in three. Grant Borne came out of the bullpen to earn the victory and Jordan McCoy got the save.