OU Baseball: Sooners Drop Big 12 Tourney Opener To KSU

The Oklahoma baseball team has entered a win-or-go-home scenario after a 7-3 loss to Kansas State in its Big 12 Championship opener at ONEOK Field Wednesday evening. The No. 3 seed Sooners will play tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. against the loser of Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

The Wildcats (27-28) grabbed the lead early with runs in each of the first three innings. Back-to-back singles started the game for K-State and OU right-hander Jake Elliott traded a run for two outs with a double play. In the second, center fielder Max Brown led off with a double, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by right fielder Clayton Dalrymple, who later scored on a throwing error from short.

Trailing 5-0, right fielder Taylor Alspaugh got the Sooners on the board with a lead-off home run to right on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth. Catcher Anthony Hermelyn made is a two-home run inning for Oklahoma two batters later with a solo shot to left.

Kansas State responded with a pair of unearned runs off of lefty Adam Choplick in the top of the seventh. Brown delivered both to the plate with a two-out single popped into shallow center off of right-hander Ralph Garza Jr.

After the stretch, the Sooners fought back for a run. Sophomore Austin O'Brien (Owasso, Okla.) started the inning with a pinch-hit single to left and a single up the middle by center fielder Craig Aikin put two men aboard. Alspaugh followed with a bounding ball through the right-side to bring home O'Brien with his second RBI of the game.

Elliott (4-6) took the loss in just two innings of work. He gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits and a walk. Choplick allowed one earned and one unearned run in his first inning of relief and after three-scoreless frames allowed two unearned runs. He totaled 4.1 innings of work, three hits, two walks and three strikeouts.

In the win, right-hander Colton Kalmus (2-4) struck out six and surrendered the two home runs amongst six total hits, while striking out six and walking none. Left-hander Jordan Floyd picked up his first save of the season in 3.2 innings of one-run relief with four hits and two walks allowed.

Brown finished the game a perfect 4-for-4 for the Wildcats with two RBI and a double. The Sooners out-hit K-State, 10-9, for the game. Alspaugh went 3-for-5, while Aikin, Hermelyn and left fielder Hunter Haley all added two hits.

Oklahoma will turn to right-hander Robert Tasin in Thursday's elimination game.