Oklahoma baseball’s series with Texas to open up Big 12 play rolled on on Saturday with the second of a three-game set in Austin. Unfortunately for the Sooners, the game went a similar direction as the opener with the Longhorns coming from behind an early deficit to get the win on their home soil.
Just as they did on Friday, Oklahoma put up two runs in the very first inning to get themselves the early edge. First baseman Tyler Hardman hit his first of two two-run homers he would pick up on the day to plate the early offense.
𝙊𝙥𝙥𝙤 💣!
Hardo's third of the season gave the #Sooners a 2-0 lead in the first.#LaunchPad | https://t.co/dmDKjW842l pic.twitter.com/Fh9a9sL29A
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 27, 2021
Texas would work those two runs back with one in the second and one in the third off of Sooners left-hander Jake Bennett before Hardman would get his second two-run blast in the fifth to put Oklahoma back in the lead 4-2.
Hardo said goodbye!#LaunchPad | https://t.co/dmDKjW842l pic.twitter.com/MweNM4TVjU
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 27, 2021
Bennett’s day would come to a close after allowing an unearned run in the bottom half of the fifth and a solo home run in the sixth to let the Longhorns knot things back up. He would get a no decision for his efforts.
Texas would score two more runs in the sixth off of reliever Jaret Godman on a two-run homer by first baseman Zach Zubia. That would put the Longhorns in the lead for good, giving Godman his first loss of the season to move him to 0-1.
Texas would continue to add runs in the next two innings, highlighted by a couple more long balls, to extend their lead all the way to 11-4 heading to the final frame. The Sooners wouldn’t go down easy, scoring two more in the ninth, but would come up short to fall 11-6.
The loss is Oklahoma’s third in a row and moves them to 12-10 on the season and 0-2 in conference play. Finding a way to win on Sunday and salvage the series now feels as important as any game has in the season to this point.
It was a solid outing by Jake Bennett against a good team, certainly giving his team a chance to win. But, unlike yesterday, the bullpen wasn’t sharp with nobody being able to put together a clean outing. This feels somewhat like another winnable game that the Sooners let get away from them.
The finale of the weekend series will be tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. CT back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
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