NORMAN, Okla. – The Sam Houston Bearkats were right there in a pair of games at No. 13 Oklahoma on Sunday, but came up short to the nationally-ranked Sooners who completed a weekend sweep of the Kats at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
Oklahoma (14-1) had picked up a 6-5 win in the opener on Friday before weather issues forced the playing of a doubleheader on Sunday. OU kept the Kats at bay for a 7-3 win in Game 1 before using a 7-run fourth inning as fuel for a 9-7 win in seven innings in the finale.
UP NEXT
The Kats have a double midweek coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday vs a pair of Big 12 teams, starting Tuesday night when they end a 9-game road swing at Baylor. They then return to Don Sanders Stadium where they will look to even the Don Sanders Cup series vs Houston. The Kats then will stay home to host Abilene Christian for three games on the weekend.
GAME 1
Oklahoma 7, Sam Houston 3
Parker Blackman had three hits and three stolen bases to highlight the Bearkats' performance in Game 1, but the Sooners scored three times in the third to take the lead and kept the Kats at arm's length the rest of the way.
Bearkat starter Devin Bennett struck out four in 3.2 innings, but allowed four runs to fall to 0-2 on the year. Danny Valadez followed with a season-long 4.0 frames of work in relief.
Ty Mathilijohni joined Blackman with multiple hits, collecting a pair of singles and an RBI, while Hunter Autrey had a hit and drove in Kats' other run.
The lineup was up against OU lefty starter Cameron Johnson who earned his second win as a Sooner, punching out eight and walking two in 5.0 frames of his own, while Reid Hensley earned his first save.
GAME 2
Oklahoma 9, Sam Houston 7 (7 innings)
The Kats staked themselves to a 5-1 lead, but surrendered a 7-run bottom of the fourth to the Sooners, which was just what the home team needed to complete the weekend sweep.
Sam Houston broke an early 1-1 tie with a pair of sac flies by Hunter Autrey and Ryan Franden in the third and an inning later freshman Easton Dean deposited his first career home run over the right-field fence to push things to a 4-run advantage.
Oklahoma then responded with seven runs in the bottom half of the frame to surge ahead, although the Kats were not quite done. The Kats had one more rally left in them in the sixth, cutting the lead to 8-7 after an RBI single by Ryan Franden and a double steal which saw Hunter Autrey take home plate; however, Brady Christensen's 2-out fly ball was caught by OU's Sam Christiansen just inches in front of the right-field fence to fall short of what would have been a go-ahead, 3-run homer to end the inning and keep the home team in front.
OU's Easton Carmichael added an insurance run on a solo blast an inning later before Dylan Crooks closed it out with the final four outs for his fifth save of the year.
Connor Zaruba struck out three, but allowed four runs before exiting after 3.1 innings. Zak Johnson took the loss in relief, his first of the season.
At the plate, Parker Blackman, Jace Martinez and Christensen all had multiple hits
