Oklahoma run-rules Texas Tech in series finale
NORMAN, Okla. — Big 12 baseball coaches predicted Texas Tech to finish third in the conference in the preseason poll, and the Red Raiders' first four conference series were against each of the other teams in the top five.
The gauntlet ended this weekend with the Red Raiders splitting those first dozen conference games and sitting two games out of first place in a crowded race for the Big 12 title.
Oklahoma starter Braden Carmichael pitched effectively into the eighth inning and the Sooners run-ruled No. 20 Tech 12-2 Sunday, denying the Red Raiders their first three-game series sweep in conference play.
Sooners right fielder Bryce Madron went 4 for 5 with four runs batted in, including solo and two-run homers. He scored four times. Second baseman Jackson Nicklaus went 3 for 4 with five RBI on a two-run homer and a three-run double.
Freshman righthander Jacob Rogers (1-2) got the start for Tech. He struck out six in four innings and allowed four runs on four hits. Hard-throwing righthander Bo Blessie, shut down with an arm problem in late February, made his first appearance since and gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Carmichael (2-0) scattered nine hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. Tech's Gage Harrelson finished 3 for 4 with a run scored, and Kevin Bazzell went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
No. 19 Texas (26-12, 8-4) leads the Big 12 by one-half game over Kansas State (24-14, 9-6) and by one game over No. 27 TCU (22-14, 7-5). Tech (25-12, 6-6) is in sixth place, but only two games from the top with conference series remaining against Baylor (13-23, 5-10), Kansas State, No. 25 West Virginia (25-11, 5-4) and Kansas (17-18, 5-7).
OKLAHOMA 12, TEXAS TECH 2
Texas Tech 100 000 01 — 2 9 1
Oklahoma 021 040 32 — 12 11 1
Game ended by run rule.
Rogers, Bridges (5), Dathe (5), J. Sanders (6), Blessie (8) and White; Carmichael, Pierce (8) and Strong. W—Carmichael (2-0). L—Rogers (1-2). 2B—Texas Tech, Bazzell (19), Cash (10), Green (7), Vooletich (5); Oklahoma, Nicklaus (6), Spikerman (11). 3B—Texas Tech, Harrelson (5). HR—Oklahoma, Madron 2 (6), Nicklaus (6). Records: Oklahoma 19-18, 4-8, Texas Tech 25-12, 6-6.
On Saturday, junior lefthander Ryan Free retired all 15 batters he faced in the last five innings, nailing down a 9-5 victory for Tech in the second game of the series.
Free (4-3) struck out nine, more than double his previous season high. That included the Sooners' last four batters.
Bazzell, batting cleanup, went 4 for 5 with two runs batted in and three runs scored. Five-hole hitter Gavin Kash, who homered twice and drove in six in a 13-7, 10-inning victory Friday night, homered again, his conference-leading 16th. The lefthanded-hitting first baseman finished with three RBI and two runs scored.
Behind Bazzell and Kash, Austin Green delivered a two-run single and Zac Vooletich went 3 for 5.
Tech erased a 2-0 deficit with five runs in the third inning and three in the fourth. The Red Raiders tied it when Bazzell hit an RBI single and an error by left fielder Rocco Garza-Gongora allowed a second run to score. Green put Tech ahead for good with his base hit up the middle, and Dylan Maxcey's run-scoring single made it 5-2.
In the fourth, Bazzell doubled home a run and Kash unloaded his drive to right field.
OU battled back in the home fourth with Dakota Harris and Kendall Pettis leading off with base hits and Nicklaus smashing a three-run homer off Tech starter Trendan Parish with one out. After yielding a double and a walk, Parish struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
Free replaced Parish to start the fifth and mowed down the Sooners in his longest outing in 16 appearances this season. The son of a former Tech baseball pitcher Kelly Free and Tech Hall of Fame women's golfer Tracy Thomson Free joined the Red Raiders as a transfer this year after two years at Grayson College.
Saturday's Late Game
Texas Tech 005 301 000 — 9 13 1
Oklahoma 110 300 00x — 5 5 2
Parish, Free (5) and Maxcey; Douthit, Carsten (5), Campbell (7), Davis (8) and Muniz. W—Free (4-3). L—Douthit (4-2). 2B—Texas Tech, Bazzell 2 (18), Vooletich (4); Oklahoma, Muniz (3). HR—Texas Tech, Kash (16); Oklahoma, Nicklaus (5). Records: Texas Tech 25-11, 6-5; Oklahoma 18-18, 3-8.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Oklahoma run-rules Texas Tech in baseball series finale
