Oklahoma's 6 homers doom Texas Tech in series opener

Fresh off a sweep of the nation's third-ranked college baseball team, Texas Tech went into its last regular-season series intent on winning the Big 12 championship outright.

The best the Red Raiders can do now is tie for the title.

Oklahoma dealt Andrew Morris his first loss of the season, launching six home runs off the Red Raiders' No. 1 pitcher, and beat No. 6 Tech 13-8 on a hot Thursday night at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.

Nine runs allowed was a season-high against Morris (7-1), who had a 2.93 earned-run average in his previous 10 outings, nine of them starts.

Big 12 teams are finishing the regular season with three-game series Thursday through Saturday. With Tech losing, No. 24 TCU (33-18, 16-8) clinched a share of the title. Tech (35-17, 14-8) or Oklahoma (32-19, 14-8) will be co-champions with the Horned Frogs if either can win the last two in the series.

"We're going to come back and give it our best these next two days," Tech third baseman Parker Kelly said. "I mean, it's not the best team that always wins. It's the team that plays the best, and they outplayed us tonight."

The roof caved in on the Red Raiders when Morris yielded four homers in a six-batter span in the fifth and sixth innings.

"There's not a better pitcher, probably, down there in the bullpen," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "He's been one of our best guys the whole year, and I really thought he could handle those guys at that point in the game.

"If we could start Andrew Morris tomorrow or Saturday, not that you can, we'll take our chances any day of the week. ... It's an above-average fastball, above-average breaking balls, above-average changeup. You're probably going to take your shot with a guy."

The Horned Frogs, their Big 12 schedule complete, are closing the regular season with a home series against Santa Clara and won Thursday's opener 7-6. No. 10 Oklahoma State (34-18, 13-9) was eliminated from title contention Thursday night when Baylor beat the Cowboys 13-11 in a series opener, rallying from an 11-3 hole.

Tech and Oklahoma play again at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

At game time Thursday, it was 99 degrees with a cross wind blowing out to left. Leadoff batter John Spikerman hit an opposite-field home run to left, and the Sooners didn't stop there. Trailing 4-1 after two innings, they scored the game's next 12 runs.

Jackson Nicklaus led off the third with a homer — also an opposite-field shot over the Sooners' bullpen in left — and Kendall Pettis singled, stole second and third and scored on a Blake Robertson double.

Peyton Graham put OU ahead 5-4 with his 14th home run of the season, a two-run drive over the bullpen in left. That came in the fifth, and the Sooners chased Morris when three of their first four batters in the sixth went deep.

Tanner Tredaway and Jimmy Crooks did it back to back leading off, and after Morris walked Wallace Clark, Brett Squires finished Morris' evening with yet another opposite-field drive over the pen in the left.

Tadlock referred to a couple of the homers as wind-blown, but also said, "I do know this: The balls were up and they were hit good, so give credit where credit's due."

Tech took a 3-1 lead in the first. Cole Stilwell and Jace Jung hit opposite-field doubles with one out, Jung's tying the score, and Ty Coleman followed with his eighth home run for a 3-1 lead.

In the second, Dillon Carter singled and scored on a one-out single by Stilwell.

Oklahoma starter Jake Bennett (6-3) settled down and pitched into the seventh inning, leaving with a 10-4 lead. The sophomore lefthander gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out four.

The first 12 batters to face Bennett had six hits, three for extra bases, and a walk. That was good for four runs. But from that point through the end of the sixth inning, only two batters reached against him.

"I think the biggest thing is he kind of found his changeup, at least to righties," Kelly said. "I don't know; maybe some of us hitters got caught up in the wind, trying to pull it that way when we saw them hit a couple that way. That didn't help us and helped him out a lot more than it helped us."

The Red Raiders had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh and Kurt Wilson up against Trevin Michael. Wilson drove a ball deep to left-center, but Tredaway caught it at the wall.

"I thought I got it all," Wilson said, "and when he caught it, it kind of shocked me. I thought it had a chance to get out of here, but the guy caught it at the wall. It was just really unfortunate."

Pettis capped a three-run ninth for OU with a two-run single that made the score 13-4.

Tech rallied with four in the ninth. Easton Murrell hit his ninth home run leading off, Coleman and Owen Washburn came through with run-scoring singles and the last run scored on a Hudson White groundout.

OU's six home runs were a season high for the Sooners, as well as a season high allowed by Tech pitchers. The previous high for both came April 12 when OU hit five homers in a 14-9 non-conference victory against the Red Raiders.

OKLAHOMA 13, TEXAS TECH 8

Oklahoma    102    024    103    —    13    15    1

Texas Tech    310    000    004    —    8    14    1    

Bennett, Atwood (7), Michael (7), Abram (9), Campbell (9) and Crooks; Morris, Hitt (6), Crowley (8), Lopez (9) and White. W—Bennett (6-3). L—Morris (7-1). 2B—Oklahoma, Robertson (21); Texas Tech, Stilwell 2 (16), Jung (18), Wilson (14). 3B—Texas Tech, Kelly (2). HR—Oklahoma, Spikerman (1), Nicklaus (8), Graham (14), Tredaway (6), Crooks (4), Squires (6); Texas Tech, Coleman (8), Murrell (9). Records: Oklahoma 32-19, 14-8; Texas Tech 35-17, 14-8.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: College baseball: Oklahoma's 6 homers doom Texas Tech in series opener