OU Baseball: Oklahoma Loses Again, Drops Series at Kentucky

Oklahoma jumped on top early, but that success lasted less than an inning, and now the Sooners will try to salvage a series split.

Kentucky scored four times in the bottom of the first and the Wildcats held off any hopes of as Sooner rally to beat No. 16-ranked OU 8-5 and win the series. UK took Friday’s opener 4-3.

OU dropped to 32-16 overall 13-13 in Southeastern Conference play, while Kentucky improved to 27-20 and 12-14.

Scott Mudler hit a home run, a double and drove in three runs, and Easton Carmichael went 2-for-4 for the Sooners.

Cade Crossland got the start for Oklahoma and lasted just three innings. Crossland (4-3) took the loss after giving up five earned runs on three hits and four walks and two hit batters. He also gave up two triples.

Gavyn Jones, Reid Hensley, Jaden Barfield and Michael Catalano finished on the mound for coach Skip Johnson.

Carmichael started things off right in the top of the first when he drove in leadoff man Jason Walk from second base with an RBI single up the middle. Walk had led off with a single and stole second.

Jaxon Willits’ groundout then scored Trey Gambill to put the Sooners up 2-0. Gambill had reached by walk, then took third on Carmichael’s single.

That lead, however, was fleeting.

Kyuss Gargett’s sacrifice fly scored Luke Lawrence to make it 2-1, and Patrick Herrera’s trip to right scored both James McCoy and Cole Hage to put the Wildcats in front. Ryan Schwartz then delivered a two-out single to left to score Herrera for a 4-2 lead.

Kentucky added to its lead in the second. With Devin Burkes on third, Hage grounded out to make it 5-1.

OU got a run back in the fifth when Mudler hit a solo home run just over the wall in right field, cutting the Sooners’ deficit to 5-3.

But the Wildcats extended it again in the bottom of the inning when Schwartz drove a bases-loaded double to left that scored Herrera, Gargett and McCoy for a 8-3 Kentucky lead.

Mudler struck again in the top of the sixth when he delivered a bases-loaded double to the right field corner. Carmichael led off with a single to left, and Kyle Branch walked on four pitches. Mason Hamlin loaded the bases with a walk to set the stage for Mudler’s second big hit of the day. 

That gave the Sooners life in the late innings, but Kentucky’s relief pitching avoided any real trouble.

Sunday’s game three goes off at noon. 

It’s OU’s penultimate series of the regular season. Next week, the Sooners host No. 1-ranked Texas at L Dale Mitchell Park before embarking on the postseason, where Skip Johnson’s squad hopes to host a regional for the second year in a row.