Baseball Drops Heartbreaker at Oklahoma 5-4
3/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 2004
NORMAN, Okla. -- - A Drew Sutton throwing error with one out in the bottom of the ninth cost Baylor two runs and the game Friday night as Oklahoma rallied to defeat the Bears 5-4 at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Baylor falls to 9-15 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 Conference play with the loss. Oklahoma improves to 13-10 and 2-2.
Baylor led 4-3 with one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth. However, back-to-back walks to Scott Rooker and Andrw McGuire got things going for the Sooners. Abe Woody came in to face Russell Raley, who bounced a 2-2 pitch deep in the hole at second. Sutton fielded the ball and no play at first.
On the play, though, Rooker took an overly aggressive turn at third. Sutton threw behind Rooker, but the ball skipped into the dugout. The overthrow allowed both Rooker and McGuire to score.
"I think Drew had a play at third," Baylor head coach Steve Smith said. "I can't fault him for making the throw."
Ryan LaMotta (0-3) was saddled with the tough-luck loss. He allowed three unearned runs on two hits with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Oklahoma's Jarod McAuliff (4-0) earned the victory, allowing one run on four hits over the final two frames.
Neither starter factored in the decision. Baylor's Mark McCormick allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Oklahoma's Mark Roberts surrendered three runs on nine hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
Baylor took a 1-0 lead on a Sutton triple and a Michael Griffin groundout. The Sooners scratched for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on two infield hits and a wild pitch. The Bears recaptured the lead in the third when Griffin blasted a two-run home run to left-center, his second home run of the season.
That 3-2 Baylor lead stood until the bottom of the seventh when the Sooners got a run on a Baylor error and an infield hit. The Bears again answered in the top of the eighth, thanks to a Reid Brees RBI double down the line in left.
Sutton's error spoiled a 3-for-5 night at the plate. Griffin also was 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI. Josh Ford and Brees added two hits each.
Baylor and Oklahoma meet Saturday at 2 p.m. for game two of the series. The Bears send southpaw Trey Taylor (2-3) to the mound against Sooner right-hander Ryan Mottern (0-0).
Notes: Michael Griffin's third-inning home run was the 20th of his career. ... That home run was Griffin's 80th career extra-base hit and moved him into a seventh-place tie all-time at Baylor with Jeremy Dodson (1996-1998) and Jason Jennings (1997-1999). ... With three RBI on the night, Griffin moved into 10th place on Baylor's career chart with 138, passing Preston Underdown (137; 1997-2000). ... Drew Sutton produced his sixth game with at least three hits this season; the rest of the team has seven. ... Mike Pankratz (nine games), Sutton (seven games) and Brees (five games) all extended hitting streaks. ... Mark McCormick's scoreless inning streak stopped at 16.0 with Oklahoma's two-run first. McCormick has allowed just two runs in his last 21.0 innings. ... Baylor has tallied eight or more hits in seven straight and 11 or more hits in three of its first four Big 12 games.
