May 8, 2009

No. 17 OU 5, OSU 2 | Box Score |   Photos   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E  OU 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 5 10 0  OSU 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0  Pitching IP H R ER BB SO  W - Rocha (4-2) 6.0 3 0 0 1 7  L - Oliver (5-6)   8.0 6 3 3 2 6  S - Duke (11) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0  Batting Leaders AB R H RBI BB HR  OU -  J. Johnson 5 0 2 1 0 0  OSU - Medchill 4 1 1 2 0 1 GAME NOTES Twenty-eight of the 45 games played since 1997 between OU and OSU have been decided by three runs or less (OU leads 17-11)... The Sooners have homered in 23 of the last 28 games with 58 in that span ... Jamie Johnson extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the third inning ... Bryant Hernandez hit his 10th homer of the season in the top of the fourth ... OU has four players with 10 or more home runs this season (J.T. Wise, Aaron Baker and Jamie Johnson) marking a first since 1999 when Casey Bookout, Rick Park, Bobby Walters and Jeff Bajenaru all had double-digit homers ... J.T. Wise hit his 16th home run of the season in the sixth, marking the most by a Sooner since Rick Park hit 18 in 2000 ... Wise hit safely in his 11th straight game, tying a career high, and has four home runs during the streak ... OU has 17 multi-HR games in 2009 and nine of those have come in Big 12 play ... The 83 homers this season is the most by OU since it hit a school-record 114 in 1998 ... That Sooner team had 99 home runs after 51 games. Sooner Baseball Central Main Page | Ticket Information | Webcasts 2009 OU Baseball Media Guide | 2009 Game Notes Oklahoma Season Statistics | Big 12 Conference | NCAA

TULSA, Okla. -- J.T. Wise and Bryant Hernandez each homered behind Michael Rocha’s six shutout innings of relief, as No. 17 OU won 5-2 over Oklahoma State in game one of the Bedlam Series, presented by the Oklahoman and Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance, in front of 10,757 fans at Drillers Stadium on Friday.

OU improved to 36-15 overall and 13-9 in Big 12 play while OSU dropped to 29-20 and 6-14.

The win was the Sooners’ first in Tulsa since 2000.  Despite the recent struggles, OU leads 10-9 over Oklahoma State in games played at Drillers’ Stadium, which hosted its final Bedlam game before moving downtown into a new facility next year.

“The Bedlam series has always been close,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway.  “Its two quality programs and we understand that.  We will enjoy this one tonight, put it behind us, and look for another victory tomorrow.”

Jamie Johnson, Garrett Buechele and Casey Johnson paced the Sooners’ 10-hit attack with two hits apiece.

The Cowboys jumped on top first with Neil Medchill’s 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left that gave OSU a 2-0 lead after one inning of action.

In the top of the third, Oklahoma State chased OU starter Stephen Porlier out of the game after two official innings of work. 

Down 2-0, Michael Rocha relieved Porlier and put together the best relief outing of his career with six shutout innings and seven strikeouts.  Rocha improved to 4-2 and tied a career-high in strikeouts while recording his longest relief outing as a Sooner.

“You can’t say enough about his effort tonight,” said OU catcher J.T. Wise. 

After OSU plated two runs in the first, it was held scoreless for the next eight innings and managed just two hits over the final six frames.  Ryan Duke followed Rocha with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save of the year.  OSU had five hits in the first three innings, but was retired in order in three of the last four frames. 

In the top of the fourth, the Sooners cut the lead in half on Hernandez’s 10th home run of the season.  The solo shot sent the game into the bottom of the fourth with the Cowboys ahead 2-1.

Oklahoma used the long ball again to take its first lead of the game.  In the top of the sixth, Wise crushed a two-run blast over the wall in left-center field and scored Matt Harughty to give OU a 3-2 lead.  The shot was Wise’s Big 12 leading 16th of the season.

OSU’s Andrew Oliver (5-6) lasted eight innings but surrendered three runs off six hits.  The Cowboys’ ace allowed just five homers all of last season, but gave up two long balls on Friday with six strikeouts.

Jamie Johnson and Kaleb Herren added extra insurance for the Sooners in the ninth with a pair of RBI singles.

The three-game set moves to Oklahoma City on Saturday when game two will begin at 7:05 p.m. at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.  The game will be broadcast on the Sooner Sports Network on KOKC 1520 AM.

The game will also be televised by the Sooner Sports Network on Cox Channel 7 in Oklahoma City and Cox Channel 3 in Tulsa.  Check your local cable provider for coverage in your area.