Oct. 27, 2009

Red/White Series: Game 2 | Box Score |  Photos   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E  Red 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 8 10 3  White 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 7 9 1  Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO  Red - Mayfield (1-0) 3 3 2 0 2 4  White - Semler (0-1) 1 4 2 2 1 1  Batting Leaders AB R H RBI BB HR  White - Ross 4 1 2 0 0 0  Red - Johnson 4 3 3 3 1 2

NORMAN, Okla. -- Offense led the way on Tuesday afternoon in game two of the Red/White Series at L. Dale Mitchell Park.  Casey Johnson drove in three runs off three hits, including two late inning solo homers, and Red tied the series at one game apiece with an 8-7 victory.

Down 7-6 in the top of the ninth inning, Johnson and Chris Ellison connected for a pair of RBI singles and built an 8-7 Red lead it would not relinquish.  Ellison also finished with a game-high three hits and Drew Harrison and Max White drove in the other two runs.

“The Red squad showed a lot of fight today,” said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway.  “They lost a couple of leads and looked like they were going down 2-0 in the series.  Casey Johnson had a couple of monster hits late in the game and that is the type of clutch hitting we expect to see out of Casey, especially now that he is a veteran on this team.”

Overall, the game featured five lead changes and lasted over three hours.

In the third, Red took the game’s first lead with three runs in the frame off starter Luis Collazo.  Harrison collected his fourth RBI of the series with a single through the right side.  The base knock followed a two-run throwing error by Caleb Bushyhead.

White battled back in the bottom half of the fourth with five runs off four hits off starter Michael Rocha.
 
Bryan Groth led off the rally after knocking the first pitch of the frame over the fence in left field.  The next two batters, Caleb Bushyhead and Cody Reine, reached base via a walk and a hit by pitch, respectively, and then moved up to second and third on Tyler Brady’s sacrifice.  Jarrett Semler followed with a two-out rip to left center which tied the game at three runs apiece.  Eric Ross continued the rally with a single and Jarek Pritchard cleared the bases with a triple to center field.  The extra base hit gave White a 5-3 lead.

In the fifth, Max White’s RBI single brought the Red Team to within a run but the potential to regain the lead was ended by Jeremy Erben.  The White’s senior captain faced a bases-loaded situation out of the bullpen and struck out back-to-back hitters to end the threat.

The score was knotted at five runs apiece in the top of the sixth as Red’s Johnson led off the frame with his first of two homers on the afternoon.  Two innings later, the Red offense and Johnson struck again with a deep solo shot to center field, good for a 6-5 lead.

The back and forth action continued in the bottom half of the eighth inning as White scored two runs off two Red errors.

Jack Mayfield, who started at second base, showed off his two-way ability by pitching the final three innings for Red and earning the win.  Mayfield did not allow an earned run in three innings of work and had four strikeouts. 

Semler, who also started his day in the lineup as White’s designated hitter, took the loss after allowing two runs in the ninth.

Game three is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Wednesday afternoon.  The game is free and open to the public.  White’s Drew Verhagen will start on the mound opposite Red’s Bobby Shore.