Nov. 4, 2009

Game 7:  Red 5, White 1 | Box Score   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E  White 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 1  Red 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 x 5 5 0  Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO  W - Shore (2-0) 5.0 3 0 0 0 5  L - Verhagen (0-1) 4.0 2 4 4 3 3  S - none - - - - - -  Batting Leaders AB R H RBI BB HR  White - Ross 4 0 2 0 0 0  Red - Harrison 4 2 2 2 0 2

NORMAN, Okla. -- Freshman Drew Harrison blasted two home runs en route to a 5-1 victory in game seven on Wednesday as Red clinched the fall series over White.  Harrison was named the series MVP after hitting four homers and driving in 10 runs in the seven games.

Junior Bobby Shore won his second game of the series with five shutout innings as Drew Verhagen took the loss with four runs allowed in four innings. 

Shore surrendered just three hits and recorded five strikeouts while posting zero walks.

“I thought our guys were really competitive throughout the seven games,",said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway.  "We have never gone seven games in a Red-White series.  Normally, you wouldn’t have the pitching to do that.  But we had some young arms that I thought did a great job. 

“We had some guys that were able to pitch deep into games and when I say that, throw four or five innings in the fall because being healthy is key. That is what Bobby Shore was able to do today.”

In the bottom of the fourth, Harrison drove a two-out pitch to the opposite field and over the right-center field fence to give Red a 1-0 lead.

Red increased its advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth and chased Verhagen out of the game after four innings pitched.    Verhagen left the bases loaded to reliever Jeremy Erben, but the White captain was unable to stop the threat despite striking out the first batter he faced.

After the strikeout,  Casey Johnson drew the walk from Erben and gave Red a 2-0 lead.  Ross Hubbard singled up the middle to cap off the scoring in the fifth with a two-run base knock.

White mounted a two-out rally in the top of the seventh and placed runners on first and third, as Danny Black delivered a single up the middle.  But Brandon Bargas battled out of the jam and allowed just one run after forcing Jarek Pritchard into a groundout to end the frame.
Harrison struck again in the bottom of the eighth with his fourth home run of the series as the ball again found its way over the fence in right-center field.

Erik Ross had two of White’s seven hits on the afternoon.

The series marks the end of team practices for the Sooners which started on Sept. 21.

"I thought we made up a lot of ground after missing a lot of days due to weather," added Golloway.  "We have a lot of young talent and we continue to develop and move forward.  We are excited to get started in the spring and watch this team this season.”