Friday night in Norman, Oklahoma came and went with another series opening conference loss for the Texas Longhorns. The No. 18 ranked Sooners dinged starting pitcher Max Grubbs for five runs (four unearned) in five innings en route to a 9-4 victory at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Jared Thomas went 3-5 on the night, including a two-run homer in the eighth inning to cut the Oklahoma lead in half, but it wasn’t enough. That loss gave David Pierce and Texas a 1-6 record in conference series openers on the season.
Saturday’s scheduled game was pushed to Sunday due to inclement weather, which saw the ‘Horns and Sooners play a 1:00 and 4:00 pm doubleheader slate. The Longhorns took the first game from the Sooners, winning 8-6 to even the series. Kimble Schuessler and Will Gasparino each hit home runs and Jalin Flores had two RBI doubles. Despite not starting, Chase Lummus notched the win allowing just one run off three hits in 3.2 innings pitched.
Cade O’Hara picked up his first win of the season in the second game of the day, which saw the Longhorns clinch the series win with a 12-10 victory in seven innings due to poor weather conditions. Before the game was called, Texas blasted six home runs off Sooner pitching, including two by sophmore Max Belyeu. The series win marked six of seven in the conference for the Longhorns, despite going just 1-6 on Friday nights.
Head coach David Pierce knew how important the Sunday sweep of the Sooners was, stating it was a “huge day for our program.”
Texas sits within 2 games of first place in the Big 12 standings and will host Oklahoma State this upcoming weekend.