BIG 12
OKLAHOMA SOONERS
9
Sooners pull out 10-4 win against Tigers
Jeremy Dickie/OKLAHOMA DAILY
Sophomore third baseman Garrett Buechele makes a play to first on a ground ball against South Florida on March 4. The Sooners are 5-4 in Big 12 Conference play and 25-6 overall after a 10-4 win against the Missouri Tigers last Saturday.
By Jono Greco
Oklahoma Daily — Saturday, April 10
Even though the first few innings Saturday between the No.16 baseball team and the Missouri Tigers were a struggle, Oklahoma slugged its way to a 10-4 victory at L.Dale Mitchell Baseball Park to secure the series victory.
The win was the Sooners' (25-6, 5-4) third in a row and came behind a solid all-around performance.
Junior pitcher Bobby Shore (5-1, 2.27 ERA) threw a season-high 130 pitches in seven innings of work and allowed two runs, both in the first inning, while striking out six batters. The two runs he gave up came on a home run by Missouri senior right fielder Aaron Senne, who is second in the Big 12 in home runs with nine.
The Sooners responded with one run in the first inning, but the game could have gotten out of hand in the top half of the second inning if it were not for junior right fielder Rick Eisenberg.
Senne came to the plate in the second with the bases loaded and he drove a 2-2 Shore offering into the right-center field gap. Eisenberg ran over and made a highlightreel, diving catch to end the inning and keep three runs off the scoreboard.
Senne's loud out was the turning point of the game in the Sooners' favor, head coach Sunny Golloway said.
"I thought it really at a key moment," Gollo way said. "I thought the ballgame could have been on the line early because [Senne is] a terrific hitter. If he gets into a ball or we don't make that catch, they might be scoring from first on that ball (Eisenberg] goes to catch."
And he was right because Oklahoma tied the game in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI-bunt single by Eisenberg, and Shore settled down afterward even though he worked his way out of a couple of jams in the third and fourth innings.
The series victory at home is a big one for Oklahoma after being swept by Texas on April 1-3in front of season-high crowds at L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Hauptman pitching well for Huskers
By Mike Schaefer Daily Nebraskan — Thursday, April 8
Nebraska pitcher Casey Hauptman wasn't always this effective.
The tall right-hander is faring much better this season than compared to last year. Midway through Nebraska's schedule, Hauptman has a 3.45 ERA through 44 1/3 innings.
That's two full points better than last season's 5.60 ERA, when batters were hitting .302 off of him.
Hauptman argues he never would have been as successful in 2010 if he hadn't labored through such a difficult 2009 season. It taught him how to have a short memory.
"Last season, I let bad outings bother me a little more than they do now," he said. "I don't worry about it as much. Right now, I take it pitch by pitch."
He knows not many people will buy that adage,but he swears by it.
"It is a cliché," Hauptman said. "But it is really that simple. Go out there every day and you get three outs to try to not let them
score. You've got to simplify everything."
Hauptman's not alone in this endeavor. Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said both Hauptman and fellow pitcher Michael Mariot have shown great improvement following a tough 2009 season.
"Last year, these guys got thrown into the fire," Anderson said. "That's why they've done what they're done. Last year they struggled, and now they're surviving."
Mariot has done more than survive; he's built himself into the team's No. 1 starter and generally has to duel against the aces of other Big 12 rotations.
Mariot has nearly dropped his ERA by two full runs as well, getting it down to 5.16 from 7.06 last season. Those numbers could have been even better, but the righty struggled mightily against Oklahoma State, allowing seven earned runs over seven innings.Those earned runs account for nearly a quarter of his total runs allowed.
The improvement, he said, comes from forcing himself to think situations through instead of impulsively reacting like he often did in 2009.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nebraska players celebrate after Cade Thompson (23) scored against Creighton off a single by DJ Belfonte in the third inning in Lincoln, Neb., last Tuesday. The Huskers lost to the Bluejays to fall to 15-14 on the season.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE APRIL 14,2010