March 1, 2011
Final Stats
Photo Gallery
ARLINGTON, Tex. - Four UT Arlington relief pitchers combined to hold No. 2 Oklahoma to one earned run in 7.0 innings, but the Sooners snuck out of Clay Gould Ballpark with a 4-3 comeback win Tuesday afternoon.
The Mavericks (2-5) led with two outs in the seventh inning before Casey Johnson clubbed a solo home run to right field to tie the game.
Oklahoma (10-0) took the lead in the eighth when Max White scored on a wild pitch.
The Sooner's relief pitcher, southpaw Dillon Overton, matched UTA relievers Collin Reynolds, Sam Hansen, Brody Walker and Adam Westbrook. Overton threw 5.1 scoreless innings, holding the Mavericks to three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Ryan Walker's one-out hit put the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth, but Michael Guerra's hot shot to short resulted in a game-ending double play.
"We're fine," UTA coach Darin Thomas said. "We just have to execute a little better. We had a chance to win and the last ball was scorched it was just right at him. But (Overton) did a great job out of the pen."
So, too, did Reynolds.
The junior entered in the third inning and held the Sooners hitless until Johnson's home run in the eighth. Reynolds struck out four, including the Sooners' No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the sixth inning.
"I've had trouble in the first innings so I just wanted to get in and keep the ball down and throw strikes," Reynolds said. "Once the first inning got past, I got into a rhythm and kept going. In that last inning I had one bad pitch."
The Sooners could have extended the lead in the eighth after White, who reached on an error to start the inning, scored on Hansen's wild pitch. However, lefty Brody Walker came in and induced one of three double plays the Mavericks turned in the game.
Westbrook threw a scoreless ninth.
Oklahoma scored a pair of runs in the first, both on Cameron Seitzer's RBI single.
UT Arlington fought back in the bottom of the inning when Chad Comer's RBI single scored Walker.
Michael Guerra finished the game 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, extending his hit streak to seven games in the first inning.
The Mavs took the lead in the third with a pair of runs to take a 3-2 lead - one on Greg McCall's RBI fielder's choice and another on an error a batter later.
After that, neither team scored until Johnson's home run in the seventh.
"It's frustrating but at the same time we should have won," Comer said. "We played better we had more energy, but they came out on top. That's what high-ranked teams do: They find a way to win ballgames."
UT Arlington plays again this weekend when it opens its three-game stint at the Dallas Baptist Invitational on Thursday against Wichita State. The Mavericks face the Shockers again on Sunday in a 1 p.m. home game at Clay Gould Ballpark.
