UT baseball falls to Oklahoma, 2-1, missing chance for series sweep

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — First baseman Kacy Clemens drove in his brother, Kody, with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, but it was not enough as the Texas baseball team fell, 2-1, Sunday to Oklahoma at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The loss prevented the Longhorns from sweeping the No. 16 Sooners in the three-game series.

Three UT pitchers struck out seven and held the Sooners to five hits over nine innings, but allowed six walks. Starter Kyle Johnston gave up three hits and a run over six innings, before giving way to Chase Shugart, who [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]allowed one hit and a run and took the loss and drop his season record to 1-2, and Beau Ridgeway, who pitched the final two innings.

“Honestly, it was a well-played defensive game, and both teams pitched well,” Texas head coach David Pierce said. “The free passes were the difference, and we were fortunate it was 2-1 after giving (six) free passes. But they did a great job in the first of minimizing damage, and that was, in my opinion, the difference in the game.”

Pierce said while Johnston got a no-decision for his six innings of work, the UT starter turned in an admirable performance.

“Well, the thing that I see more than anything so far with our starting pitching is that they give us an opportunity to win the game,” Pierce said. “(Johnston’s) stuf was good. Occasionally he got around the ball, but for the most part, he pitched down in the zone and pitched well when he had some stress. I was really proud of what he did. He gave us that chance.”

With the loss, Texas fell to 22-13 overall and 6-6 in games against Big 12 opponents, while OU improved to 27-8 overall and 5-4 in conference games.

The loss was UT’s 10^th in 14 games this season decided by a single run.

Five players each had a single hit for the Longhorns. Shortstop David Hamilton’s double was the Longhorns’ only extra-base hit.

Texas outfielder Travis Jones said the Longhorns’ inability to convert some early chances into runs led to them pressing in the later innings.

“I think for the first couple of innings of the game, we were smoking the ball, but we were hitting them right to people,” Jones said. “I mean, that’s kind of how baseball goes: you hit the ball hard, but it doesn’t always fall at times, and that’s how it kind of played out in the first few innings. We had a good first half of this game, and then we tried a little too hard, and that’s where it got us.”

The Longhorns will be back in action Tuesday when they host Texas State at 6:30 p.m.
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