Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Drop Series Opener to No. 10 Texas

Longhorns' starter Pete Hansen dominated the Sooners, allowing just two hits and one run across eight innings.

A discouraging start to a big weekend.

Fresh off of a thrilling walk-off win over No. 6 Oklahoma State on Tuesday night, Oklahoma hit the diamond again on Friday night opening up a three-game weekend series against No. 10 Texas.

Despite entering the evening with seemingly the most momentum they had all season, OU suffered a decisive 7-1 loss at the hands of the Longhorns at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

Getting the start to open the series was left-hander Jake Bennett, who had more than asserted himself as the Sooners’ top starter entering the night.

However, Bennett would have his first truly bumpy outing of the year against Texas, allowing five runs (one unearned) and nine hits on the evening.

Despite the tough game on the whole, Oklahoma did get things off on the right foot striking first in the opening frame with Jimmy Crooks connecting on an RBI single to center field to put OU ahead 1-0.

𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘙𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴

Crooks put the #Sooners on the board in the first! pic.twitter.com/X8rYt0PFOW

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) April 1, 2022

That remained the score until the third, when the Longhorns jumped ahead with a three-run frame to take the lead - which they never relented.

Texas would tack on single runs in the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings to further extend their advantage, but it was unnecessary thanks to the work put in by starter Pete Hansen.

Hansen, who is regarded as one of the best pitchers in the conference, was absolutely dynamite on Friday working eight innings of one-run ball allowing just two hits and striking out 12. 

The loss dips the Sooners down to 15-9 on the season and 2-2 in conference play with their second straight Big 12 loss after dropping the series finale with Baylor last weekend.

The middle game of the series will be back at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Saturday at noon and will be broadcast on ESPN2.