Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Knock Off Baylor to Open Big 12 Play

The Sooners survived a ninth inning rally that saw the Bears load the bases with just one out down by two runs.

A promising start to conference play.

After a disappointing series loss last weekend to New Orleans, Oklahoma returned to action on Friday night against the Baylor Bears to open Big 12 play at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.

Needing a good start to open conference action, the Sooners got just what the doctor ordered coming away with a 5-3 win over the Bears.

Getting the start on the mound was left-hander Jake Bennett, who continued his superb season with his longest outing of the year working into the eighth inning allowing just three runs and six hits while striking out seven.

Despite the overall good outing, it wasn’t the best start for Bennett as the Bears were able to scratch across two runs in the second inning to grab an early lead.

Oklahoma would quickly get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning on a solo homer by right fielder Trent Brown.

Brownie hit a 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚.

107 mph | 358' | 21.4°@trentbrown5 | #LaunchPad
☄️ https://t.co/GliHPxJlrU pic.twitter.com/X8h2mXvt4X

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 26, 2022

Designated hitter Max McGwire then joined the party the following inning with a solo shot of his own, the first of his young career, to knot things up at 2-2.

𝐋𝐢𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐜‼

Max's first career homer was also a 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚.
108 mph | 385' | 20°

☄️ https://t.co/GliHPxJlrU#LaunchPad pic.twitter.com/X0gEPjK7mB

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 26, 2022

Left fielder Diego Muniz then tacked on another run with an RBI single to put Oklahoma in front for the first time at 3-2.

The score remained there all the way into the seventh with the Sooners adding some insurance runs on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly to hold a 5-2 lead heading into the final two innings.

Baylor got one run back in the eighth and loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but right-hander Trevin Michael avoided disaster getting two pop outs to close out the OU win.

The victory improves Oklahoma to 13-7 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, a welcomed sight for Skip Johnson and company after the discouraging series loss a week ago.

The Sooners and Bears will meet again tomorrow in the middle game of their three-game weekend series at 2 p.m. back at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.