OU Opens KU Series with 12-1 Victory

May 6, 2011

Oklahoma 12, Kansas 1
Box Score | Golloway Interview

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
KU	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	4
OU	0	1	4	1	3	0	2	1	X	12	11	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	E	BB	SO
W - Rocha (9-2)	7.0	6	1	1	1	6
L - Waltz (5-5 )	5.0	8	9	4	0	3

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Seitzer	5	3	3	4	0	1
KU - Waters	4	1	2	1	0	1

Notes:
Casey Johnson tied a school record with two triples on Friday, becoming the 19th player to accomplish the feat (Last: Danny Black vs. Baylor on May 28, 2010) ... The Sooners have won six-straight games over the Jayhawks and have won 12 of the 15 Big 12 openers against KU ... Sophomore Drew Harrison made his first career appearance on the mound after playing 53 career games prior at first base or designated hitter ... Down 1-0 after two innings, the Sooners were forced to rally for the 14th time this season ... Friday's comeback was the first since April 20 and the 128th in the Sunny Golloway era ... Over half of Golloway's 253 wins at OU have been in come-from-behind fashion (.506) ... While Michael Rocha moved into third place on OU's career list for wins, he also moved into a tie for sixth place in career appearances with 72 (tied with Austin Mix, 2000-2003) ... OU recorded its 26th game of 10 or more hits and also posted its 15th game with double-digit runs.

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NORMAN, Okla. - Senior captain Michael Rocha and the No. 10 Oklahoma baseball squad defeated Kansas by a score of 12-1 Friday night in the series opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The win ups the Sooners' overall record to 33-13 and 11-9 in Big 12 play while the Jayhawks fell to 22-25 and 9-13.

Rocha pitched seven innings for the Sooners as he improved his record to 9-2. Rocha gave up one run on six hits with six strikeouts. Rocha's victory was the 26th of his career, tying him for third place all-time at Oklahoma with former first round draft pick Ray Hayward (1980-83). Rocha also trails a pair of first round picks in Mark Redman (29, 1994-95) and Bob Shirley (31, 1973-75).

Rocha bounced back Friday night after suffering a complete game loss at Texas last week. After a shaky first and second inning, Rocha, who was named to the College Baseball Hall of Fame's quarterfinalist list for pitcher of the year, cruised in the next five innings with 12 Sooner runs scored off 11 hits.

"It feels really good, coming out and getting all the run support I had made it a lot easier," said Rocha. "Its good to be on the right track again."

The Jayhawks struck first against the Sooners in the first inning, as left-fielder Jimmy Waters hit a solo-home run into left field.

KU came back in the second inning and loaded the bases on Rocha, but squandered the chance with a failed squeeze sacrifice bunt.

OU was able to even the score in the second with a Caleb Bushyhead RBI, his first of two on the night, and the Sooners took their first lead in the third inning on Tyler Ogle's RBI scored on the first of four KU errors on the night. First-baseman Cameron Seitzer followed and broke the game open with a three-shot home run, giving OU a 5-1 lead.

Casey Johnson has a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, one run and two triples. His two triples ties a school record as he became the 19th player to accomplish the feat at Oklahoma. Johnson's second triple in the fourth frame, drove two runs in and pushed the lead to 9-1.

"I was just seeing the ball pretty good today," said Johnson. "Twelve runs on 11 hits, that's when you know your guys are doing their jobs up at the plate with runners in scoring position. We did that well tonight."

Cody Reine, pinch hitting for Evan Mistich, added a solo home run in the eighth. The multi-home run game is the Sooners' 10th of the season as they lead the Big 12 with 36 dingers on the year.

Kansas pitcher T.J. Waltz (5-5) recorded the loss for the Jayhawks. Waltz pitched five innings, giving up nine runs (four unearned) on eight hits and three strikeouts.

"Tomorrow, the first thing I am going to tell them before we come out for batting practice, we are going to go over their starting pitcher and go over their lineup again, we do it before every game," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. "When we do it, we are going to make sure they understand their are no 11-run leads. This is not the ninth inning last night, that game is over, it's 0-0. We have to take it one game at a time."

Game two of the Oklahoma-Kansas series is set for Saturday, May 7. First pitch is at 2 p.m. and the game can be heard on KREF 1400 AM and seen live nationally on Fox Sports Southwest (Cox Ch. 37/722 in Oklahoma City).

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