June 11, 2006

Daniel McCutchen fired a complete game, striking out nine, to lead Oklahoma to an 11-5 victory in game two of the Houston Super Regional on Sunday afternoon at Reckling Park. The Sooners victory sets up a game three on Monday (Noon CDT on ESPN), with the winner of that game advancing to the College World Series in Omaha.

Trailing 5-1, Oklahoma exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, aided by a pair of Rice errors in the frame. The Sooners would go on to score the final 10 runs of the game and force the third game of the series.

McCutchen retired 14 consecutive batters from the fourth inning until allowing a walk in the ninth. He improved to 10-8 on the season and also moved into second place on OU's single-season strikeout list with 149.

The Sooners struck first for a run in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Rohlinger hit a two-out double to left and scored when Kevin Smith followed with a ground-rule double into the right field bullpen.

The Owls came right back with a run in the top of the second. Sophomore Joe Savery led off by driving a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall. His eighth home run of the year tied the game 1-1.

Rice used the longball again in the third to take the lead. True freshman Kenny Ford connected for his first career home run to right-center to put the Blue and Gray on top 2-1.

The Owls added three runs in the fourth on four hits. After singles by Savery and Aaron Luna, Ford placed hit shallow into the outfield and turned it into a two-RBI double. Ford came home on a double to left-center by Henley and the Owls were ahead 5-1.

The Sooners exploded for five runs in the bottom of the frame. Freddy Rodriguez led off with an infield single and Kody Kaiser doubled off the wall in right field. A Rice throwing error allowed Rodriguez to score and Kaiser to reach third. Aaron Reza was hit by a pitch and Jackson Williams singled to left to bring Kaiser home. Joseph Hughes moved the two runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Reza came home on a wild pitch that made the score 5-4. A Chuckie Caufield single up the middle tied the game 5-5. Another fielding error on a fielder's choice allowed Caufield to move to second base. Caufield stole third and scored on a Rohlinger sacrifice fly to give the Sooners the lead at 6-5.

The Sooners hit a pair of home runs for scores in the bottom of the seventh. Rohlinger started off with a solo home run shot to left field. His 13th round-tripper of the year extended the Sooners lead to 7-5. Kody Kaiser hit his seventh home run of the year into the right field corner to make it 8-5.

Bobby Bell started for Rice and allowed five runs on six hits over 3.1 innings. He was relieved by Bobby Bramhall, who took the loss after allowing one run over two innings to fall to 4-2 on the season.

Tyler Henley led the Owls offensively, going 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Kenny Ford was 2-for-4 with his first collegiate home run and a career-high three RBI, while Joe Savery added a pair of hits, including a home run.

The loss snapped the Owls 14-game winning streak. It was the second time this season that Rice had a 14-game winning streak ended by Oklahoma, as the Sooners halted a similar streak on April 18. It was only the third loss by the Owls in the last 38 games.