Oklahoma baseball beats Kentucky in first round of SEC Tournament
Nine days after being swept by Kentucky in the penultimate series of the regular season, the Oklahoma baseball team picked up a measure of revenge on Tuesday.
OU, the No. 12 seed in the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament, sent the 13th-seeded Wildcats packing from the tourney with a 5-1 victory in the first round. The Sooners advanced to play fifth-seeded Georgia, a team that took two of three from Oklahoma in late April down in Athens.
After Kentucky scored the first run of the game Tuesday in the top of the third inning, OU responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Dasan Harris singled to start the frame and, after a Dawson Willis strikeout, Jason Walk hit a two-run home run to give the Sooners the lead. Trey Gambill then followed with a walk and a stolen base and scored on Easton Carmichael's RBI single to provide Oklahoma with all the runs it would need.
That was thanks in large part to two unexpected pitchers. Jaden Barfield picked up a rare start, his third of the season, and worked four innings, giving up just an unearned run on four hits and two walks. James Hitt pitched the next four innings in relief and allowed just three Kentucky baserunners.
Oklahoma would add insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings on an RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly to advance.
The Sooners are all but guaranteed a spot in next week's NCAA Tournament with the win, though they were heavily likely to get in even with a loss. Still, beating Kentucky is helpful to the OU's resume given the teams' close finish in the SEC standings.
First pitch against the Bulldogs on Wednesday is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Hoover, Alabama.
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