CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Oklahoma’s 10-game winning streak and UCLA’s unbeaten season collided Sunday, and something had to give.
Unfortunately for the 15th-ranked Sooner baseball squad, it was on the wrong end of a 5-2 loss to No. 10 UCLA in the final game of the Whataburger Classic.
“That’s definitely a team that has a shot to get to Omaha,” OU head coach Sunny Golloway said of the Bruins, who improved to 13-0. “Now, the challenge for us is we played them close and we were right there with them, but we have to clean up a couple little things. We are not going to be discouraged, we are determined to get better.”
OU lost for just the second time, falling to 15-2 ahead of a five-game homestand that starts Tuesday and Wednesday with a series against Massachusetts. Big 12 play begins Friday with a three-game set against Baylor.
Sunday, the Sooners saw UCLA use two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning to extend a one-run lead before closer Dan Klein slammed the door with his third save of the season after the Sooners brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Ryan Gibson (2-1) took the loss for OU, allowing three runs and six hits, most of the damage in the fourth inning as the Bruins took the lead for good.
Jeremy Erben, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, had another strong outing for the Sooners, giving Golloway 4 1/3 innings of scoreless work in relief of Gibson. He tied a career high with seven strikeouts against just two hits and a walk. He has not allowed a run in his last 16 innings pitched.
Chris Ellison homered for OU, his second and the Sooners’ 23rd, most in the Big 12 Conference. Casey Johnson drove in OU’s other run.
