Junior left fielder Ashton Larson provided a boost off the bench for the No. 2 Texas Longhorns with a walk-off single in the 10th inning for a 4-3 victory over the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to clinch the series.
Against flame-throwing Oklahoma left-hander Gavyn Jones, Larson slashed a 97 mile-per-hour fastball into left field to drive in redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra for the thrilling victory.
It was the second knock for Larson in the only multi-hit performance for Texas, who had also singled in the eighth inning and scored after drawing a walk in the seventh to help spark a rally from down 3-0 after the sixth inning as the weather conditions impacted the Longhorns when a 30-mph wind blowing in from left field turned a hard-hit ball by Becerra with the bases loaded into a routine fly ball.
Texas struggled to get much offense going against Oklahoma starter Cam Johnson, a big left-hander with a fastball in the mid 90s and a complementary slider. Johnson was able to work around four walks because he only allowed one hit and struck out eight batters, setting the Sooners up for a win when he left the game after issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth, allowing head coach Skip Johnson to use the strength of his bullpen.
Throwing strikes was a problem for those relievers, however, as the Horns drew four walks to open the seventh inning to score their first run before junior catcher Carson Tinney had to settle for a sacrifice fly instead of a grand slam on a ball crushed into the wind that couldn’t even reach the warning track.
Texas ended up stranding three runners on base that inning and two more in the eighth inning before tying the game in the ninth when junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza tripled to center and Tinney drove him in with a nice piece of hitting, singling up the middle.
Larson drove in the winning run after Becerra singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
On the mound for the Longhorns, redshirt senior left-hander Luke Harrison did enough to keep Texas in the game, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings with six strikeouts, two walks, and a hit batter. In relief, freshman right-hander Sam Cozart was excellent, striking out three in three perfect innings.
Texas goes for the sweep on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central on SEC Network with sophomore left-hander Dylan Voltnatis.
