12-05-2025
Kentucky baseball sweeps Oklahoma to bolster NCAA Tournament resume
Kentucky baseball sweeps Oklahoma to bolster NCAA Tournament resume
The Oklahoma baseball team entered the weekend itching to state its claim to the NCAA Tournament selection committee as to why the Sooners should host a regional.
Instead, the Sooners will head to the final weekend of the SEC baseball season set to play arch-rival Texas as losers of four straight games after OU lost to Kentucky on Sunday, 7-2.
For the third straight game, the Wildcats jumped on Oklahoma early, leading 2-0 after two innings. Scott Mudler and Kyle Branch hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third inning to pull the Sooners back into a tie. But the rest of the game didn't go nearly as well.
Tyler Bell hit a two-run home run and Luke Lawrence followed one batter later with a solo shot off Malachi Witherspoon to open the last lead Kentucky would need. The Wildcats went ahead and tacked on two more insurance runs in the seventh inning with two RBI singles.
OU simply never came up with the big hit. The Sooners collected nine hits - including three from Branch - but left six runners in scoring position for the game. Mudler also had two hits, including a double, and Jaxon Willits picked up knocks, as well.
The loss dropped Oklahoma to below .500 in SEC play (13-14) and into a tie for 10th with Kentucky and Florida. The Sooners' final three-game set of the regular season begins in Norman on Thursday against the Lonhorns, who dropped two of three to Florida this weekend.
