Late Game OU Rally Comes Up Short In NCAA Opener

The Oklahoma Sooners were hitless through seven innings, and despite a late game rally, OU fell 5-4 to Appalachian State in the Charlottesville Region opener Saturday night.

OU tallied only two hits while committing four errors and stranding eight baserunners on the night while the Mountaineers used 10 hits to take the win and advance to the winners bracket.

Appalachian State took an early advantage in the third as Trey Holmes leadoff with a double, then Noah Holmes singled up the middle for one run scored. Tyler Zupcic also singled to score Noah Holmes taking a 2-0 lead.

OU's Caleb Bushyhead landed a ball up the middle in the seventh to break the Sooners hitting silence.

The Mountaineers added another run in the eighth, and Oklahoma got on the scoreboard as Evan Mistich connected on a single to left that scored Cody Riene making it 3-1.

A double and a flyout scored two more runs for Appalachian State in the ninth. The Sooners got a spark when Bushyhead started the bottom of the final inning with a walk. Matt Oberste followed with another walk and Garrett Carey was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

The Mountaineers were then called for a balk, allowing one run to score and brought in Ryan Frankoff to close the game.

Case Simpson grounded out to second base but scored Oberste, then Carey scored on a wild pitch making it 4-5 but Max White flied out to end the game.

The Sooners will take on Army Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.