JOURNAL STAFF
ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma’s pitching staff proved too talented for Northwestern State in a taut three-game college baseball series ending Sunday night, after the Demons mounted a winning rally in the first contest.
Northwestern prevailed 4-2 Friday opening a series shifted from the OU campus to Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers’ sparkling home (with a retractable roof that provided much-needed cover and comfort for the first two games). The Sooners won a pitching duel 2-1 Saturday night and then shackled NSU hitters again Sunday night in a 5-1 series-clincher.
The Demons (3-3) won on a two-out, two-run base hit by Broch Holmes in a three-run eighth that fueled their Friday afternoon triumph.
Benton’s Cole Horton singled and scored NSU’s go-ahead run in the fourth Saturday night. Oklahoma got the difference-maker in the sixth on a sacrifice fly after tying it an inning earlier.
The Sooners (5-2) rode 14 strikeouts Sunday from lefty Chazz Martinez, who allowed only three hits in seven scoreless innings. The OU bullpen worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the Demons’ eighth, surrendering just one run on Gray Rowlett’s sac fly.
LOUISIANA TECH: The 15th-ranked Bulldogs kept their early record perfect Friday night at Ruston behind Byrd High’s Jonathan Fincher, but after a rainout Saturday, Tulane swept a pair of seven-inning matchups Sunday at J.C. Love Field.
Tech (5-2) won the opener 6-1 as Fincher struck out eight in six innings, but dropped Sunday’s twinbill 4-1 and 13-6. Adarius Myers
lashed a two-run homer in the win.
After a day off, Tulane left-handler Dylan Carmouche tossed a complete game four-hitter, getting nicked by a Jorge Corona RBI single in the fourth, when Tech collected all of its hits. Carmouche retired the first 10 batters.
In Sunday’s second game, the Green Wave (6-1) quickly erupted into a tsunami, scoring 12 times in the first three innings, getting eight runs with two outs.
“We are not defined by three or four bad innings, and that is what it was today,” said Bulldogs coach Lane Burroughs. “It’s still early.”
LSU: In Baton Rouge, the Tigers took full advantage of tune-up opposition over the weekend to rebound from their sloppy 11-6 loss Wednesday night at Louisiana Tech, and outscored its foes 41-3.
Second-ranked LSU (7-1) topped Towson 6-0 Friday night, smacked Southern 9-2 Saturday and jolted the Jags 15-0 Sunday after blasting Towson by 11-1.
“The thing I’m most pleased with is the pitching. The pitchers commanded the zone throughout the weekend,” said first-year Tigers’ coach Jay Johnson.
GRAMBLING: The Tigers (2-4) were swept in a three-game, neutral site series with Florida A&M Friday and Saturday in Lawrenceville, Ga., in the Lucas-Garr Classic.
The Rattlers (5-3) won 7-3 Friday, and swept a doubleheader 7-5 and 6-2 Saturday in the Bill Lucas-Ralph Garr HBCU Classic hosted by the Atlanta Braves.
ULM: The Warhawks (1-4) battled Missouri (6-1) but couldn’t mount enough offense in chilly Columbia, Mo., while falling 4-3 Friday and 4-2 Sunday, with the middle game Saturday cancelled by weather.
Photo: by PATRICK NETHERTON
