BOX SCORE
Norman, Okla. – The Hartford baseball team continued its three game series with the #15 Oklahoma Sooners with a single game on Saturday, dropping a 10-5 decision. Senior Simon Kudernatsch continued to impress at the plate going 3-for-4 with four RBI. Hartford is no 0-2 on the season, while Oklahoma improves to 3-2 overall.
Fellow senior Alex Bulger joined Kuderntasch as the only other Hawk with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-of-4 at the plate with a run scored. Two of Kudernatsch's hits went for extra bases as the Czech Republic native finished with a double and his, and the Hawks, first triple of 2012.
The Hawks finished with 10 hits total, with James Alfonso, Andy Drexel, Brendan Behm, Pat Knauth and Trey Stover all finishing with one hit apiece. Drexel was the only other Hawk to finish with a run batted in.
Sophomore hurler Alex Gouin suffered his first loss of the season. The right hander worked 4.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits, while striking out three batters. Austin Barnes (2.2 innings) and Charlie Moran (1.0 innings) also saw time on the hill for Hartford. Barnes faced 16 total batters and allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits, while Moran faced six batters and did not allow a hit.
The Hawks put the first run on the board in the top of the first inning and would extend that lead to as much as 4-0 with a three run second inning. Kudernatsch provided the first hit of the game when he sent a double to left center with one out He would advance to third on a single from Alfonso and come around to score on a perfectly played sacrifice fly to center from Drexel for the senior outfielder's only RBI of the game.
In the second inning, Kudernatsch again provided the momentum as he drove in all three of the Hawks runs in the inning on his second hit in as many innings, a triple to left center that scored Brian Estevez, Bulger and Stover. The visitors would then go without a run until the seventh inning when Stover, who reached on a fielder's choice, came around to score from second base on a single up the middle from Kudernatsch.
Oklahoma began its offense in the second inning when back-to-back hits from Caleb Busyhead and Garrett Carey, the second of which was a double form Carey that allowed Busyhead to score round the bases and score from first. The Sooners then chipped away at Hartford's lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the third off the bat of Hunter Lockwood, while a three run fifth provided the go ahead and eventual game winning runs.
Busyhead, who finished with three hits in the game, would provide the bat in the fifth that allowed two runs to score when he stroked a triple to center field. He would then be driven home on a single off the bat of Carey, the second time the pair combined for a run. A single run in the sixth and three more in the seventh put the game out of reach for the visiting Hawks.
The Sooners and Hawks will close out the series with a Sunday matinee that is scheduled for a 100 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. ET) first pitch from L. Dale Mitchell Park.
