Oklahoma batters UA line of pitchers

FAYETTEVILLE -- Oklahoma's high-powered lineup flexed its muscle Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Sooners recorded 11 hits and put 20 runners on base in an 8-5 victory over No. 1 Arkansas. All nine Oklahoma batters recorded a hit.

The Razorbacks (12-2) used a season-high 10 pitchers and many struggled with command. Arkansas walked 8 batters, hit 1 batter and threw 4 wild pitches.

Of 198 pitches thrown by the Razorbacks, 119 were for strikes.

"Our starting pitching only gave us a couple innings, and first couple guys out of the pen really struggled," University of Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "You can give [Oklahoma] credit, too. Their offense did a nice job of laying off borderline pitches."

Oklahoma (9-7) sent nine hitters to the plate during a five-run third inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Kendall Pettis tied the game with a two-run single, and the Sooners took a 4-2 lead on Breydon Daniel's two-run home run against reliever Kole Ramage. Peyton Graham also had an RBI single in the inning.

"They scored five runs with two outs," Van Horn said. "It's hard to overcome a five-run inning, especially when they score all five with two outs or you're one pitch away from getting out of the inning and throw a curveball, leave it down the middle, give up a base hit up the middle and a few pitches later they hit a two-run homer."

Four of the Sooners' runs came against Ramage, who entered after Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander walked three batters in 1 2/3 innings.

Ramage allowed 4 hits and walked 1 batter in 1 inning to raise his ERA to 16.20 in 4 appearances. Graham's RBI hit came against Evan Gray, who recorded the final out of the Sooners' third.

Left-hander Braden Carmichael (3-0) gave the Sooners a six-inning start. The Razorbacks took a 2-0 lead in the first on Brady Slavens' two-run single, but Arkansas didn't record another hit until the fifth inning.

At one point Carmichael struck out seven of eight. He allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk.

"It gave us a lot of confidence when we tied the game, and Carmichael had a lot of poise in a big environment," Oklahoma Coach Skip Johnson said. "That shows you what type of pitcher he is. He's going to give you a chance to win. We separated the game and he kept throwing it in there and keeping those guys off balance, which was really good."

Oklahoma led 8-2 after Jimmy Crooks scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Kevin Kopps, and Diego Muniz hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning. Both runs were charged to Zack Morris.

Slavens hit a two-run home run against Carmichael with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull the Razorbacks within 8-4, and Robert Moore hit a solo home run against reliever Jaret Godman to lead off the eighth to make the score 8-5.

Arkansas brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth inning after Slavens singled and Casey Opitz reached on an error by Sooners first baseman Tyler Hardman.

Oklahoma preseason All-America closer Jason Ruffcorn struck out the final three Arkansas hitters -- Cullen Smith, Ethan Bates and Zack Gregory -- primarily by throwing a fastball that was clocked as fast as 99 mph on the stadium radar gun.

"He showed a lot of poise and showed a lot of leadership to get back in there and do what he did in the ninth inning in an environment like this," Johnson said.

Hardman went 2 for 4, walked once and scored 2 runs Tuesday. He entered the game on the heels of an 11 for 12 performance over three games against Arkansas State University.

Arkansas lost its second consecutive game after beginning the season with 12 consecutive victories. The Razorbacks had an 11-game home win streak snapped that dated to last season.

"We know we're going to lose games," Van Horn said. "We're playing a good schedule and some really good teams."

The Razorbacks are scheduled to open SEC play with No. 24 Alabama on Friday.