By GEORGE WATSON
Avalanche-Journal

NORMAN, Okla. - The L. Dale Mitchell Park scoreboard showed a 7-7 tie, but to the Texas Tech baseball team, it felt like a loss.

The Oklahoma Sooners rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, then held off a Tech rally in a 10th-inning downpour. After a 45-minute delay, the umpires ruled the field unsafe to play, thus ending the game in a tie.

It is the first-ever tie for a Tech team in Big 12 play and the first overall since 1988 when the Red Raiders battled New Mexico to a 10-10 draw.

But to a Tech team that at one time was within one strike of going home a winner, it didn't feel like a tie.

"It's a game that we had won," Tech head coach Larry Hays said. "We played pretty good baseball, but they got some pretty big hits to beat us. We made some pretty good pitches and didn't get the outs. It was really a tough series, all three games were really rough."

With the tie, the Red Raiders come out of the series with a 31-15-1 record overall (14-9-1 in the Big 12). Despite the tie, Techhas never lost a series to OU (16-27-1, 10-13-1) since the Big 12's inception in 1997.

Tyler Carson's RBI single in the eighth padded Tech's lead to 5-3, then a Bryon Smith sacrifice fly and wild pitch by OU reliever Mark Roberts scored two more, giving Tech a seemingly comfortable 7-3 cushion.

Those runs were necessary as Oklahoma rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth on homers by Greg Dobbs and Sean Smith off Tech reliever Blake McGinley. Dobbs' came after a single by Jerome Godsey and two-out walk to Sergio Garcia with a full count.

Dobbs turned on a 2-1 pitch from McGinley, cutting Tech's lead to 7-6. On McGinley's next pitch, Smith nailed the scoreboard in left field, tying the game at 7.

McGinley allowed another runner to reach before Steve Rowe struck out Chris Haggard to send it into extra innings.

"Not being able to close the door kind of hurt," said Tech designated hitter Austin Cranford, who went 3-for-4 with a leadoff home run and three runs scored. "It leaves you with a bad feeling in your stomach. It's hard to swallow, but that's baseball."

Tech mounted a rally with two outs in the 10th on a walk and a hit batter, but Gera Alvarez was caught looking at strike three in the downpour. The tarp was pulled off the infield after the rain subsided, but the umpires ruled the field unsafe to play, especially in center field where a large puddle formed.

Additionally, the Red Raiders had to catch a flight out of Oklahoma City scheduled to depart shortly after 7 p.m., thus resuming the game at 5:30 p.m. was not an option.

"I'm not going to criticize the umpires," OU coach Larry Cochell said. "No inning was going to start after 5:30, so it would have been a stretch and as much as I say I'd like to play, I have to agree with the umpires."

Oklahoma almost came back earlier in the game with an eight-inning threat, but McGinley shut the Sooners down.

Chad Ertel, who relieved Tech starter Matt Harbin in the sixth, started the eighth by allowing a single to Greg Dobbs and a long fly ball out by Sean Smith. McGinley came in and hit Charlie Frasier with his first pitch, but came back with consecutive strikeouts of John Erick Munneke and Chris Haggard to squelch the rally.

The Sooners, who are fighting the Missouri Tigers for that eighth and final spot in the Big 12 Tournament, were not to be denied in the ninth.

"The thing you remember is how we came back," Cochell said. "I feel good about the way the kids came back. It's a half victory and a half loss. It's as good a tie as you can get, I guess."

Harbin went 51/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

OU starter Austin Mix lasted seven-plus innings, giving up nine hits and four walks and striking out 10, including five straight early in the game.

Tech returns to action Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with a non-conference clash against TCU in Fort Worth.