Making contact at the plate wasn’t the problem for Kansas University’s baseball team during its 5-4 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday night at Hoglund Ballpark.

The trouble was that the Jayhawks kept hitting line drives right at OU players, and the Sooners were sound enough defensively to make every play within their grasp.

Sure, KU scored an occasional run and did enough to stay within reach all night, but more often than not it failed to find open gaps with runners in scoring position. That was the difference. Kansas stranded nine runners, despite collecting nine hits.

Simply put, the Jayhawks didn’t do themselves any favors.

“They made some outstanding plays,” KU coach Ritch Price said of OU’s defense. “Their shortstop made two big-time plays and their left fielder made a big-time play. I’ve got us down on our charts that we had six balls on the button that were caught. To their credit, they made some plays defensively behind their pitching.”

OU made it evident early that KU needed to place their hits carefully if the Jayhawks hoped to have a chance Saturday. Sooner third baseman Matt Bose made two spectacular snags that cost Kansas scoring opportunities in the first inning. Then in the sixth inning, KU’s Travis Metcalf laced a line drive right at OU left fielder Ryan Rohlinger. Andy Scholl followed that by getting robbed of a base hit when Sooner shortstop Brenan Herrera made a leaping grab.

Kansas (22-13-1 overall, 1-4 Big 12 Conference) made plenty of contact, but it was all for nothing.

“If the balls aren’t going to fall in, it’s not going to help us in the long run,” Metcalf said. “It’s good that we’re putting the bat on the ball, but hopefully we’ll come out tomorrow and it’ll fall a little more for us.”

While KU was having trouble placing its hits in the gaps, Oklahoma (18-10, 6-2) made the offense look easy at times. It opened the second inning with back-to-back hits from Eric Thornton and Bose. Thornton scored on a throwing error by KU starter Clint Schambach. Bose scored on Jeff Scuderi’s single and gave OU a 2-0 lead.

Kansas University's Matt Tribble lays down a bunt in the fourth inning. Oklahoma defeated the Jayhawks, 5-4, Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark. The Big 12 Conference rivals complete their three-game weekend series at 1 p.m. today.

Kansas tied the game in the bottom of the third when catcher Sean Richardson ripped a line drive home run just inside the left-field foul pole, but the Sooners countered with runs in the fourth and fifth innings and bolstered a 4-2 edge.

Ryan Rohlinger doubled and scored in the seventh inning, which gave Oklahoma its biggest lead. Freshman pitcher Sean Land shut down the Sooners for the final 2 2/3 innings while KU rallied.

Sophomore Matt Baty led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, advanced to second on Ritchie Price’s ground out and scored on Ryan Baty’s infield single. Then Metcalf added a 475-foot solo homer in the eighth inning that pulled Kansas within a run. The Jayhawks stranded two base runners in the eighth and came up short.

“It’s a bad loss,” Metcalf said. “Sean Land, a freshman, came in and shut ’em down. He threw real well, and it’s sad that we couldn’t come back and get him a win.”

Kansas and Oklahoma close out their three-game series with a 1 p.m. game today.

Kansas University pitcher Don Czyz hurls the ball toward home plate. The Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma, 5-4, Saturday night at Hoglund Ballpark.