Sooners headed right direction; too bad they just dropped a game they should have won
Poor play in field, bad luck conspire to sink Oklahoma at Dallas Baptist
Oklahoma has a chance to do something on the baseball diamond this season.
Indeed, the Sooners proved it over the campaign’s first weekend, playing three games and winning two at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.
Then, Tuesday, despite falling 11-7 at Dallas Baptist, though it might not have seemed like it, they proved it again.
The Sooners fell to the Patriots, in part, because first baseman Rocco Garza-Gongora abandoned the bag and did not return, turning what should have been a 4-3 putout into a fourth-inning leadoff single instead, second baseman Jackson Nicklaus’ throw to covering pitcher Grant Stevens too late to nab Tom Poole when it wasn’t Stevens’ bag to cover in the first place.
That non-error snafu led to four Dallas Baptist runs that never should have crossed, but there you go, baseball can be a terribly unforgiving game.
The Sooners also lost, in part, because another seemingly unnecessary four runs scored in the bottom of the seventh.
In that frame, lefty Sooner reliever Jace Miner, direct from Wichita State, had just struck out Luke Heefner for the second out when OU skipper Skip Johnson decided he wanted right-hander Jacob Gholston to pitch to Patriot right-handed hitter Alex Pendergast.
Gholston had nothing.
His first offer was a wild-pitch, allowing Michael Dattalo to move from first first to second base. His next three were out of the strike zone, too, and that was enough for him.
Dylan Crooks stepped to the mound next only to suffer Dallas Baptist’s fourth infield hit of the game, this one off his own outstretched glove.
That loaded them up and the next man up, Nathan Humphries, smashed a grand slam over center field because of course he did.
Bad Sooner luck begat Patriot opportunity and four more runs came home.
That meant the back-to-back home runs Michael Snyder and Jackson Nicklaus clubbed in the top of the seventh to tie it up 7-7 were exciting moments and no more.
It meant the triple Snyder hit in the previous inning, setting up a run he scored himself on a wild pitch, though indeed the beginning of a four-run comeback, was not part of a game-winning comeback.
It also meant Nicklaus’ first home run of the game, in the second inning, tying it 2-2, became no more than a singular achievement.
It meant another thing, too.
It meant I had to rework this column in my head and on the screen, because after the Sooners tied it late, and after Miner got the first two outs of the seventh, I was pretty sure they’d win.
Joke’s on me.
Good thing the bigger point remains in play.Â
Though OU fell to 2-2 and Dallas Baptist, ranked 25th in the NCBWA writers’ poll, yet receiving no votes at all in the USA Today coaches’ poll, moved to 4-0, this remains a team to watch.
I don’t have the data at my fingertips, sorry, but Sooner baseball has this tenuous history of getting out of the gates slowly, of winning just enough to remain relevant and, frequently, winning just enough at the end to reach NCAA regional play.
Last season was such a season and the season before could have been, but OU caught absolute fire instead, finishing national runner-up.
There’s evidence this year will be different after OU began the season in Arlington falling 4-2 to Oregon, topping Tennessee 5-1 in 10 innings and topping Nebraska 7-6, freshman shortstop Jaxon Willits, son of Reggie, winning it with a walk-off single.
The Ducks were a game from the Men’s College World Series last season, the Vols were ranked in every preseason poll, from No. 5 to No. 11, and Nebraska's been chosen to finish fifth in the Big 10, which isn’t bad in a 13-team league.
Beyond that, OU got two big pitching performances, or three, to top the Volunteers: Brendan Girton, fresh from Texas Tech, giving up just a run over four innings; Kyson Witherspoon, junior college transfer from Northwest Florida State, giving up no runs over 4 1/3; Ryan Lambert, at Missouri State only last season, closing with 1 2/3 scoreless, allowing just one baserunner.
Against Nebraska, though returning starting pitcher James Hitt would have preferred not allow five runs, three earned, over five innings, he had to enjoy striking out 10 Huskers.
Also, if you didn’t get it from the description of Tuesday’s contest, OU has returned an inordinate number of everyday players, the likes of which is crazy rare in the college game, even before the transfer portal.
And four games into things, Spikerman’s hitting .444, Easton Carmichael’s hitting .444, Snyder’s hitting .308 and Nicklaus is hitting .400.Â
Though Bryce Madron didn’t get off to a good start, he went 3 for 5 against the Patriots, raising his average to .278. And, eventually, Kendall Pettis should start hitting again or at least getting on base at a high clip, which is his gift.
It’s so early.
And yeah, OU should have won Tuesday.
But this could be a season.
Might want to start following this team now.
Agree about the mis-cues / fielding errors. But to me a more recurring theme is management of the pitchers. Two outs and cruising, and he made a change. Friday night the opposite, waits too long and the damage is done before making a change. It’s early though, so hopefully it’ll all get figured out.