Sooners roll after Kyson Witherspoon walks the line
Sooners roll after Kyson Witherspoon walks the line
Everything fell into place for Oklahoma on the first day of the Norman Regional because he did
NORMAN, Okla. - Blowouts are fun, especially when the home team, or the hosting team, scores them.
They are not, however, created equal, nor is each one destined to become a blowout and that’s the kind of game Oklahoma took from Oral Roberts Friday night and it’s mostly about one guy.
Kyson Witherspoon.
Witherspoon, the Sooners’ No. 2 starter through the conference season, became their Game 1 starter at the Norman Regional, taking place at L. Dale Mitchell Park, where an NCAA contest last occurred in 2010.
The Sooners wound up prevailing 14-0, which sounds exactly like a contest that couldn’t have gone another way — or a 1920s football game — yet it might have had Witherspoon not managed to walk the line during trying times before OU began scoring in bunches and, as it turned out, not stopping.
It matters because it’s seriously cool just watching a pitcher struggle as Witherspoon struggled, only to find a way to allow no runs, then come full circle and wind up dominating the Golden Eagles like they’ve not recently been dominated.
It matters because it meant OU never had to press at the plate, never had to face the serious prospect it might — egads! — LOSE a game against the clear fourth team at this four-team regional.
It matters because Sooner skipper Skip Johnson still has as much freedom as he could possibly have with his pitching staff entering today’s 8 p.m. winner’s bracket contest against Connecticut, a 4-1 victor over Duke in Friday’s early game.
Looking forward, it may matter most as a straightforward confidence booster for Witherspoon, an outsized cog in any success OU’s bound to put together this postseason.
Though he gave up no earned runs his previous outing, the day the Sooners committed seven errors at the Big 12 tournament, the last time Witherspoon gave up no runs at all came all the way back on March 15, a five-inning 94-pitch relief stint at TCU that helped earn him a spot in OU’s weekend rotation.
What happened?
Well, over three innings, he walked five Golden Eagles, which is a great way to lose a game without the opposition doing much.
He committed his own error on a come-backer from Cameron LaLibertie to open the second inning, making his job harder than it needed to be.
He left them loaded in the first inning, getting Sam Thompson looking to end the threat.
He left two on base in the second, getting Elijah Rodriguez looking to end the threat.
He left two more on base in the third, getting LaLibertie swinging to end the threat.
“I thought we were a swing or two from getting to their bullpen,” ORU coach Ryan Folmar said.
Those swings never came.
“I was really trying to pinpoint, like, what was wrong, instead of just going out there and competing,” Witherspoon said. “Trying to focus on one part of my mechanics.”
Upon ditching that approach, his playing-with-fire fortunate outing became, oh, let’s go with his second best appearance of the season, his first being the next outing after that TCU game, in which he needed 98 pitches to allow one run over 7 2/3 frames, also in relief, against West Virginia, making certain he’d earned a spot in the weekend rotation.
After needing 77 pitches to get through the first three innings, Witherspoon needed 37 to get through the next three.
“He made some really big pitches with men on base,” Johnson said, “which is a really good sign of a great pitcher.”
That was when he was struggling.
The second half of his outing, he sailed, retiring the last 10 Golden Eagles he faced.
He finished with nine strikeouts, allowed a single hit and lowered his earned run average from 4.01 to 3.71.
If Witherspoon was the best thing to happen for the Sooners, the rest of it was pretty great, too.
John Spikerman led off the bottom of the first with a standup triple, finished with three hits, scored three runs and drove in two.
Bryce Madron, back from injury and in the starting lineup for the first time since May 16 at Cincinnati, went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double, driving in three.
Easton Carmichael, batting three-hole, behind Spikerman and Madron, wen 3 for 5 with a home run and drove in three.
Even Scott Mudler, from the eight-hole, blasted his fourth home run, his first since April 6 at Oklahoma State, 23 games ago.
Finally, there was Carter Campbell, who relieved Witherspoon, worked three innings, allowed two hits, didn’t walk anybody, struck out two and preserved the shutout, lowering his ERA from 5.93 to 5.52.
Everything that could have gone right for the Sooners eventually did.
It didn’t have to.
But Kyson Witherspoon was there to keep the train on the tracks.