This is no way for the seventh-ranked team in the nation to (fail to) pitch and (fail to) hit
Sooner pitching is blowing up, hitting has turned iffy to non-existent and Thursday night, in a matchup between — adopting Baseball America’s top 25 for the weekend — No. 2 Texas and No. 7 Oklahoma, the Sooners did not remotely belong on the same field as the Longhorns, no-showing into a 14-0, seven-inning run-rule defeat.
And should OU turn it around and take two of three from Texas the same way it took two of three from LSU in Baton Rouge last weekend, who knows, maybe the Sooners trade places with the Longhorns in the poll.
Ah, the nature of the game.
So welcome to OU baseball in the middle of its third SEC weekend, one it entered 19-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play and one Texas entered 20-4 and 4-2.
Of course, that was before L.J. Mercurious and a parade of relievers proved wholly inadequate to the challenge and the moment.
Just mentioning OU gave up 17 hits, a Texas season-high, eight for extra bases, three straight third-inning doubles included, probably gets the point across, but why stop there without fully mining the depths to which Sooner pitching fell.
Sooner pitchers also walked seven batters, twice allowed six straight Longhorns to reach base and, at another point, allowed six of seven.
Ugh.
Meanwhile, Texas starter Ruger Rojas needed only 105 pitches to get through seven innings, while Mercurious, Trent Collier, Mason Bixby, Reid Hensley, Nate Smithburg and Jaden Barfield needed 161.
Of those 161, only 55.3 percent (89) were strikes. Of Rojas’ 105, 65.7 percent (69) were and it sure felt like more, OU drawing only two walks.
Nor is it like Sooner pitching is blowing up because it blew up Thursday night in Austin. No, Mercurious got the start because it was already trending that way, in the form of ex-No. 1 starter Cam Johnson, who forfeited the honor after coming up noncompetitive in back-to-back conference starts.
Against Texas A&M on March 13, Johnson walked seven Aggies over 2 1/3 innings in a game OU fell behind 4-0 before rallying to win 8-7. At LSU on March 19, Johnson walked six over 1 1/3 innings in a game OU lost 7-1.
So, Thursday, it was out with Johnson and in with Mercurious, previously the Sooners’ No. 2 starter and suddenly Mercurious couldn’t get anybody out, allowing 10 hits and seven runs, all earned, over two-plus innings, walking three and striking out one.
Before Thursday, Mercurious sported a 1.87 ERA over 33 2/3 innings across six starts.
Does Johnson come back Friday or Saturday, or has he lost his starting job altogether?
If it’s the latter, who does OU start beyond Cord Rager, the other arm in the rotation, whose ERA is a not-great 4.97, but at least the freshman has yet to implode like his staffmates?
As for that iffy hitting, OU has scored the grand sum of nine runs over its last five games, twice getting shut out, the first time at Southeastern Louisiana in the mid-week on March 17.
That four runs were enough to beat LSU both Friday and Saturday last week says plenty about the Sooners’ resilience, defense and bullpen, but how long can OU continue to win that way when its starting pitching is faltering and the lineup remains in a slump?
A good question with no clear answer.
Johnson arrived at OU last year after transferring from LSU and lost his starting job then after failing to find the plate, eventually walking 25 batters and plunking seven others over 21 innings.
That his ERA finished no worse than 5.57 is a testament to how good he might be if he’d quit issuing free passes.
Everything looked good this year until conference play arrived. Even now, despite recent struggles, his ERA remains a solid 3.60.
But not lately.
As for the hitting …
What happened to the Sooner team that began the season with three straight wins over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU, scoring 10 runs against the Red Raiders and Pokes and 12 against the Horned Frogs?
OU entered Thursday slashing .290/.420/.469 as a team, yet in its opener against its Red River rival went 6 of 27 (.222), reached base in eight of 29 (.276) plate appearances and compiled nine total bases (.333), which won’t work against anybody.
One hopes OU can simply find a way not to be swept by its rival before putting the SEC pieces back together next weekend at home against 22nd-ranked Alabama.
Something to shoot for.
And pitch for. And hit for.
The season was going so well.
But such can be baseball.
Perhaps that’s the best news.
It’s a long season.
The pendulum swings.