The Oklahoma Sooners have been on a tear the last couple of months. Heading into the Big 12 tournament, they closed the conference schedule with five straight series wins. They’d played great in the Big 12 tournament, but the pitching allowed their opponents to make late pushes to get the game close.
That wasn’t the case on Sunday as the Sooners dominated the Texas Longhorns to claim their first Big 12 tournament title since 2013.
The Longhorns struck first with a solo home run by Texas’ single-season home run record holder Ivan Melendez off of freshman Cade Horton. Horton settled in after that to throw 5.1 strong innings and allow just four hits and two walks. He struck out nine and kept the Longhorns from mounting any sort of consistent offense.
The Sooners’ offense, however, responded to Horton’s strong outing by erupting in the third inning for eight runs to take complete control of the Big 12 tournament title game. Tanner Tredaway had two RBIs for the Sooners and Jimmy Crooks mashed a three-run homer to cap off their eight-run explosion.
After allowing their opponents to mount late comeback bids throughout the tournament, the Sooners’ bullpen shut down Texas, throwing 3.2 innings of scoreless ball and allowing just two baserunners. Chazz Martinez was perfect for 2.2 innings, striking out five and Trevin Michael struck out two more in the ninth inning to close out the game.
Snubbed from hosting a regional, the Oklahoma Sooners await their assignment for the NCAA tournament while Oklahoma State and Texas will get to open the tourney at home.
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