Oklahoma sends a loud message to college baseball by beating No. 6/9 ranked Arkansas in Shriners College Classic
HOUSTON — With runners on second and third, one out, Arkansas had a stranglehold on all the momentum.
Oklahoma’s Wyatt Olds relieved Cade Cavalli in the sixth inning, allowing a one-out single and double after the Razorbacks hit back-to-back home runs to knock Cavalli out of the game and take a 3-2 lead. He faced Arkansas with a chance for the Razorbacks to open up more than a one-run lead and the fans Woo-Pig-Sooie-ing all the way into the night.
First batter … strikeout.
Second batter … strikeout.
“That was huge,” said head coach Skip Johnson after the game. “It was a momentum changer. You talk about changing momentum and trying to keep it in our dugout—that’s what it was. When he punched those two guys out, it was huge.”
Brady Lindsly would go on to tie the game in the very next frame with a solo shot to left. Then Oklahoma (7-2) would go on to send a loud message to college baseball by beating No. 6/9 ranked Arkansas (7-1) 6-3.
“They were really good in the moment,” Johnson said about his team against Arkansas. “We situational hit really well early in the game. That’s what you have to do against a good team. Get two runs on the board, kind of get your pitch relaxed a little bit and make pitches. Then they took the lead and we fought back, which was really, really special. Got some big hits in some big moments.”
Timely hitting it was as one of Oklahoma’s most struggling hitters delivered one of the biggest blows of the game.
Brandon Zaragoza is off to an extremely rough start to the 2020 season. Zaragoza came into Friday’s game 3-for-29 on the year—that’s good for a .103 batting average.
In the bottom of the seventh, after a throwing error put Trent Brown on second and an infield mishap on a sacrifice bunt put runners on the corners with no outs, his name was called upon.
Zaragoza, with the same calm, straight-faced demeanor, stepped in.
He got behind 1-2 in the count, then Zaragoza punched a two-strike single through the left side to score Trent Brown and Oklahoma took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning.
“Well it was huge,” Johnson said. “The thing is he goes out there everyday and fights at it.
“You know what I mean? He works just as hard as everybody else. It’s not what you call a ‘slump’. What it is is a real fight everyday to get the momentum back and get your presence—you are fighting confidence, and he never lost confidence all the way through that deal and that one was big.”
Coming off a weekend where the Sooners went 5-for-42 at the plate with runners in scoring position, Oklahoma started this one going 3-for-10.
Cavalli was dominant through four innings before a 30-pitch, four-hit fifth inning spoiled his day. He finished with five innings pitched, allowing six hits, three runs and struck out 11 of the 21 batters he faced.
Olds got the win, throwing three innings and some change, only allowing four hits, no runs, walked one and struck out six. Jason Ruffcorn moves to 4-for-4 on save attempts on the year after relieving Olds in the ninth.
Tanner Tredaway, Tyler Hardman and Justin Mitchell had two hits each. Tredaway and Mitchell included doubles on their day.
Oklahoma returns to action on Saturday in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at 11 a.m. CT against Missouri.
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