Tag: Braden Davis

Oklahoma Sooners fall to UConn Huskies 4-1 in Norman Regional

Oklahoma Sooners couldn’t hit with runners on and fall to UConn 4-1.

After a picture-perfect start to hosting their first regional in almost 20 years, [autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners saw it all come crashing down on Saturday night. They lost to the Big East regular season champion UCONN Huskies 4-1.

The Sooners came into the game with loads of momentum after a 14-0 shutout of Oral Roberts Friday night. On Friday afternoon, UCONN beat the two-seed in the region, Duke, by a 4-1 score.

Both teams knew Saturday night would be a grind, but for OU, they felt great.

[autotag]Braden Davis[/autotag], the staff ace, didn’t pitch on Friday because Johnson wanted to save him for this matchup instead. While he was right in theory, things didn’t go as he wanted them to.

Oklahoma was the road team, so they started the game batting first. Oklahoma could get nothing off Connecticut pitcher Stephen Quigley despite a Bryce Madron hit.

Davis worked out of a jam in the bottom of the second to keep things tied. Oklahoma had two hits in the top half of the third, but Quigley worked himself out of a jam and kept Oklahoma off the board.

In the bottom half of the inning, a two-out rally featuring two walks and a single by the Huskies’ Korey Morton allowed UConn to draw first blood and take a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma got doubles in the fourth and fifth innings from [autotag]Michael Snyder[/autotag] and [autotag]John Spikerman[/autotag], but couldn’t bring them home.

That would remain the story of the night for the Sooners. In the bottom of the seventh inning, after back-to-back 1-out singles, RHP Dylan Crooks entered in relief of Braden Davis, who pitched 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and walking three batters. He threw 109 pitches and struck out ten batters. He was also on the hook for three earned runs when Luke Broadhurst hammered a ball to deep left field to push the Huskies’ lead to 4-0.

Kendall Pettis hit a homer in the eighth, but that would be the last hurrah from the Sooners before the game ended. The Sooners got Jackson Nicklaus up for the tying run, but Nicklaus couldn’t make any noise, and the game was over.

Oklahoma’s inability to get the big hit doomed them. They pitched well enough to stay within striking distance but could never push themselves to get the one or two big hits necessary to flip momentum to their side.

Redshirt senior outfielder Kendall Pettis went 2-for-3 with a home run. He was the standout offensively.

With the loss, the Sooners will face Duke, the two-seed in this regional, with their season on the line.

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Complete game shutout from Braden Davis leads Sooners to Big 12 tournament win over TCU

Baden Davis put on a dominant display to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to a 4-0 win against the TCU Horned Frogs in the Big 12 Tournament.

The Big 12’s regular-season champions flexed their muscles in their Big 12 tournament opener. Oklahoma shut out the TCU Horned Frogs 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon behind a masterful pitching performance by Braden Davis.

Davis was locked in from the start. After giving up a one-out double to TCU’s Sam Myers in the top of the first, Davis would sit down the next 10 TCU batters. He generated some excellent swing and misses while also pitching to contact. The defense behind him made some outstanding plays in the field, like this catch by left fielder Kendall Pettis that helped minimize the first inning double.

While Davis locked down the Horned Frogs’ offense, the Sooners had to be patient against TCU starter and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Peyton Tolle.

The Sooners finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth. A one-out walk by Michael Snyder was followed by an Anthony Mackenzie single. Jackson Nicklaus doubled to bring in Snyder to put Oklahoma up 1-0. Then with two outs in the inning, Pettis came through with a single to add to the Sooners lead and make it 2-0.

With a lead, Davis continued to deal.

Even though Oklahoma’s best power hitter, Bryce Madron, wasn’t playing, others picked up the slugging in his absence. Mackenzie homered to left center and Nicklaus followed that up with a homer of his own to give Oklahoma a 4-0 lead and chase Tolle right out of the game.

Those two runs would be the final nail in the coffin as Davis cruised to the finished line for the complete game shutout. He gave up just four hits and allowed zero walks. Davis also fanned nine TCU Horned Frogs in the effort.

He needed a career-high 120 pitches, but his Herculean effort puts Skip Johnson and the rest of the Oklahoma coaching staff in a favorable position to mix and match arms in Thursday’s game against the Kansas Jayhawks with no one extending themselves on Wednesday.

The Sooners and Jayhawks both won their first games of the tournament and will battle for a spot in the Big 12 semifinals on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. The Big 12 foes did not play in the regular season.

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Skip Johnson wins Big 12 Coach of the Year, 12 Sooners earn conference accolades

After a fantastic season, Skip Johnson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and 12 Sooners received Big 12 honors.

The Oklahoma Sooners baseball team has had a remarkable season in 2024. They were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the preseason poll and went on to win the conference’s regular season title.

Oklahoma finished the year 34-18 and 23-7 in Big 12 play and 2.5 games up on Oklahoma State in the regular season race. The Sooners clinched the conference title with a three-game sweep of the Baylor Bears on the second to last weekend of the season.

After their incredible season, Oklahoma Sooners manager Skip Johnson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year on Monday. It was the Sooners first Big 12 regular season title in school history.

Michael Snyder, who led the league in batting average during conference play earned first-team All-Big 12 honors. So did DH Easton Carmichael and sophomore pitcher Braden Davis. Carmichael led the Sooners in batting average on the year, hitting .363 with four triples, six home runs, and 59 RBIs. Davis was 8-3 on the season, but 7-1 in Big 12 play and earned two Big 12 Pitcher of the Week awards during the season.

Earning second-team honors were outfielder Bryce Madron and pitcher Kyson Witherspoon.

Madron led the league with 65 runs scored and finished in the top 10 in conference play in runs scored, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, and stolen bases. On the season, he paced Oklahoma with 11 home runs.

Witherspoon was 6-1 in Big 12 play and 7-3 on the season. He leads the team with a 4.24 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 70 innings.

Jaxon Willits earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year after hitting .341 in conference play.

Reliever Carter Campbell, utility player Anthony Mackenzie, catcher Scott Mudler, infielder Jackson Nicklaus, outfielder John Spikerman, and Willits earned Big 12 honorable mention honors.

The Sooners now get ready for the Big 12 tournament, which begins on Tuesday in Arlington. Oklahoma’s first game comes Wednesday.

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Despite rough week, Oklahoma remains in D1Baseball’s Top 25

Oklahoma remains in D1Baseball’s Top 25 despite bad week on the diamond.

Last week was challenging for an Oklahoma team that had begun to find its way. The Sooners posted a 1-3 record, and the lone win was a combined no-hitter Friday night against West Virginia courtesy of juniors [autotag]Braden Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Reid Hensley[/autotag].

Outside of that, it was a drag for Skip Johnson’s ball team. D1Baseball didn’t hold it against Oklahoma too much, though. Despite their three losses, the Sooners remained in the Top 25 at exactly No. 25 in the latest poll.

Arkansas remains the cream of the crop, coming in at No. 1. Oregon State is number two, while Clemson moved from four to three. Former Big 12 foe Texas A&M is No. 4, while Tennessee vaults from eighth to fifth.

The Big 12 only has one other representative in this week’s poll, as Kansas State has joined the mix at No. 23. TCU, previously No. 18, dropped out after a 2-2 week.

Oklahoma will have the chance to pick itself up off the mat this week as it returns to action Tuesday at home against in-state foe Oral Roberts. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen via SoonerVision on ESPN+. After that, the Sooners host a Thursday-Saturday series with Lamar.

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Oklahoma Sooners Baseball falls to Oregon 4-2 in 2024 season opener

Oklahoma Sooners drop their opening day game to the Oregon Ducks 4-2

Friday afternoon marked a wonderful time in the Oklahoma sports calendar as the Sooners baseball team embarked on its final journey as Big 12 members. Oklahoma is back and trying to work themselves into a return to Omaha for the College World Series.

Oklahoma opened their season in Arlington, Texas, against the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks at Globe Life Field. Oklahoma dropped their opening day matchup with Oregon 4-2. The Ducks’ heralded bullpen locked things down, and their offense pushed across two late runs in the top of the eighth inning to seal the deal for last year’s Pac-12 tournament champions.

The first inning was pretty eventful for Oklahoma pitcher Braden Davis, who started by hitting the game’s first batter, Drew Smith. Smith advanced on a passed ball before a Dominic Hellman single drove him in for the first run of the game.

Oklahoma struggled to mount anything early against Oregon starter RJ Gordon, who tossed 4.1 innings of two-run ball. Braden Davis settled in the next few innings before a wild pitch with a runner on third cost the Sooners yet another run, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, the top of the Sooner’s order woke up as a John Spikerman single, Bryce Madron double, and an Easton Carmichael sacrifice fly helped Oklahoma scratch their first run. Kendall Pettis followed up with a sacrifice fly of his own to tie the ball game.

From then on, the game became a pitching duel as the Sooners and Ducks held each other scoreless over the next five innings. Braden Davis’ day came to an end after five innings of two-run ball. He struck out seven batters and walked just two on 88 pitches.

One of Skip Johnson’s transfer adds, Malachi Witherspoon pitched two innings in relief. Witherspoon was solid primarily until the top of the 8th inning in his third inning in relief. Then things began to unravel for him.

A single, wild pitch and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs.

Johnson made the call to the bullpen, bringing in senior right-hander Carson Atwood, who induced a double play, but the Ducks scored to make it 3-2. With a runner on third, another passed ball gave the Ducks an insurance run to make it 4-2.

Those two runs in the eighth proved to be enough as a terrific showing by the Oregon bullpen kept Oklahoma off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Grayson Ginsell and Michael Freund combined for 4.2 innings of relief, with Freund recording the save in the 9th to close the door. The duo allowed zero runs and gave up just one hit.

Offensively, the Sooners had six hits and left five runners on base.

The Sooners will be back at it tomorrow against one of the nation’s best teams as they take on No. 9 Tennessee in the second game of the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday before closing the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. matchup against Nebraska.

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Michigan State football recruiting targets: Quarterbacks

Taking a look at the top quarterback targets on Michigan State’s recruiting board. Who will be the Spartans QB in the 2022 recruiting class.

Mel Tucker has brought a new enthusiasm and excitement to Michigan State’s football recruiting. Tucker is known as an ace recruiter and he is bringing that intensity to East Lansing.

In this series we will look at who some of Michigan State’s top targets are in the 2022 recruiting class.

First, the quarterbacks, the most important position on the field is obviously a priority on the recruiting trail for Mel Tucker along with offensive coordinator and QBs coach Jay Johnson.

Let’s take a look at Michigan State’s quarterback targets:

MSU Football offers 2022 4-star QB Braden Davis, No. 1 ranked player in Delaware

Michigan State has offered the No. 1 ranked player in Delaware, and the No. 4 ranked dual-threat 2022 QB Braden Davis out of Middletown.

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In a day where Michigan State Football already offered two highly recruited quarterbacks in 4-star Walker Howard and 3-star Devin Brown, a third QB, 4-star Braden Davis, announced that he has also received an offer from the Spartans.

Davis is a 6’4.5″ QB out of Middletown High School in Delaware and he is currently the No. 4 ranked dual-threat quarterback in his recruiting class. 247sports also has him listed as the No. 1 ranked recruit in the state of Delaware.

Here are Davis’ sophomore highlights at Middletown High School:

 

Davis is the son of former NFL OL Antone Davis. Antone Davis played at Tennessee before being drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Davis has received offers from all the big-name schools including Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, and Penn State.

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