Tag: Carter Campbell

Sooners eliminated from NCAA Tournament after 7-1 loss to UConn

Oklahoma Sooners season comes to an end after 7-1 loss to UCONN in regional title game

Monday was a rough day for both Oklahoma sports teams on the diamond. While the ladies of the softball team lost at the hands of Florida, the baseball team had their own business to tend to.

The mission was straightforward: Win and move on to the Super Regionals to face the Florida State Seminoles.

However, things didn’t go nearly as planned. The UConn Huskies, winners of the Big East regular-season crown, laid waste to the Sooners in Norman to punch their ticket to Tallahassee.

Carson Atwood received the start for the Sooners, while the Huskies sent out DIII transfer Gabe Van Emon to start things in the winner-take-all game.

After keeping the Huskies off the board first, the Sooners opened up the bottom of the first, looking to strike first and capture some serious momentum.

John Spikerman led the inning off with a single up the middle before Bryce Madron worked a walk. An Easton Carmichael double play followed and UConn coach Jim Penders decided to intentionally walk Michael Snyder. Snyder has terrorized opposing pitching staffs in the regional, which led to a Jaxon Willits ground out and the end of the inning.

What started as a promising half-inning fizzled out big time. That was virtually the game for the Sooners.

Both teams were held scoreless until the fourth inning, when things came apart for the Sooners.

Korey Morton cranked a two-run homer over the fence in left-center to put the Huskies out in front. Catcher Scott Mudler made a critical throwing error to complete what would have been a strikeout and the third out of the inning. The ball rolled to the wall on the right field, and Tyler Minnick raced around to third base.

After Skip Johnson relieved Arwood, he brought in Carter Campbell, who promptly gave up a two-run homer. The Huskies lead doubled to 4-0.

After connecting on a couple of singles, in the bottom half of the inning, OU remained scoreless. They couldn’t put together the big hit when needed.

Luke Broadhurst and Korey Morton delivered RBI singles for UConn later in the game to make it 6-0 and that pretty much decided the game.

Van Emon, hardly a flamethrower, used well-located breaking pitches to keep the Sooners off balance. His defense behind him, by far the best defensive unit in this region and the best defensive team OU has played all season, kept dazzling with spectacular plays and made the routine ones look routine. He pitched 7.1 shutout innings, allowed five hits, and walked just two batters en route to the win.

A dynamic offense like Oklahoma’s just ran into bad luck, and a much-improved pitching unit had one of its least effective outings in quite some time. Throw in some defensive miscues by the Sooners, and you will get the result.

With the loss, OU’s season comes to an ends. The Sooners will have quite a few returners but lose some valuable pieces as they leap to the SEC next season. There will be multiple decisions to make, and Skip Johnson and his staff will have to use the transfer portal to fill in gaps along the way.

Johnson and this team were a much-improved group, winning a Big 12 regular season title and earning a top 16 national seed. It’s not the way anyone expected the season to end, but OU shouldn’t hang its head. They put together a terrific season.

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Sooners cruise to a 14-0 win over Oral Roberts to open NCAA Tournament play

Kyson Witherspoon and Carter Campbell combined for the shutout and the Sooners offense erupted for a 14-0 win over Oral Roberts in the NCAA tournament.

It was the first time the Oklahoma Sooners hosted postseason baseball at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman since 2010, and the boys in Crimson and Cream were ready to rock and roll from the opening pitch.

Oklahoma entered the NCAA Tournament fresh off a loss to their in-state rivals, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game. However, with how the Sooners have played since conference play began, bouncing back was easy for them.

Their first opponent was an Oral Roberts team that the Sooners had already faced this season, splitting a pair of midweek games.

Kyson Witherspoon got the start. Oklahoma opted to save Braden Davis in case the Sooners were in the loser’s bracket or had to face Duke.

Witherspoon escaped early danger, stranding the bases loaded to end the first. Oklahoma immediately opened things up with a triple from centerfielder John Spikerman and a Bryce Madron sac fly. Madron returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the Big 12 tournament to rest an injury from the end of the regular season.

 

With the Sooners up 1-0, they never looked back. Witherspoon worked around two runners in the second and third innings to hold the Golden Eagles scoreless.

In the bottom of the third, Madron let the rest of the home crowd know he was healthy as he blasted a two-run home run to right field, giving OU a 3-0 lead.

After some clean innings from Witherspoon, Oklahoma opened the game up on an Easton Carmichael three-run home run to make it a 6-0 game.

Witherspoon finished his day tossing six innings of shutout ball. He struck out nine batters and sat down the last ten batters he faced. Simply, it was a dazzling performance in his NCAA Tournament debut.

Oklahoma continued to pile on runs the rest of the way. Scott Mudler hit a solo home run and had a two-run single. Spikerman had a two-run single. And Jackson Nicklaus added an RBI single himself.

Carter Campbell finished the pitching from the seventh inning onward and kept things spotless, giving up no runs to complete a dominant performance from the Sooners.

It’s hard to imagine Skip Johnson drawing up a more perfect opening game. Minimal pitchers were used, and the team showed tremendous discipline at the plate, which made Oral Roberts pay for mistakes in the form of 17 hits.

Oklahoma will advance to the winner’s bracket and will face UConn tomorrow at 8 p.m. local time under the lights. The winner of that game will be just one win away from clinching a spot in the Super Regionals.

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One last ride: Oklahoma baseball set to embark on final season in the Big 12

Taking a brief look at Oklahoma baseball as they get set to start their season on Friday afternoon against Oregon.

As the calendar switched to 2024, the clock ticks faster and faster on the remaining winter and spring sports to wrap up their final days in the Big 12. The baseball program is the last Oklahoma team to start its final campaign in the conference. That changes Friday as the Sooners travel to Arlington, Texas, for three days to kick off their season in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown.

More: How to watch Oklahoma Baseball in the Shriner’s Children’s College Showdown.

Globe Life Field is home to the defending World Series champion, Texas Rangers, and the Sooners themselves will be trying to focus on getting back to the College World Series.

An offseason rebuild focused on pitching. The return of some crucial players from last year’s NCAA Tournament team sets the stage for what Oklahoma will look like in 2024.

Pitching was far and away the biggest weakness in 2023, so it only made sense that head coach Skip Johnson, one of the nation’s best pitching coaches in his own right, attempted to plug the gaping holes in his rotation and bullpen.

The Sooners hit the transfer portal and brought in newcomers Braden Davis (Sam Houston State), Brendan Girton (Texas Tech), Kyson Witherspoon (Northwest Florida State College), and freshman Jacob Gholston to add some talent and power to the staff.

Witherspoon also has a twin named Malachi who could see action during the season, likely during the midweek affairs. The lone returning weekend rotation guy is James Hitt, who’ll probably be in that role this year.

Austin Henry, a transfer from Wichita State, has an abundance of talent and is also someone who may come along as the season goes on. Carter Campbell and Carson Atwood, alongside Jett Lodes, are the immediate names that stand out as trusted arms from the bullpen. That won’t be enough for an entire season, so developing the rest of the bullpen is among the early season priorities.

Simply put, the pitching is the number one thing to watch, especially early on.

On the other hand, Oklahoma should be a versatile offense equipped with power and speed. Center fielder John Spikerman, right field Bryce Madron, third baseman/first baseman Anthony Mackenzie, second baseman Jackson Nicklaus, catcher Easton Carmichael, and outfielder Kendall Pettis return to give Oklahoma an experienced nucleus. Replacing Dakota Harris, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, will be no easy task, but that job will fall on the shoulders of Jaxon Willits, son of OU associate head coach Reggie Willits.

Willits was rated as the No. 2 prospect in Oklahoma before he committed to the Sooners.

One of the significant additions from the transfer portal to Oklahoma’s lineup is that of the 6-foot-4 Carter Frederick, a transfer from Snead State College. He hit .463 with 14 home runs in 53 games last season.

Oklahoma’s season will come down to how their revamped pitching performs. Offensively, the Sooners are well-rounded with power, speed, situational hitting. They have a nice blend of veteran leadership who has been to the NCAA Tournament and even a few on the team that made it to the championship series in 2022.

Can Oklahoma find its way and somehow push Texas, TCU, and Texas Tech for a final Big 12 title? OU was picked to finish tied for sixth in the Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll.

It all starts in Arlington on Friday afternoon against the Oregon Ducks. The Sooners hope their season ends in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Oklahoma Sooners beat Oklahoma State 9-5 to advance in Big 12 championships

The Oklahoma Sooners advanced in the Big 12 baseball championships with a 9-5 win over Oklahoma State.

The Oklahoma Sooners jumped out to an early lead in their Bedlam matchup with Oklahoma State and cruised to a 9-5 victory to advance in the Big 12 baseball championships.

The Sooners opened the game with a pair of walks to John Spikerman and Kendall Pettis to open the game in the top of the first. A Bryce Madron sacrifice fly to right field put runners on second and third with one out in the inning.

Dakota Harris jumped on the first pitch he saw from Oklahoma State pitcher Carson Benge for the two-run single. Harris then advanced to second on an Anthony Mackenzie fielder’s choice before being driven in by an RBI single from Easton Carmichael to make it 3-0 after the top of the first.

Getting the start for the Sooners, Carson Atwood provided a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first, holding onto Oklahoma’s momentum.

The Sooners added another run in the top of the second on a Pettis sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 and Atwood retired the Cowboys in order in the bottom of the second.

In the top of the third, the Sooners scored on a sacrifice fly from Jackson Nicklaus to make it 5-0. Then Spikerman singled up the middle to bring Sebastian Orduno in from third to extend the lead to six. Then Oklahoma took advantage of an Oklahoma State wild pitch when Pettis was able to reach first after striking out, allowing Wallace Clark to score to make it 7-0.

The Cowboys finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with three runs, chasing Atwood out of the game. James Hitt came in to help limit the damage and then threw 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and two walks before giving way to Carter Campbell who came in and threw four innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk.

With the score 7-4 in the seventh, the Sooners got back to work offensively. Nicklaus reached on an error, which allowed Kade Fletcher to score on the sacrifice. Later in the inning, Mackenzie walked with the bases loaded to make it 9-4 Oklahoma.

The Sooners allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth, but Campbell was able to keep the Cowboys off balance over the final four innings.

John Spikerman and Easton Carmichael each collected a pair of hits and six different Sooners drove in a run.

A bubble team for the NCAA tournament, this is a huge step to securing a postseason berth. The Sooners now move on to face the winner of the final game of day one between the No. 3 seed West Virginia and the No. 6 seed Texas Tech.

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Oklahoma’s Carter Campbell named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week

After a strong weekend in Austin, Oklahoma’s Carter Campbell earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors.

Carter Campbell had a monster series against Texas over the weekend. The junior was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after registering a win and a save in the three games against the Longhorns in Austin, where the Sooners got the road sweep.

He pitched 8.2 innings in three games last week and allowed just one run on five hits. Campbell had four strikeouts and didn’t allow a single walk across his three appearances.

Campbell entered in relief against Texas on Friday to help the Sooners earn the win in the final three innings, where he held Texas to just two singles. That performance earned Campbell his fifth win of the season.

On Saturday, he came in to preserve the lead in the sixth. Campbell allowed just one single and recorded three strikeouts to earn his first save at Oklahoma.

Campbell has been great in Big 12 play this season. He’s first in appearances in the conference and ranks third nationally. He’s 5-3 on the season with a 4.20 ERA. He’s allowed just one run over his last six appearances spanning 13 innings pitched. He’s allowed an opponent’s batting average of .234, which ranks second among Oklahoma pitchers.

The Sooners get back in action this week with four games at home. They host Oral Roberts on Tuesday night and then face Kansas in a conference series over the weekend.

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Sooners outlast No. 4 Oklahoma State 8-7 in a thrilling Bedlam victory

After being down in the top of the ninth, the Sooners scored 2 runs and close the door on the Cowboys to secure a win on Friday.

Oklahoma baseball is beginning to find its stride in the 2022 regular season.

After a mid-week get-right game against Oral Roberts, the Sooners ventured into the proverbial lion’s den for the first time this season. They traveled to Stillwater for their first true road game in 2022 and came out on top 8-7 after trailing 7-6 entering the top of the ninth inning. A back and forth affair saw the Sooners come out on top against their in-state rivals and a top-five team to pick up their third big-time win in the last couple of weeks.

Sooners’ ace Jake Bennett hit the bump for the Friday start of a three-game series. While he made it through five innings, he gave up eight hits and 7 runs on 95 pitches. He battled, but the offense kept the Sooners in the game until the bottom half when the Oklahoma State Cowboys broke it open with four runs. Griffin Doersching highlighted the scoring with a two-run double to give the Cowboys a 7-4 lead. the Cowboys the lead 7-4.

 

The Cowboys wouldn’t score again as the Sooners’ bullpen allowed just two hits and two walks over four scoreless innings. With the bullpen slowing down the Oklahoma State offense, the Sooners would begin to chip away at the lead.

Jackson Nicklaus would begin the comeback bid with an RBI single followed by a controversial two-out RBI base hit from starting catcher Jimmy Crooks to cut the lead down to just a run at 7-6. The hit was initially ruled the liner an out before a review overturned the play allowing one run to score. The Sooners ended the inning down a run with just six outs at their disposal.

Two scoreless innings by lefty pitcher Carter Campbell kept the Sooners within one run and gave them a shot with their backs against the wall in the ninth to continue their comeback bid.

Blake Robertson delivered a game-tying double-off sophomore Trevor Martin and Jimmy Crooks was intentionally walked to set up a potential double-play. Sebastian Orduno had other ideas and drove in the game-winning RBI shortly after.

Trevin Michael allowed a single in the ninth came in to close the door but left it open after giving up a single in the ninth. In the end, one of the stars of the game delivered another play to push them over the edge.

Oklahoma State’s Zach Ehrhard attempted to steal second, but Jimmy Crooks called game, throwing out the would-be tying run to cap off an incredible comeback win in Bedlam.

The win pushes the Sooners to 18-10 on the season and 4-3 in conference play. They’ll lace up their cleats again tomorrow in game two at 8 pm.

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