It was a pitchers duel through five innings as Oklahoma’s Cade Horton and Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott dazzled in game two of the College World Series final.
The Sooners looked to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but umpires ruled John Spikerman out after interfering with first baseman Tim Elko. The run that scored was returned to third base and Ole Miss was able to get out of the first and third situation unscathed.
The Rebels struck first off of Horton when Jacob Gonzalez homered to right field. The Sooners answered back in the top of the seventh after a double by Jackson Nicklaus scored Jimmy Crooks from second. After loading the bases, Kendall Pettis drew a four-pitch walk to take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Cade Horton, who pitched well again this postseason, provided a shutdown inning, retiring the Rebels in order to preserve the one-run lead.
Oklahoma was unable to add to their lead in the top of the eighth and after Cade Horton retired the first batter of the inning with his 13th strikeout of the game, the Sooners turned to closer Trevin Michael. Michael had been fantastic in the postseason, but in this appearance, things didn’t go his way.
Entering the game with runners on first and third and just one out, Michael threw two wild pitches, leading to two Ole Miss runs. That was ultimately the ball game as the Sooners struck out in order in the top of the ninth to end the ball game and their season.
Horton was fantastic in this outing, allowing just four hits, striking out 13 and surrendering a hit by pitch.
It was a fantastic run by the Oklahoma Sooners who were playing inconsistent ball two months ago before they began their stretch of five straight series wins to close out the regular season. They added to that a Big 12 tournament title and were great through the NCAA tournament before running into Ole Miss, who secured their first College World Series national championship.
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