Tag: James Hitt

Oklahoma Sooners complete comeback to beat Kansas in walk-off fashion

Oklahoma completes dramatic comeback to beat Kansas and advance to Big 12 Title game.

Friday in Arlington was a blast for those who donned the Crimson and Cream. Oklahoma, one of the nation’s best baseball teams, entered the day as the Big 12’s number one seed, looking for a win to reach its final Big 12 Tournament championship game.

They had to wait for their opponent as Kansas and TCU, teams OU defeated earlier in the week, duked it out in an elimination game. Kansas jumped out to a 9-0 lead after just the first inning before TCU roared back to tie the game at 9. The Jayhawks won 10-9, setting up one-half of the Big 12 semifinals.

Oklahoma started the game poorly, and Kansas looked like a team that had already been awake for three hours. Brendan Girton started the game for the Sooners, but he didn’t have it out there. He only completed one inning, allowing four runs in the first and two in the second before being lifted for Grant Stevens. He walked two batters as well.

With the Sooners in a 6-0 hole, Stevens came in and immediately cemented himself as one of the stars of the day. He twirled 5.1 scoreless innings with six strike outs, scattering seven hits and no walks.

The Sooners bats began to come to life in the fifth inning. Backup catcher Scott Mudler singled to start the fifth for the Sooners. With two outs in the frame, freshman shortstop Jaxon Willits, smoked a first-pitch slider from Kansas’ J’Briell Easley to right field for a two-run homer.

Easley had dominated the Sooners to that point, amassing double-digit strikeouts. Easton Carmichael singled and forced Kansas to swap Easley for Kolby Dougan. Carmichael immediately stole second before Michael Snyder and Anthony Mackenzie drew walks to load the bases.

Jackson Nicklaus, another one of the stars of the day, delivered a two-out knock to right, scoring two and closing the gap to 6-4. Lefty Gavin Brasosky was brought in to face Kendall Pettis, who then delivered another two-out hit, scoring Mackenzie. Nicklaus was thrown out trying to reach third base to end the inning. But the Sooners were down just 6-5 heading to the sixth.

Stevens shut down the Jayhawks in his last full inning of work, and Oklahoma got right back to work trying to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

A Jason Walk single and two wild pitches put Oklahoma in a prime spot. Centerfielder John Spikerman earned a walk before another big hit by Jaxon Willits tied the game. This time, it was a double to right center field. Oklahoma failed to scratch another run across despite runners on second and third with less than two outs.

Carson Atwood, James Hitt, Jett Lode, and Ryan Lambert continued Stevens’ work and put up zeros for the remainder of the game, leading to the ninth and final frame.

Mackenzie singled to right field for his second hit of the game, and Jackson Nicklaus wrote his name in Oklahoma baseball history. Facing a 2-2 count, Nicklaus sent Oklahoma to the Big 12 championship series with a loud blast of a home run to right field.

Nicklaus went 2-for-5 with four RBI. Willits was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs. Carmichael and Walk each had two hits in the win.

After an awful first inning, Oklahoma’s bullpen kept the Jayhawks off the board for the remainder of the game.

It was a strong performance and provides the opportunity for the tournament’s No. 1 seed to win the title for the first time since 2014. Oklahoma still has a chance to lock up a top eight seed, which would give OU the right to host both regional and super regional rounds of the NCAA tournament.

The championship game will take place Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. The game can be seen on ESPNU.

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Oklahoma’s season ends in Charlottesville in 8-5 loss to ECU

Oklahoma was eliminated by the ECU Pirates 8-5 in the NCAA Tournament to end their season Sunday afternoon.

Oklahoma’s 2023 baseball season has come to an end. Oklahoma lost on Sunday in its second elimination game of the Charlottesville Regional to the East Carolina Pirates, 8-5.

Oklahoma entered the day with a tall task ahead of it to advance to the super regionals. It needed to beat ECU and then regional hosts UVA twice. The first step was beating the Pirates, but Oklahoma failed Sunday just as it did when the programs faced off Friday.

ECU cashed in both games with timely hitting with runners in scoring position, whereas Oklahoma failed to convert across both games against ECU. On Sunday, left-hander James Hitt took the mound for the Sooners. Hitt entered the game 6-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

Oklahoma started great, loading the bases and threatening to put up a crooked number. Yet, the Sooners scored only one run, on a sacrifice fly from Anthony McKenzie in the bottom of the first.

Hitt retired the first six batters he faced. The top of the third inning proved much more problematic. ECU plated three runs on RBI singles from Jacob Starlin and Cam Clonch and a fielder’s choice.

Oklahoma produced nothing in response. The Sooners put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the third, but ECU got out of trouble with an inning-ending double play.

After loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, Oklahoma lined into a double play. A John Spikerman groundout ended the inning with Oklahoma still down 3-1.

The top of the fifth is when ECU took control. ECU ripped off five runs to build an 8-1 lead. Two of ECU’s best bats, Carter Cunningham and Josh Starling, highlighted the eruptions with an RBI double and an RBI single, respectively.

Oklahoma did its best to answer in the bottom of the fifth. Shortstop Dakota Harris brought in a run with an RBI single. The Sooners made it 8-3 on a balk by Pirates pitcher Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman.

Easton Carmichael had an RBI double in the seventh, and Bryce Madron homered in the bottom of the ninth to draw the Sooners closes, but it wasn’t enough.

Harris and Madron each finished 3-for-4 at the plate for the Sooners, while Carmichael had two hits.

Oklahoma’s lack of success with runners in scoring position kept it from making this game more competitive. The two missed opportunities with the bases loaded and the third-inning double play were absolutely crushing.

ECU (47-18) takes on Virginia in the regional final. It must win twice to move on to the super regionals.

For Oklahoma (32-28), its season ends in Charlottesville. It heads back to Norman as a team that should be proud of all it accomplished. After a magical run to the 2022 College World Series in Omaha, the team was decimated by the MLB draft and graduations.

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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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