Tag: James Hitt

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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