Tag: Jimmy Crooks

Relive Oklahoma’s 13-8 win over Texas A&M in the Men’s College World Series

Take a look back at the Oklahoma Sooners’ 13-8 win over Texas A&M through some of the best photos from game one of the Men’s College World Series.

The Oklahoma Sooners got off to a great start in their 13-8 win over Texas A&M in the Men’s College World Series.

They struck first with a run in the top of the first inning and then exploded for seven runs in the second. Oklahoma manufactured runs with great baserunning, patience at the plate, and using the long ball to put away their former Big 12 and future SEC foe.

In order to win the College World Series, you almost have to win the first game in the series. It isn’t often that a team comes out of the loser’s bracket to win the whole thing.

Oklahoma will now face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after they defeated the Texas Longhorns 7-3 in the second game on Friday. But before we begin looking at the Irish, let’s take a look at some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s 13-8 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas A&M: How to watch, stream, listen, and key players of College World Series opener

The Oklahoma Sooners open the College World Series Friday against the Texas A&M Aggies, and here’s how you can check out the action.

The Oklahoma Sooners return to the College World Series for the first time since 2010. Riding the wave as one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last few months, the Sooners have erupted for incredible offensive performances and received timely pitching from their staff.

On Friday, they take on the Texas A&M Aggies in their opener in the College World Series. The Aggies hold a 42-18 record and went 19-11 in the SEC, finishing atop the SEC West.

The Sooners’ former Big 12 foe and future SEC opponent advanced to the College World Series after winning the College State regional and beating Louisville in the Super Regional, which was also in College Station.

Oklahoma’s road to the College World Series was a little more tenuous. First they advanced through the Gainesville Regional after beating regional host Florida twice. They then went on the road again to face No. 4 seed Virginia Tech and took two of three.

Skip Johnson’s crew has been battle-tested and has faced every situation over the last few months. Their run of five straight series wins, a Big 12 tournament title, and advancing to the College World Series reveals a team that’s been playing their best baseball and shouldn’t be counted out against anyone.

If the Sooners can get solid pitching from their staff, the offense should be able to take care of the rest.

As we get set for the return trip to Omaha, here’s how you can tune into Oklahoma Baseball’s opener against Texas A&M.

  • Date: Friday, June 17, 2022
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. CDT
  • TV Channel: ESPN2
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
  • Radio Broadcast: The game can be heard on 99.3 and 1400 KREF in Oklahoma and nationwide on The Varsity app.

Oklahoma vs Texas A&M

Players to watch:

Oklahoma Sooners

[autotag]Tanner Tredaway[/autotag]: .373 batting average with 9 home runs, 61 RBIs, 17 walks, and 23 stolen bases.

[autotag]Peyton Graham[/autotag]: .336 batting average with 20 home runs, 70 RBIs, 24 walks. and 32 stolen bases.

[autotag]Blake Robertson[/autotag]: .311 batting average with 5 home runs, 48 RBIs, 65 walks, and 12 stolen bases.

[autotag]Jimmy Crooks[/autotag]: .311 batting average with 7 home runs, 45 RBIs, 43 walks, and 10 stolen bases.

[autotag]Kendall Pettis[/autotag]: .279 batting average with 5 home runs, 26 RBIs, 30 walks, and 22 stolen bases.

[autotag]Jake Bennett[/autotag]: 9-3 with a 3.53 ERA, 120 strikeouts in 104.2 innings pitched.

[autotag]Trevin Michael[/autotag]: 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA, 90 strikeouts in 64.1 innings pitched with 10 saves.

Texas A&M Aggies

Jack Moss: .394 batting average with 6 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 27 walks.

Austin Bost: .359 batting average with 9 home runs, 43 RBIs, and 32 walks.

Dylan Rock: .332 batting average with 18 home runs, 61 RBIs, 50 walks. and 16 stolen bases.

Ryan Targac: .298 batting average with 15 home runs, 57 RBIs, 39 walks. and 11 stolen bases.

Nathan Detmer: 5-2 with a 4.75 ERA, 75 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched.

Micah Dallas: 6-3 with a 5.40 ERA, 83 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched.

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Oklahoma Sooners defeat No. 14 Florida Gators to advance to the Regional Finals

The Sooners are one win away from the NCAA Super Regionals after a 9-4 win against the no. 14 Florida Gators

When the Sooners were sent off to Gainesville, a matchup against the hosting Gators was all but a given if a trip to Omaha was the goal.

The Gator-friendly crowd didn’t matter. The Sooners lived by the long ball and took down the No. 14 Gators 9-4. The Sooners are now one win away from Super Regionals and three wins away from the program’s first College World Series berth since 2010.

Since OU hasn’t lost a game in Regionals yet, whoever they play in the final will have to beat them twice. After a well-earned day off on Sunday, Oklahoma will play the winner of Central Michigan and Florida on Monday.

After falling behind early 2-0, the Sooners smashed four home runs. Peyton Graham and Blake Robertson both went yard and Jimmy Crooks did it twice.

The Gators just had no answer for Crooks, he got a double to go along with those home runs for three hits on the evening.

David “Sandman” Sandlin did what he needed to to get the Sooners the win. After allowing two home runs in the second inning, he buckled down and didn’t allow another run until the sixth. Sandlin finished the night with three earned runs and six strikeouts in six innings pitched.

The Gators put one more run on the board against OU’s bullpen, but that’s it.

If the Sooners can win this Regional, a very foreboding opponent could be waiting for them. The No. 4 Virginia Tech Hokies haven’t had much issue moving through their Regional thus far.

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Oklahoma Sooners dominate Texas Longhorns 8-1 for Big 12 tournament title

The Oklahoma Sooners used a fantastic start from Cade Horton and an eight-run third inning to dominate the Texas Longhorns 8-1 and win the Big 12 tournament title.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been on a tear the last couple of months. Heading into the Big 12 tournament, they closed the conference schedule with five straight series wins. They’d played great in the Big 12 tournament, but the pitching allowed their opponents to make late pushes to get the game close.

That wasn’t the case on Sunday as the Sooners dominated the Texas Longhorns to claim their first Big 12 tournament title since 2013.

The Longhorns struck first with a solo home run by Texas’ single-season home run record holder Ivan Melendez off of freshman Cade Horton. Horton settled in after that to throw 5.1 strong innings and allow just four hits and two walks. He struck out nine and kept the Longhorns from mounting any sort of consistent offense.

The Sooners’ offense, however, responded to Horton’s strong outing by erupting in the third inning for eight runs to take complete control of the Big 12 tournament title game. Tanner Tredaway had two RBIs for the Sooners and Jimmy Crooks mashed a three-run homer to cap off their eight-run explosion.

After allowing their opponents to mount late comeback bids throughout the tournament, the Sooners’ bullpen shut down Texas, throwing 3.2 innings of scoreless ball and allowing just two baserunners. Chazz Martinez was perfect for 2.2 innings, striking out five and Trevin Michael struck out two more in the ninth inning to close out the game.

Snubbed from hosting a regional, the Oklahoma Sooners await their assignment for the NCAA tournament while Oklahoma State and Texas will get to open the tourney at home.

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OU Baseball falls short of Big 12 title, loses season finale to Texas Tech

OU Baseball’s regular season came to a close with a loss against No. 5 Texas Tech, will play West Virginia in Big 12 Tournament

The regular season Big 12 title just wasn’t meant to be it seems. The Sooners fell in their regular-season finale to the No. 5 Texas Tech Red Raiders 10-2.

With the loss, TCU captures sole possession of the Big 12 regular-season title, with Texas Tech and OU finishing one game behind the Horned Frogs.

Oklahoma’s only runs of the day came from a pair of RBI singles from Tanner Tredaway and Jimmy Crooks. Things were looking good in the top of the first as Oklahoma struck first. Perhaps the Sooners would end up pulling off the improbable and finish off the sweep in enemy territory.

Then the Red Raiders came to bat.

Texas Tech jumped all over OU starting pitcher Cade Horton early. Horton walked the lead off batter and hit the next one to give Tech two early base runners.

Another walk, two RBI singles and an RBI double later, the Red Raiders had a 5-2 lead after the first inning.

The Sooners just couldn’t string any hits together after their strong first inning. After that first inning, OU didn’t get more than one hit in a frame for the rest of the game. The closest OU came to putting more runs on the board was when they loaded the bases in the seventh with a single and a pair of walks.

Peyton Graham and Blake Robertson both struck out with the bases loaded, leaving all three runners stranded.

While it was a disappointing way for the regular season to end, the Sooners head into the postseason on a quite a run. The Sooners won five straight Big 12 series to close the season, including taking two of three from the No. 5 ranked Red Raiders.

OU’s late surge in Big 12 play was good enough to earn the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and will face West Virginia in their first game of the double-elimination bracket.

Oklahoma took two of three from the Mountaineers just a week ago, outscoring West Virginia 40-17 in the three-game set.

The Big 12 tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ and played at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.

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Oklahoma Baseball slugs past no. Texas Tech 14-9 in Amarillo

The Sooners are back in the win column after a 14-9 victory against the no. 4 Red Raiders in Amarillo.

The Oklahoma Sooners lived by the longball on Tuesday night, going yard five times in a 14-9 victory against the no. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders at the home of MiLB’s Amarillo Sod Poodles.

This is a huge win for a Sooners team that had dropped its back-to-back series against Texas and Oklahoma State. While tonight’s game was considered non-conference, beating the no. 4 team in the nation has to be good for the team going into four games against smaller schools.

The Sooners peppered the Red Raiders with 18 hits in the contest with Peyton Graham, Blake Robertson, Jimmy Crooks and Brett Squires hitting home runs. Squires had two homers on the evening.

Yes, you read that right. Peyton Graham hit another one.

Braden Carmichael picked up his third win of the season in Tuesday night’s victory, pitching four innings and giving up two earned runs in the process. Carmichael struck out three and walked three before being pulled for Colton Sundloff.

The Freshman had a tough night, giving up four runs through 1.1 innings of work. Sundloff also had an issue with limiting baserunners as he walked three batters while only striking out one.

After stranding seven baserunners through the first three innings, OU finally got on the board in the fourth when Brett Squires hit his first homer of the night. The Sooners had 11 of their total hits and runs in the game in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

After beating Texas Tech in Amarillo, OU will be home by morning to play the Pacific Tigers on Thursday. OU won’t have another conference opponent until they play Kansas on April 22.

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Oklahoma Baseball falls 8-7 to Oklahoma State to even up the weekend series

Oklahoma State took game two in the Bedlam series in Stillwater on a walk-off wild pitch to set up a pivotal Sunday matchup.

Bedlam baseball has provided the drama in the first two games of their three-game weekend series. After the Sooners took game one on Friday after a comeback from three runs down late in the game, on Saturday, it was Oklahoma State completing the late comeback for the win.

The Cowboys scored first in the bottom of the first and then added two more in the second to jump out to a 3-0 lead on starting pitcher David Sandlin. In the third inning the Oklahoma Sooners would provide some run support, plating three runs to tie the game. Tanner Tredaway brought in two runs on a single, which was followed up by an RBI single from Jimmy Crooks.

Sandlin fought through some ups and downs but had a huge moment in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Oklahoma State loaded the bases, Sandlin worked to an 0-2 count before ending the inning with a huge strikeout.

The game would settle in a bit as neither side could get much going offensively until the Sooners’ four-run seventh inning. Oklahoma jumped out to a 7-3 lead taking advantage of some timely mistakes by the Oklahoma defense and some aggressive baserunning.

Oklahoma State brought in a run to make it 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh and tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The Sooners were shut down in the top of the ninth and the Oklahoma State Cowboys won it on a wild pitch from Trevin Michael to even the series.

After the Sooners bullpen threw four scoreless innings on Friday night, they couldn’t withstand the Oklahoma State hitters on Saturday. In five innings worked, the Sooners allowed seven hits and four earned runs. Some costly errors by the Sooners’ defense didn’t help but ultimately the Cowboys’ lineup was too much on Saturday night.

“I thought the offense battled all night,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson told SoonerSports.com. “There were a few unforced errors. Some catcher’s interference led to some runs. We’ve had some things happen to us and we give up big innings. We have to somehow figure out just getting back to the target. We played a (heck) of a game. It’s a game of imperfection. The bullpen was really good. I mean, coming in with runners on first and second and not giving up runs. Those guys battled their butts off.”

The Cowboys left 12 runners on base, which is a testament to what Coach Johnson spoke about. The bullpen battled. They’ve been an important factor in each of the first two games of the series.

With nine innings pitched heading into the deciding Sunday matchup, the Sooners will need a strong effort from left-hander Chazz Martinez (2-2). Oklahoma State will counter with Bryce Osmond (1-1). Both pitchers sport an ERA over four, so the Sunday showdown in Stillwater could provide some more fireworks.

First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. Or you can listen to Toby Rowland on the call on SportsTalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF or on SportsTalk1400.com and the Varsity App.

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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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