Tag: John Spikerman

Oklahoma Sooners to be without star outfielder for 4-6 weeks

The Sooners will be down one of their best players for about a month due to an injury.

Just before the Oklahoma Sooners took on Dallas Baptist they found out some devastating news. The Sooners would be without their star outfielder, [autotag]John Spikerman[/autotag].

Spikerman, now a junior, has been a mainstay in the lineup since his freshman season in 2022. But the voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland, announced he will be having hamate surgery and will be out 4-6 weeks to recover. This surgery is to fix an injury in his hand but he could be able to pinch run while the injury heals.

Spikerman currently leads the Sooners in batting average at .394. He also has one of the better on-base percentages on the team at .446. The Sooners are definitely going to miss his presence on the field and in the lineup but they are also going to miss his leadership.

He was someone who had been to a College World Series. He had won the Big 12 tournament. This year was shaping up to be a career year for him as well.

If there are any positives from this it’s that Oklahoma is very deep in the outfield so they’ll have plenty of people to try to replace him but it’s always hard to replace your top hitters and one of the leaders of the team.

The Sooners are back in action this weekend against the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag].

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How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic

The Sooners baseball team are back in action in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. Here is how you can watch.

The Oklahoma Sooners bounced back from an early week loss to Dallas Baptist last week with a 3-1 series win over Wright State. That brings their record to 5-3.

Now they head to Las Vegas for the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. This weekend they’ll take on three teams, Pittsburgh, California and Ohio State.

If the Sooners can go 2-1 this week that would be huge for early in the season but it won’t be easy. Pittsburgh is 6-1 on the year. Cal is 7-1 on the year and Ohio State is the worst one at 4-4. Both Pittsburgh and Cal are hoping big weeks will get them in the top 25 rankings.

But let’s take a look at how you can watch each game and the key players for each team.

How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Wright State

The Sooners open their home play with a series vs. Wright State. Here is how you can watch the series.

The Oklahoma Sooners weren’t able to keep the winning momentum going as they fell to Dallas Baptist in their lone midweek game. Still, that shouldn’t take away from a stellar opening weekend to the season.

The Sooners have a quick chance to bounce back from their second loss of the season with a four-game series against Wright State. Wright State comes into the game losing two of three to Louisiana to start the season.

This was after they had a solid 2023 campaign, though they struggled on the road. The Sooners need to take advantage of that and win this series.

So, let’s take a look at how you can watch the Sooners baseball team’s first series at home.

Rough 7th inning dooms Sooners in midweek clash against Dallas Baptist; Sooners lose 11-7

Oklahoma looses midweek matchup against Dallas Baptist 11-7.

Oklahoma was back in action on the diamond Tuesday evening as they made another trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This weekend, the Sooners took two of three games in Arlington. They beat a top 10-ranked Tennessee team on Saturday night and followed that up with a walk-off 7-6 win against their old Big 12 foes, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, on Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday, they traveled to Dallas to take on the preseason Conference USA team to beat, the Dallas Baptist Patriots.

Nick Wilson started for the Patriots, while redshirt senior Grant Stevens started the contest on the mound for the Sooners. After four seasons at the University of the Pacific, Stevens transferred to OU.

A walk by centerfielder John Spikerman and a wild pitch immediately moved him into scoring position to start the game. Bryce Madron knocked him in with an opposite-field single, and the Sooners were off and running.

Dallas Baptist was not impressed and responded with two runs of their own by way of a Miguel Santos two-run home run. Jackson Nicklaus immediately led the top half of the second off with his first home run of the season—one of two homers on the night.

Things would remain tied until the bottom of the fourth when DBU broke through with three runs on four hits to make the score 5-2. The inning would prove to be Stevens’ last. In his first start as a Sooner, Stevens pitched four innings and gave up five earned runs on seven hits and two walks, while recording five strikeouts.

Will Carsten would take over the fifth for Oklahoma, and the Patriots tacked on another run to make the score 6-2. The Sooners would finally respond with a few runs in the top of the sixth. After Michael Snyder reached third on a triple, he scored on a wild pitch to the deficit to three runs. The Sooners then loaded the bases on a walk, single, and a hit by pitch, but John Spikerman struck out on a 3-2 count.

DBU left fielder Ethan Mann hit a solo home run to push the Patriots’ lead to 7-4.

In the Sooners half of the inning, Easton Carmichael singled to right field with one out in the top of the 7th. After a Rocco Garza-Gongora groundout moved Carmichael to second, Michael Snyder hit a towering home run to bring the Sooners within one run. Jackson Nicklaus hit his second homer of the night two pitches later to tie the game at seven.

From there, things went downhill as Jace Miner recorded two outs and allowing just one walk in the bottom of the seventh. However, Skip Johnson pulled Miner in favor of Jacob Gholston, who couldn’t find the strike zone. A wild pitch advanced the runner from first to second, and then Gholston walked the batter.

Johnson would replace Gholston with righty Dylan Crooks, who gave up an infield single to load the bases. DBU’s Nathan Humphreys drove a 1-0 fastball from Crooks deep into the Dallas night for a grand slam to put DBU up for good, 11-7.

The Sooners couldn’t mount a comeback, as DBU remained undefeated at 4-0, and the Sooners fell to 2-2.

Bryce Madron led the way with three hits in five at-bats, while Michael Snyder’s three RBIs led the way for the Sooners. Humphreys’ five runs batted in led the way for the Patriots.

Oklahoma will head back to Norman for their first home series of the season as they host Wright State for a four-game series this weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

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How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Dallas Baptist

After a 2-1 weekend the Sooners are back in action with a midweek game against Dallas Baptist. Here is how to watch.

What a start to the season it was for the Oklahoma Sooners. They started the year 2-1 with a win over top 10 Tennessee.

Now they are back in action on the road against Dallas Baptist who is 3-0 on the season. The Sooners have a chance to really impress people and continue to make statements if they are able to win this one.

The pitching matchup was announced on Monday, and it will be [autotag]Grant Stevens[/autotag] for OU, who is making his debut. For Dallas Baptist, it will be Nick Wilson who is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA on the year.

Let’s look at how you can watch the game as well as some more key players.

Best Photos from the Oklahoma Baseball’s win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers

A look at the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners walk-off win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The Oklahoma Sooners Baseball team opened the season on a high note with a 2-1 weekend in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

After dropping their season opener 4-2 to the Oregon Ducks, Oklahoma knocked off a top 10 ranked Tennessee team 5-1 in extra innings before beating Nebraska in walk-off fashion.

Down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Sooners rallied. Michael Snyder drove in John Spikerman with an RBI double, and with the bases loaded, Jaxson Willits drove in the winning run off Cornhuskers closer Casey Daiss.

Jaxson Willits won the day for the Sooners with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.

After getting eliminated in the regional round of the NCAA tournament in 2023, this was a great start to the 2024 season for Skip Johnson’s crew.

Here are some of the best photos from the Oklahoma Sooners’ win over Nebraska.

Oklahoma Sooners Baseball falls to Oregon 4-2 in 2024 season opener

Oklahoma Sooners drop their opening day game to the Oregon Ducks 4-2

Friday afternoon marked a wonderful time in the Oklahoma sports calendar as the Sooners baseball team embarked on its final journey as Big 12 members. Oklahoma is back and trying to work themselves into a return to Omaha for the College World Series.

Oklahoma opened their season in Arlington, Texas, against the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks at Globe Life Field. Oklahoma dropped their opening day matchup with Oregon 4-2. The Ducks’ heralded bullpen locked things down, and their offense pushed across two late runs in the top of the eighth inning to seal the deal for last year’s Pac-12 tournament champions.

The first inning was pretty eventful for Oklahoma pitcher Braden Davis, who started by hitting the game’s first batter, Drew Smith. Smith advanced on a passed ball before a Dominic Hellman single drove him in for the first run of the game.

Oklahoma struggled to mount anything early against Oregon starter RJ Gordon, who tossed 4.1 innings of two-run ball. Braden Davis settled in the next few innings before a wild pitch with a runner on third cost the Sooners yet another run, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, the top of the Sooner’s order woke up as a John Spikerman single, Bryce Madron double, and an Easton Carmichael sacrifice fly helped Oklahoma scratch their first run. Kendall Pettis followed up with a sacrifice fly of his own to tie the ball game.

From then on, the game became a pitching duel as the Sooners and Ducks held each other scoreless over the next five innings. Braden Davis’ day came to an end after five innings of two-run ball. He struck out seven batters and walked just two on 88 pitches.

One of Skip Johnson’s transfer adds, Malachi Witherspoon pitched two innings in relief. Witherspoon was solid primarily until the top of the 8th inning in his third inning in relief. Then things began to unravel for him.

A single, wild pitch and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs.

Johnson made the call to the bullpen, bringing in senior right-hander Carson Atwood, who induced a double play, but the Ducks scored to make it 3-2. With a runner on third, another passed ball gave the Ducks an insurance run to make it 4-2.

Those two runs in the eighth proved to be enough as a terrific showing by the Oregon bullpen kept Oklahoma off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Grayson Ginsell and Michael Freund combined for 4.2 innings of relief, with Freund recording the save in the 9th to close the door. The duo allowed zero runs and gave up just one hit.

Offensively, the Sooners had six hits and left five runners on base.

The Sooners will be back at it tomorrow against one of the nation’s best teams as they take on No. 9 Tennessee in the second game of the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday before closing the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. matchup against Nebraska.

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How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown

The Oklahoma baseball team is set take the field this weekend for the first time and this is how you can watch them.

It is almost Opening Day for the Oklahoma Sooners baseball team. The Sooners are coming off a tough 32-28 season a year ago, where they were eliminated in the Regionals.

But they return this year with seven of their top nine hitters back in the lineup for the 2024 season. But they’ll have to replace two of their starting pitchers from a season ago.

They start the season off with a tough three-game stretch in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown. They take on the Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, and Nebraska Cornhuskers.

So, let’s look at how you can watch those games and some key players for all the teams.

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 beats Army 10-1 to stay alive in Charlottesville Regional

The Oklahoma Sooners beat Army 10-1 to stay alive in the Charlottesville Regional of the NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma shrugged off a slow start to beat Army 10-1 and avoid elimination and keep their postseason hopes alive. It was a good way to rebound after Oklahoma lost to East Carolina 14-5 to open the Charlottesville Regional.

Bryce Madron got the scoring started for Oklahoma with a double that sent John Spikerman home to make it 1-0 Sooners in the first inning. OU extended the lead in the third inning with a Madron sac-fly that brought Spikerman to put the Sooners up 2-0 after three innings.

Oklahoma started to really explode on offense in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, Kendall Pettis’ single plated a pair of Sooners to make it 4-0 in favor of Oklahoma. Madron added to his RBI total on the day with a two-RBI triple to left that scored Pettis and Spikerman, extending the lead to 6-0. Anthony Mackenzie helped round out the scoring in the inning with an infield single to short, which made it 7-0.

In the sixth inning, an Army sac-fly brought in Derek Berg to make it 7-1, but Oklahoma responded in the bottom of the sixth with a Wallace Clark home run to push the lead back to seven.

Finally, Oklahoma put the exclamation point on the game thanks to a Easton Carmichael two-run home run.

Braxton Douthit threw a complete game for the win, recording seven strikeouts while allowing four hits and four walks. He came up clutch in the Sooners’ elimination game.

Bryce Madron was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Spikerman was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. The two were huge at the top of the order for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma stayed alive with the win, which set up a Sunday battle against the loser of East Carolina and Virginia at 11 a.m.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jake on Twitter @jake_faigus