Oklahoma baseball got back in the win column Tuesday night winning a high-scoring battle over Oral Roberts 14-12.
Oklahoma baseball returned to L. Dale Mitchell Park on Tuesday night needing a win about as bad as possible. The Sooners entered play having dropped seven of their last eight games and seemingly having lost their way in just about all facets of the game, this was a big game to try and get right.
Awaiting them was in-state foe Oral Roberts, who despite being below .500 on the season had picked up multiple impressive wins throughout the year. The Golden Eagles are never an easy team to beat, and they were more than game for this one.
As has been the norm as of late, right-hander Javier Ramos was given the ball for Oklahoma to start the game, but he wouldn’t last long. He was only able to record a single out before being yanked in the opening frame, eventually being charged with four earned runs in the process.
The disaster opening inning would continue under the watch of the normally-effective Carson Carter, who came in out of the bullpen in a much earlier spot than we have often seen him. He would struggle to force soft contact allowing another four Oral Roberts runs to come across to have the Golden Eagles out to an 8-0 lead before the Sooners ever came to bat.
Oklahoma would do a good job making an immediate dent in that sizable early hole in the bottom half of the inning. After two batters were hit by a pitch and a walk was drawn, second baseman Conor McKenna cut loose for a grand slam to left field to chop the deficit in half at 8-4.
Oral Roberts would get two of those right back in the top of the second on a solo home run by left fielder Joshua Cox and an RBI single by the designated hitter Jordan Wiley. The Golden Eagles led 10-4 midway through two frames.
The Sooners, meanwhile, would put up another four spot in the bottom half of the inning on two-run hits by left fielder Diego Muniz and right fielder Brett Squires. In the first two innings of the game, 18 total runs were scored and just 12 total outs.
After both teams were turned away scoreless in the third, Squires would come up big once again with a mammoth two-run home run to left field to bring Oklahoma all the way back and tie the game up at 10-10. The game wouldn’t stay knotted up for long, though.
Oral Roberts shortstop Anthony Martinez would return the favor with a solo shot in the top of the fifth to put the Golden Eagles back on top. Catcher Alec Jones would then hit one of his own in the seventh to make it a 12-10 at the seventh inning stretch.
In the bottom half of the inning, after a walk drawn by shortstop Brandon Zaragoza and a single by the pinch-hitting Justin Mitchell, center fielder Tanner Tredaway lifted one up and over the wall right down the left field line for a three-run homer to put the Sooners in the lead 13-12.
After right-hander Luke Taggart pitched a clean top of the eighth, Oklahoma would add to their lead in the bottom half with catcher Jimmy Crooks coming across to score on a passed ball. The Sooners would take a 14-12 advantage into the final frame. Preseason All-American closer Jason Ruffcorn would come on and shut the door in the ninth to finish things off and get the much-needed win.
The win gets Oklahoma back to even on the season at 14-14 and it really can’t be overstated how important it was to put this game in the right column. After how rough the last couple of weeks have been, and falling behind 8-0 in the first inning, finding a way to rally and get this one is simply monumental for the team’s confidence moving forward.
The Sooners will now take a couple of days off before returning to L. Dale Mitchell Park for the first of a three-game set against Kansas on Friday night.
