Skip Johnson addresses Cade Horton's record-setting CWS performance

After Oklahoma dropped the first game of the College World Series final against Ole Miss, the Sooners entered game two needing a victory to stay alive. Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson turned to Cade Horton on the mound, and Horton did everything in his power to stave off elimination.

Ole Miss ultimately won 4-2 on Sunday, winning the national championship. But Horton pitched extremely well in the loss for Oklahoma.

Horton tossed 7.1 innings, throwing 107 pitches. He allowed four hits and zero walks, giving up two earned runs while striking out 13 Rebels hitters. Horton had to stretch himself out a little bit to pitch into the eighth, but his 13th punchout to begin the frame set a new College World Series record.

He entered the eighth inning and picked up a big strikeout to open the frame, but then allowed a one-out single up the middle. Johnson then turned to Oklahoma’s bullpen, and the Rebels ultimately struck for three runs in the frame, taking the 4-2 lead.

“Yeah, he wanted to go back out that inning, and I said one guy gets home, we’re going to go to Trevin,” Johnson said. “You could see him on the mound. That’s what you want out of a young man.

“Sooner or later, we as coaches and as pitching coach as I am, I got to take the ball out of his hand because he’s going to go until he can’t go anymore. That’s in his DNA. He’s going to battle you.”

Johnson: Nobody can represent Oklahoma better than Horton

Last season as a freshman, Horton missed the year after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. The two-way star returned to the field this season, making 50 appearances overall and hitting .234 with one home run and 17 RBI. Horton’s first pitching appearance came in late March, and he slowly built his arm back up from there.

While Horton struggled a bit throughout the course of the season, he stayed strong and eventually battled back. By the postseason, Horton was a pivotal part of Oklahoma’s pitching rotation. He finished the year with a 5.58 ERA in 40.1 innings of work, striking out 40 batters compared to 14 walks.

In his final five appearances of the year on the mound, Horton turned it on and pitched to an ERA of 2.59. He provided four quality starts in the postseason, and Oklahoma has some serious optimism regarding Horton’s future moving forward.

“That’s what’s awesome about him, watching him play high school football or watching him pitching a game or having an at-bat, that’s who he is, that’s what he’s about,” added Johnson. “I couldn’t find a better young man to represent the University of Oklahoma than him.”