Sooners pitcher Braden Davis tosses complete game shutout to open Big 12 Tournament
ARLINGTON, Texas — Make no mistake about it, the Big 12 Tournament bracket did no favors for the No. 1-seeded Sooners heading into Wednesday afternoon’s Big 12 opener. Facing the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Payton Tolle, the high-powered Sooners offense had their work cut out for them.
But the story of Oklahoma’s 4-0 win to move into the winner’s bracket of the Big 12 Tournament started on the mound. But Horned Frog head coach Kirk Sarrloos said it best in his opening remarks. The name of the game was Braden Davis.
Payton Tolle was good. Braden Davis was better.
“I think it’s really unusual because it’s so late in the year and especially with how college baseball is with the bats. And it’s really about offense. What he did and throwing the shutout going nine innings, I think he threw 120 pitches. He came in the dugout wanting to finish the last inning. It was really fun to watch him do that. He was really competitive,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson.
The Sooner starter threw a complete game shutout settling into the game behind a Kendall Pettis web gem way back in the top of the first and timely hitting from a pair of familiar faces to Oklahoma postseason lore. In particular, Jackson Nicklaus, who opened the Sooner scoring with a fourth-inning RBI double.
Oklahoma advances to the winner’s bracket for a Thursday afternoon showdown with No. 7 seed Kansas.
Name of the game was Braden Davis
Go through the Major League Baseball draft prospect list, and it’s easy to find Payton Tolle’s name. And for good reason. He’s built like a major leaguer standing at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds. Oklahoma starter Braden Davis gives up about eight inches of height in comparison.
That’s the thing about baseball. Great players come in all shapes and sizes. Great pitching performances are saddled with spectacular plays in the field. It takes a special mentality. Davis has that.
He faced the minimum in five innings. TCU didn’t get more than a single runner on base in any inning. Before a Karson Bowen double in the eighth, the only Horned Frog hitter to record a hit was Sam Myers, who doubled in the first and the sixth.
“Just getting ahead and having the mentality that I’m going to be better than the hitter,” said Davis following a career performance. “Taking it one pitch at a time and having a lot of confidence and conviction.”
Everything was working for Davis, who threw the Sooners first complete game shutout since Braden Carmichael last season against Oklahoma State. Davis also joins Jon Gray as the only Sooner pitcher to throw a complete game shutout in the Big 12 Tournament. And it was just the seventh complete game shutout in the tournament’s history.
Davis’ performance Wednesday might’ve – (probably was) – been his best outing of the year; jaw dropping when you remember he threw seven innings of a combined no-hitter March 22. It was the longest outing of his Sooners career, going the distance allowing just four hits and striking out nine.
Sooners led by familiar faces
Kendall Pettis and Jackson Nicklaus are the elder statesmen of Oklahoma’s line-up. They’ve been where this Sooners squad is trying to get to. The job certainly isn’t anywhere close to being done but both left their mark on the Sooners postseason opening win on Wednesday.
After Sam Myers doubled down the right field line in the top of the first, it was Pettis who made a diving grab in left field. The kind of play that set the tone for the day (and OU fans hope for the weekend). With all due respect to Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic, you will for sure see it on Sportscenter this evening.
Ranging back on a hard hit ball, Pettis left his feet and hauled in a sinking line drive that would have scored Myers from second. Tone was set.
“It’s huge. It’s all about momentum and taking momentum out from the other team and putting it in your dugout and trying to sustain the momentum of the game,” said Skip Johnson.
As for Nicklaus? It was a day of redemption of sorts. He dropped a fly ball last year at Globe Life Field that spurred a Texas Tech come from behind victory. On Wednesday, his fourth inning at-bat opened the Sooner scoring.
After falling behind to Tolle 0-2, Nicklaus battled off pitches before hitting an RBI double off the bottom of the centerfield wall.
In the sixth, Nicklaus followed Anthony Mackenzie’s leadoff solo home run with a solo shot of his own. Special performance to go along with Davis’ gem on the mound.
“To be honest, I don’t really even think about last year. It’s in the past. It’s a different year, different team. We’re just trying to win baseball games and that’s the main focus right now is trying to win games. Redemption is cool, but like Skip says, just taking it one pitch at a time,” said Nicklaus after going 2-for-4 with the RBI double and sixth inning solo shot.
Next up
Oklahoma advances to Thursday’s winner bracket contest against No. 7 seed Kansas. Strangely enough, the Jayhawks are one of two teams in the Big 12 that Oklahoma did not play during the regular season. The game is set for a 12:30 p.m. first pitch at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
