Oklahoma's season in jeopardy, waiting game begins
There’s going to be some sleepless nights for the Oklahoma baseball community after being eliminated from the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Friday night with a 8-3 loss to Oklahoma State.
Thursday night was a disaster in the late innings. Friday? It was five run second inning, highlighted by a David Mendham three run blast to left field, that Oklahoma could never dig itself out of.
It was always going to be tough to bounce back from the collapse just 24 hours prior, to be sure. But oh, the opportunities. The chances to get back in the game. Squandered. And you thought you were supposed to sleep uneasy about the whole playing on the NCAA Tournament bubble thing?
“Hats off to Oklahoma State. Making some good pitches with men in scoring position. I thought that was the big separator in the game,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. “We didn’t hit with men in scoring position.
“I thought the two guys we brought in out of the bullpen threw really well. Didn’t play defense early. Kind of got Will (Carsten) into some trouble and probably got him out of rhythm a little bit, and that’s what happens when you don’t play well. If we hit with men in scoring position, I think that’s the difference in the game.”
Oklahoma finished the game just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. And oh, how there was traffic aplenty.
Double-play balls extinguished any kind of rally in the fifth and sixth.
Then again in the seventh Oklahoma loaded the bases with no outs. A John Spikerman RBI single made it 6-3. But the rally stalled following a Kendall Pettis RBI groundout and a pair of strikeouts with the heart of the order at the plate.
For now, it’s a major ‘what if’ game for the Sooners who were three outs away from advancing to the bracket final 24 hours prior. Remember, this could have all be avoided.
“I can’t speak to the kids, but we tried talking to them about not doing that,” Johnson said. “We talked about winning pitches, winning innings. Because that’s really what the game is about. It’s hard for those guys to understand that. But you keep preaching and you keep preaching and maybe it’ll stick through.
“We did a really good job in the last three or four weeks of understanding how to win an inning. And it’s really kind of taken hold a little bit. Last night in the game was probably the first time that we really rallied around each other, which was a good sign moving forward if we get that opportunity.”
Unfortunately for Johnson’s ballclub, there’s nothing left that can be done. The pony is in the barn. The resume is what it is. Albeit the metrics favor the Sooners chances, the waiting game until Monday’s NCAA Selection Show begins.
Will the NCAA Committee value the Sooners RPI? Skip Johnson hopes so. He’s been telling anyone that would listen for the last few weeks.
“I think we’re healthy now. I think that’s the biggest thing. You look at our record when we had Dakota (Harris) out and there’s a big difference,” Johnson said. “You can really see the big difference in that. And Easton (Carmichael) too.
“That was right during the middle of conference play. I really believe in my heart that we would have been a totally different team if those guys were healthy in the middle of our conference play. I know that for fact.”
So what will it be? Waiting is the hardest part.
