Sooners baseball drops Bedlam opener, 9-6
STILLWATER — It wasn’t exactly like the last few weeks, but there were similarities for Sooners baseball. Oklahoma State won the Bedlam series opener Friday night, 9-6, in front of an O’Brate Stadium record attendance of 8,067.
Cowboys starter Sam Garcia held Oklahoma hitters at bay, throwing 5.2 innings, while allowing just two runs and striking out nine. But it was the Cowboys offense that landed the major blows starting in the game’s opening frame.
Left fielder Nolan Schubart blasted a Braden Davis pitch over the right field wall in the first, setting the tone for an evening in which Oklahoma State would never trail.
Perhaps the lesson(s) of the last two weeks hasn’t been learned by Oklahoma, who has now dropped seven of its last 10 games. Two (more) errors Friday night and more specifically, the free bases (nine walks) cost Oklahoma on a night in which they outhit the Cowboys 11-6.
‘I really thought (Braden Davis) had the best stuff he’s had all year, but you look at the free bases that we gave up. That was the difference in the game,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson. “When you give up free bases and you don’t play defense when you have to late in the game right there. It’s probably the separator in the game.”
Oklahoma scored a run in the fourth, fifth and six, but every rally in the top half was met by an emphatic punch back in the bottom half. Hard to win baseball games with solo home runs and no sustainable offensive production.
“They didn’t walk anybody. When we hit our balls out of the park or got our big hits, nobody was on base,” said Johnson.
Jason Walk’s RBI double in the fourth cut the deficit in half 2-1. But in what was a theme of the night, Oklahoma State answered with a four spot in the bottom half. Easton Carmichael and Jaxon Willits led off the sixth and seventh with solo shots. However, the final knockout blow came after the stretch as part of a three-run seventh.
It was a night where Oklahoma didn’t have a whole lot of answers. Now their backs are against the wall with the series on the line Saturday afternoon.
“There’s no doubt about that. We’re going to roll him out there and see what happens,” said Johnson.
WILLITS A BRIGHT SPOT AT THE PLATE
Before the start of the series, Sooners freshman Jaxon Willits talked about turning the corner offensively. No other way around it. It’s been a slow start for the freshman shortstop.
In Friday night’s series opener, Willits broke through with a pair of solo home runs. The first to right field in the seventh. His second to lead off the Sooners ninth.
Oklahoma’s bats produced 11 hits in the opener. It was highlighted by four solo home runs with Jackson Nicklaus connecting for his team-best sixth in the final frame.
