Sooners baseball rides Jett Lodes, beats UConn to force winner-take-all in Norman Regional

The Sooners have another day to play college baseball. 

Nearly nine hours after Oklahoma was scheduled to begin its day, the Sooners finished UConn 6-4 to force a winner-take-all Game 7 in the Norman Regional. The Sooners and Huskies will meet one more time 8 p.m. in Norman.

Much like they have all season, they got production from some of the usual suspects. But Oklahoma will play on Monday for a bid to the Tallahassee Super Regional because a cast of unlikely characters. 

It was Grant Stevens in the first elimination game. 

Sunday evening? It was senior right-hander Jett Lodes. The Yukon, Okla., native pitching, in what is likely his final appearance at L. Dale Mitchell Ballpark, left it all out there. He threw seven innings out of the Sooners bullpen, allowing just three hits and striking out a career-high seven. 

On a night when hard hit balls were still not finding any holes, Oklahoma kept swinging and broke through for three runs in the eighth of a tie game. Scott Mudler delivered the go-ahead RBI single. Bryce Madron followed with a bases-clearing two-run double. More on that below. 

A pair of wins Sunday forces the seventh and final game on Monday in Norman.

JETT LODES LEAVES IT ALL ON THE FIELD

The Brendan Girton experience didn’t last long. The junior’s struggles have been well documented for those that follow. 

UConn jumped on the Sooners starter early and often. Three batters into the bottom of the first, the Huskies led 2-0. Caleb Shpur led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to left. Paul Tammaro followed with a single of his own and Luke Broadhurst banged an RBI single into right scoring Tammaro. 

Hole dug. Enter Lodes. 

He left the bases loaded in the second. Following a throwing error to open the Huskies third, Lodes began to settle in. And he did so thanks in part to a Michael Snyder two-run home run that tied the game 3-3. A momentum shifter into the Sooners dugout that Lodes carried with him on to the mound. 

“It’s unreal. It’s good to be out there having my guys behind my back. Putting up runs makes it a lot easier to pitch out there. Appreciate (Michael) Snyder for tying the ballgame and some big hits late but love it out there. Great atmosphere. Can’t complain,” said Lodes, following a career outing that extends the Sooners season for (at least) one more day. 

LODES KEPT SHOVING

Keeping the Huskies line up off balance for a majority of the evening, Lodes retired 14 of 15 batters through the seventh inning. The lone Husky base runner came in the form of a leadoff Korey Morton double in the fifth. Lodes stranded him with a ground out to third, fly ball to center and a strikeout. 

A big-time pitching performance from an unlikely arm in Lodes, who had thrown just 23 innings in 17 relief appearances heading into Sunday. The furthest he had gone in a game was 4.1 innings on March 29. 

“He saved three or four or five arms going into tomorrow. It was really big. Huge. We work hard and he’s been here for four years and he’s worked hard ever since he’s been here. He’s gotten better and better each year. Last summer was big for him coming back. He pitched all summer long and it probably really helped him in those moments. I’m really proud of him,” said Skip Johnson. 

SOONERS FINALLY GET THE BIG HIT

Oklahoma kept swinging the ax at the plate. Snyder’s game-tying two-run home run in the third was a momentum changer, but it seemed as if the go-ahead knock would never come. 

They loaded the bases with one out in sixth but Rocco Garza-Gongora struck out on three pitches, and John Spikerman grounded into an inning ending fielder’s choice. 

One inning later, Easton Carmichael won an 11-pitch at-bat, shooting a one-out single into centerfield only to see Paul Tammaro make a diving grab on a Snyder line drive, doubling up Carmichael at first.

Then they broke through in the eighth. Jaxon Willits finally got a ball through the right side of the infield. Jackson Nicklaus walked. And Mudler delivered a go-ahead RBI single into center. Oklahoma led for the first time, 4-3. 

Bryce Madron added to the inning with a bases-clearing two-RBI double scoring Nicklaus and Mudler to make it 6-3. 

“Jackson (Willits) hit a ball and it was right off the second baseman’s glove and it seemed like all of the sudden we had broke through. That’s the sad thing about baseball,” Johnson said. “Somebody has to win the game and somebody has to lose the game. It’s a game of imperfection and that’s what is awesome about baseball.

“Picking each other up that’s what it’s been about. From a coaching standpoint, it’s fun to watch because it becomes spiritual at times. Those guys have such a good bond. It becomes spiritual at times.” 

NOT WITHOUT CONTROVERSY 

Madron’s two-run double in the eighth was initially a bases-clearing three-run double. UConn appealed the play and it was ruled Isaiah Lane did not touch third base following a review. The freshman infielder pinch hit for Garza-Gongora and walked on four pitches getting the top of the Sooners line up to the plate. 

After the game Oklahoma, Johnson joked they would have some baserunning practice on Monday. 

“I asked Reggie (Willits) about it and he said I swear he missed it by about foot and I was like really?,” said Johnson. 

NEXT UP

Oklahoma forces a winner -take-all Game 7 on Monday night against UConn. The winner will advance to the Tallahassee Super Regional. Florida State won its regional on Sunday with a 12-4 win against Central Florida.