Sooners baseball sweep Wildcats with Scott Mudler walk-off

Oklahoma Sooners baseball swept its way through the weekend for the third time this season in conference play with an 8-7 walk-off win on Sunday afternoon. Scott Mudler’s RBI single in the final frame driving in Anthony Mackenzie to lift Oklahoma over Kansas State and stay atop the Big 12 standings. 

The difference a week can make as pandemonium ensued with teammates chasing down Mudler into centerfield. A big series win, but most importantly, a big sweep of Kansas State and former Oklahoma head coach Pete Hughes.

“Feels great. I think it’s a great team win for everybody in the clubhouse,” Mudler said. “For the coaches, players. It’s just awesome to get the sweep on the third day. That’s what it’s all about.

“I was just looking for something over the plate to do damage with and got a curveball. Saw it up and put a good swing on it and it got through the infield so we’ll take it.” 

Mudler finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. His RBI single in the third inning extended the inning with two outs for Jaxon Willits, who blasted a three-run home run.

WILLITS MULTI-HR GAME

Oklahoma opened the scoring on Sunday by building a six run lead through the first three innings, thanks in a large part to the continued power from freshman shortstop Jaxon Willits. He followed his second inning two-run blast with a three-run home run just one inning later. Over the last two weekends, Willits has now hit five home runs, including back to back weekends of multi-home run games.

“First at-bat he started with a cutter in, and I was a little late so I was kind of sitting on the next pitch and I didn’t miss it,” Willits said. “I was seeing it well and got every bit of it.

“Being able to go out there and sweep those guys after what they did to us at their field last year, which I know I wasn’t on the team at the time, but listening to what their media team posted and everything all the stuff they talked about after they swept us, it feels good to go out there and get a sweep against those guys.” 

Oklahoma led 6-0 before Kansas State got on the board in the fifth inning on a Raphael Pelletier two-run home run that chased Sooner starter Grant Stevens from the game. For Stevens, it was another quality weekend start and building on last week’s performance in Stillwater. 

SOONERS BULLPEN GETS IT DONE

Baby steps. That feels like where Oklahoma is at on the back end of games. Brendan Girton limited the fifth inning damage, passing the baton to Carter Campbell, Jaime Hitt, Carson Atwood and Ryan Lambert. In all? The Sooner bullpen accounted for five innings, allowing five runs but avoided any *major* meltdowns. Which, again, is a positive given the inconsistency the Sooner bullpen has been this season.

“I think it was huge. It’s always huge to win,” head coach Skip Johnson said. “It helps your confidence. And winning in that fashion, picking each other up all day. We started off having a 6-0 lead. Grant (Stevens) gets a couple balls up and they get a couple hits. Bring in the bullpen and they get a ball to fall but we never backed away from throwing the ball to the target. That’s what we keep talking about. Deal with the outcome whatever you do but just keep throwing the ball to the target and have the courage to do that.”

SPEAKING OF COURAGE

It took a whole lot of it to bring Jaime Hitt into the game after Kansas State’s Chuck Ingram tied the game with a ninth inning solo shot off Carson Atwood. Hitt’s struggles have been well documented after starting the year in the Sooners weekend rotation. And he paid off Skip Johnson’s decision by retiring the lone batter he faced after inheriting a 2-0 count to Brendan Jones. 

“Everybody goes back and looks, but it might’ve been the most important out of the game was bringing Jamie Hitt in and getting the out after he was 2-0. That was huge in that inning,” said Johnson. “It kind of hurt their momentum, so to speak, so I thought that was big. Hitt’s struggled but we had confidence to throw him back out there and it should give him a little more confidence to get back out there because he’s good.”

Ryan Lambert closed the door in the Kansas State ninth before Mudler’s heroics in the bottom half of the inning for the Sooners.

HEADED WEST TO PROVO

Oklahoma (21-14 overall, 11-4 Big 12) has something of a short turnaround this week as they head to Provo for a three-game series at BYU (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).