Oklahoma Beats Notre Dame 6-2 In Second College World Series Game

Notre Dame fell into the elimination bracket after dropping a 6-2 game to Oklahoma

OMAHA, Neb. - Getting to the College World Series is hard. Winning at the College World Series is even harder. Notre Dame’s upstart baseball team found that out Sunday night in their 6-2 loss to Oklahoma.

The Fighting Irish (41-16) fall into the elimination bracket, where they will face Texas A&M Tuesday afternoon at  2 PM EST at Charles Schwab Field. If the Irish are to advance to the weekend’s CWS Championship Series, they will have to win three games in as many days, starting with that match-up with the Aggies.

The Sooners are now in the driver’s seat. Their 2-0 CWS record leaves them just one win away from reaching the program’s first Championship Series.

Oklahoma (44-22) used the same offensive formula that’s made Notre Dame go all season. They scored their 6 runs on 12 hits, just two for extra bases, with a timely bunt and an approach at the plate that saw them grind through seven Irish pitchers, who threw a total of 169 pitches.

Notre Dame couldn’t muster hard contact early. OU starter Cade Horton hit 95 consistently in the first inning and topped at 96 and the dipped to 80 with his change-up.

Irish starter Austin Temple (4-2) fought his control in the 1st inning. After an infield single by Peyton Graham, Temple walked Blake Robertson to put runners at first and second with one out. He fell behind 3-1 on clean-up man Tanner Tredaway, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Chuck Ristano.

Temple fired a called strike on the next pitch and then induced a popup to shallow left centerfield for the 2nd out of the inning. Jimmy Crooks then lined to right center for the final out of the frame.

Temple fell behind two of the first three batters in the 2nd inning. He walked leadoff batter Wallace Clark as well as Sebastian Orduno, with a groundout to Jackson Nicklaus in between.

Lefties Aiden Tyrell and Jack Findlay both started getting loose in the Fighting Irish bullpen while Orduno was at the plate. Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett strolled to the mound and went to Tyrell to face No. 9 batter Kendall Pettis with runners at first and second.

The senior left-hander induced a pop out behind the plate for the second out and then got out of the inning when John Spikerman hit a weak bouncing ground ball to the right of the mound.

Temple lasted just 1.1 innings, for his shortest start of the season. He walked three with one hit, while escaping without giving up a run.

Graham reached base for the second time with an infield single to start the third. The nation’s No. 13 stolen base leader swiped second on Tyrell’s second pitch to Roberton, who grounded out to shortstop to advance Graham to third.

Graham then scored the first run of the game when Tredaway served a 2-2 pitch on the outside corner of the plate into right centerfield. Tredaway advanced to second on a passed ball and then scored on a line drive single to centerfield by Clark to make it 2-0 Sooners.

What looked like catastrophe turned into a clutch defensive play in the top of the 4th. When Orduno ripped a ball down the left field line, his balled zipped passed the diving glove of Ryan Cole. Orduno raced around second and headed toward third base without hesitation, but he was gunned out on a 7-6-5 relay, with Jack Brannigan applying the tag just before the designated hitter arrived at the bag.

Another wild play at third base ended the inning. Graham reached base for the third time when he ripped an opposite-field single to right center. Spikerman, who was at first after a dropped third strike by David LaManna, raced for third base.

The throw by Brooks Coetzee beat him by at least six feet, but when Brannigan tagged him on the chest the ball bounced out of his glove. Spikerman thought he was out and didn’t get back to the bag quickly, giving Brannigan the time to pick the ball up and tag him out.

The ball was only close enough for Brannigan to find, because it had bounced off the OU third base coach after it initially came out of Brannigan’s glove.

The Sooners broke the game open when they scored two runs on a sacrifice bunt and an error in the 5th inning. With runners at the corners, Clark dropped down the bunt to the first base side of the mound.

A wild throw from Tyrell sailed down the first base line to allow Crooks to race all the way around the bases, beating the throw to the plate. The throw home allowed Clark to get to third base. He scored a batter later on a sharp single by Jackson Nicklaus.

Tyrell exited after the Nicklaus RBI. He allowed five runs (two earned) on eight hits in 3.0 innings. Sophomore right hander Matt Bedford came to the mound with a runner at first and the Irish trailing 5-0.

LaManna gunned out Nicklaus at second base to end the inning and then he gave the Fighting Irish their first offensive spark of the night in the top of the 6th.

LaManna hit a 375-foot blast into the Oklahoma bullpen to get the Irish on the board, trailing 5-2. It was the catcher’s third home run of the season and his second in Notre Dame’s last three games.

Horton (5-2) struck out the next two Irish batters for his season-high 10th and 11th Ks of the game. His 100th pitch of the night set down Brooks Coetzee looking. It was his last pitch of the night.

The redshirt freshman ended the night by allowing two earned runs in 6.0 innings with the 11 strikeouts and just one walk. Right hander Jaret Godman came out of the Sooner bullpen in the 7th, after OU added another run in the bottom of the 6th when Tredaway singled home Spikerman to make it 6-2.

After a pair of 8th inning walks to Graham and Tredaway by Roman Kimball, the Sooner duo executed a double steal, but they were left stranded after Matt Lazzaro got Crooks to pop out in front of the third base dugout and then Jackson Dennies struck out Clark to end the inning.

The Irish threatened in the ninth when Brannigan reached on error and Coetzee singled to start the inning against OU closer Trevin Michael, but Zack Prajzner grounded into a 5-3 double play. Michael hit Spencer Myers with a 1-2 pitch to put runners at second, before Michael struck out Ryan Cole to end the game.

Fighting Irish batters struck out 14 times in the loss.

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