All Sooners

Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Dominate Texas to Win Big 12 Championship

OU got yet another great start on the mound and used a massive third inning offensively to cruise to the league tournament title.

Josh Callaway

ARLINGTON, TX โ€“ For the first time in nine years, the Big 12 Tournament trophy resides in Norman.

After outlasting Kansas State on Saturday to move to the title game, Oklahoma looked to cap off a perfect week in Arlington against rival Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game on Sunday evening.

The No. 3-seeded Sooners would indeed do it and do it in emphatic fashion, hammering the No. 5-seeded Longhorns 8-1 at Globe Life Field to win their first conference tournament crown since 2013.

OU TX B12

Cade Horton got the ball for Oklahoma and was one of the major stories of the day for the Sooners.ย 

Making just his seventh career start, Horton dazzled across 5.1 innings allowing just two hits and one run while striking out nine Longhorns.ย 

"From last week at Texas Tech, I felt like I was out of control," Horton said postgame. "So I told myself this week I'm going to be myself. I'm going to keep my emotions under control and just treat it like it's a bullpen. And just hit targets, and whatever happens happens. That's kind of what I went out there and did."

The lone run off of Horton came in the very first hitting, with Texas slugger Ivan Melendez blasting a solo home run to right center to give UT a quick 1-0 lead.

But, while the Oklahoma offense would have their first six batters retired to start the game, the OU bats would explode in the third.

In an inning Sooners fans may not soon forget, Skip Johnsonโ€™s club ripped off eight runs without recording a single out.

The first came on a beautifully executed hit-and-run play, with Kendall Pettis slapping one through the left side to score the running Jackson Nicklaus from second base.

After OU grabbed the lead on Brett Squires being granted home on a balk, John Spikerman would add on with a smoked RBI double down the right field line to make it 3-1.

The red-hot Tanner Tredaway then plated two runs two batters later, singling with the bases loaded to make it a 5-1 game.

"It takes a lot of pressure off of everybody especially when he (Tredaway) is playing the way he is," Graham said. "I think it gives everybody in the lineup and in the bullpen, the starting pitching, it gives them a lot of confidence to go out there and do what they do."

The biggest swing then came the very next hitter, with catcher Jimmy Crooks pulverizing a three-run home run to right field to make it 8-1 Sooners.

"I think the biggest thing for us, in any game, is you try to take the momentum as early as you can," Johnson said.

"It carries and carries on. We kept it on our side (tonight)."

While the Sooners offense didn't add any more runs after their mammoth third inning - they didn't need to.

After Horton departed in the sixth, left-hander Chazz Martinez entered the ballgame recording the next eight outs without allowing a single hit to send things to the ninth.

"I thought he (Martinez) was outstanding about executing pitches for sure," Johnson said. "There's no doubt about that."

There, OU closer Trevin Michael did the job working a scoreless ninth inning to seal the deal on the victory.ย 

"I love this team," Michael said. "I'm only going to be here for this one year, but this has been a lot of fun. These guys have definitely showed me how to play Sooner baseball."

The win moves Oklahoma to 37-20 heading into next weekโ€™s NCAA Tournament, continuing their run as one of the hottest teams in college baseball

"This is just what we worked for the entire season," Tredaway said. "I think coming back from where we were in the start (of the season), and finishing how we did, it just really made everything complete for us. I'm so excited for these guys and we're all so excited for each other."

The Sooners now will await their fate on Mondayโ€™s selection show, where their regional designation and schedule will be revealed.

While we donโ€™t yet know Oklahomaโ€™s opponents, we know OU will not be hosting a regional and playing on the road next week as the 16 host teams were previously revealed earlier Sunday evening.ย 

"I'm not upset by not hosting," Johnson said. "We can't control that. All we can do is go out and play good baseball."ย 

"Wherever we land, that's where we land. We're proud to get the opportunity to go out and play whoever, it doesn't really matter."

The NCAA Baseball Selection Show is set for Monday at 11 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN2.ย 

Published
Josh Callaway
JOSH CALLAWAY

Josh has been with AllSooners since June of 2021 after spending the previous year with Sooners Wire via USA TODAY Sports. He is also a high school sports broadcaster for the Oklahoma Sports Network.ย You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshMCallaway.

Home/Baseball