All Sooners

Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Rally to Stun No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater

Down 7-6 in the ninth, OU scored two runs to take the lead and hold on for the come-from-behind win.

Josh Callaway

Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Rally to Stun No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater
Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Rally to Stun No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater /

STILLWATER – In a word, it was Bedlam. 

Fresh off a rock solid performance against Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Oklahoma headed north for its first true road game of the season against No. 4 Oklahoma State.

In a fashion eerily similar to the teams' first meeting of the season in Tulsa last week, the Sooners rallied from behind in the ninth to shock the Cowboys 8-7 at O'Brate Stadium. 

"The separator for us in the game was we just kept grinding at-bats out all night long," head coach Skip Johnson said postgame. "I thought that was really the separator."

Bedlam 2 Box

Looking for a bounce-back performance after a rocky outing against Texas last week, Sooners ace Jake Bennett took the ball for Skip Johnson’s club.

But, uncharacteristically, Bennett would have problems avoiding hard contact as the Cowboys struck for seven runs across five innings off the OU left-hander.

"I thought Bennett deserved better fate than that," Johnson said. "I thought he pitched his butt off all night long."

After an empty first inning, Oklahoma got the scoring started in the second with Diego Muniz driving in a run on a fielder’s choice.

Oklahoma State quickly retaliated with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame on a sacrifice fly to even things at 1-1.

Blake Robertson then put OU back in front the following inning on an RBI double, but the Pokes leap frogged ahead by scoring two in the bottom half on a two-run home run by Jake Thompson.

The score remained 3-2 in favor of Oklahoma State into the fifth, when the Sooners moved back into the lead with one run on a throwing error and another on Robertson’s second RBI knock.

But, yet again, the Cowboys immediately responded by putting up a crooked number in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs on a pair of two-run hits.

OSU held a 7-4 edge into the late innings, but the Sooners were not about to go quietly into the night.

After a Jackson Nicklaus RBI single, Jimmy Crooks ripped a two-out RBI hit to cut the lead down to just a run at 7-6. 

This would go down as a point of controversy in the contest, as Crooks' hit was originally ruled an out, but was changed to a hit after video review.

However, while it looked to have tied the game by driving in two runs, the second runner was forced to go back to third base — and did not end up scoring. 

"It was a tough call for that umpire," Johnson said. "The player's back was to him. Luckily we have review there, and you only get one base when you go to review."

But, in a fashion consistent with the team's play all year, the Sooners kept fighting. 

In the ninth, down by a run, OU managed to even the game on back-to-back doubles by Graham and Robertson.

"He's (Robertson) not going to give at-bats away, that's who he is," Johnson said. "That's what he does. He has tough at-bats from one to the next.

"And that's what you want in a player. Somebody who is going to be consistent every time out there. Not too high, too low, or anything."

Then, after an intentional walk to Crooks, Sebastian Orduno — who had the walk-off walk to beat the Cowboys last week — connected on a run-scoring single to put OU in the lead.

Trevin Michael gave up a one-out single but shut the door in the ninth to seal the thrilling victory. 

"They've been resilient, and they've fought like that most of the year," Johnson said. "They're fun to watch when they start to get in that mode."

The win moves the Sooners to 18-10 on the year and improves them to 4-3 in Big 12 play. 

Game two of the three-game series will be at 8 p.m. Saturday at O'Brate Stadium. 

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. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoshMCallaway.

Home/Baseball