Oklahoma's Blake Robertson Flipped Out, Says Kendall Pettis' Catch Was 'a Little Cooler'
BELLEVUE, NE – For the third Sunday in a row, an Oklahoma fielder landed the No. 1 spot on the Top Plays from ESPN “SportsCenter.”
This time, it was Sooner first baseman Blake Robertson who earned the honor.
Two weeks ago, center fielder Jayda Coleman leaped and brought back a home run in the softball College World Series victory over Texas. Last week, baseball left fielder Kendall Pettis tracked down a foul ball and flipped over the fence and into the Virginia Tech bullpen.
On Sunday night in a 6-2 victory over Notre Dame, Robertson mirrored Pettis by chasing down a pop foul and flipping over the fence into the Irish dugout.
“It's pretty cool,” Robertson said Monday after practice at Bellevue East High School. “Honestly. I mean, Kendall, were talking about that last night. He was No. 1 last week and I was just No. 1. But I keep telling him, his was a little cooler than mine. But you know, mine was cool, I guess. It was just kind of unfortunate I flipped over a little. But his was a little bit cooler.”
It was the first pitch of the game, and it set the tone for the OU defense to be fearless. That fueled starting pitcher Cade Horton, who similarly inspired his teammates to battle at the plate.
“I honestly didn't even know it was the first pitch,” Robertson said. “Like, the third inning – it kind of took me a minute to realize that was the first pitch. But yeah, I just saw it go up and, you know, the wind was kind of pushing it I think.
"But I thought I could get to it and, you know, be camped. And I got around the area and I called them off – and I didn't want to hold up on ESPN you know, and do one of these (pull back) so I just kept going for it and ended up falling over the wall.”
Robertson came literally inches from landing on his face and head on the concrete dugout steps. On Monday, he pointed to his back left hip as a source of soreness.
“No, I feel it now,” he said. “I mean, nothing crazy, but yeah. I was just thinking, ‘Oh, (shoot), I caught that ball.’ ”
Robertson held the ball up immediately, then bounced up and awkwardly climbed back over the same fence.
“I got up and just jumped over,” he said. “I should’ve gone up the stairs. I don't know what I was thinking. I just hopped over the rail. Yeah, it was pretty cool.”
With Robertson’s feet in the air and his face heading toward the floor, he got a friendly assist from Notre Dame pitcher John Michael Bertrand, who quickly stepped over to try to brace Robertson’s fall.
“Yeah, he tried to get in there and help,” Robertson said with a laugh. “I actually hit him up on Instagram and appreciated him for that. Just because, you know, I was fine. I mean, if that was me, I'd get out of the way. That's my first reaction. But you know, my feet were coming over and he tried to help still, so I appreciate him for that. I thanked him for it.”