Oklahoma stays perfect in postseason, beats Kansas 7-5
It wasn't pretty, but the Sooners overcame self-inflicted wounds to stay perfect in the Big 12 tournament.
No. 8 Oklahoma took care of business on Thursday against Kansas, despite facing adversity for the first time in the postseason. With the win, OU has locked themselves into the semifinals on Friday afternoon.
After a 4-0 victory against TCU on Wednesday where pitcher Braden Davis went the full nine, Skip Johnson looked to sophomore Kyson Witherspoon in their third round matchup. Witherspoon was able to get going early, putting together a pair of strikeouts in the first-inning.
The Sooners' bats would get started much quicker than they did on Wednesday as they put their first run on the board early off of an Easton Carmichael sacrifice fly.
In the second, a string of miscues befell Oklahoma's defense. It started with an uncharacteristic fielding error by Kendall Pettis in left field that then was quickly followed by errors from both Jaxon Willits and Anthony Mackenzie. Kansas would take a 3-1 going into the bottom of the second off of three unearned runs. Despite picking up one run off a Scott Mudler RBI single, OU would leave runners on first and third and head into the third inning with a 3-2 deficit. The errors did not go away in the third for the Oklahoma defense as they committed two more, which allowed Kansas to extend their lead to 4-2.
The fourth inning would be Witherspoon's last on the mound. With bases loaded, he would manage to escape the inning without surrendering a run. He finished his four innings of work with 107 pitches, six strikeouts and no earned runs allowed.
Oklahoma's offense found their rhythm in the fifth. After a Mudler RBI single, his second of the game, Jaxon Willits blasted a two-run homer into right with two outs on the board that gave the Sooners a 5-4 lead.
With Witherspoon's day finished, lefty Carter Campbell was called onto the mound in the fifth and worked a one-two-three inning to start his day. He would then mirror that in the sixth, keeping the Sooners in front 5-4.
In the seventh, Jackson Nicklaus made the defensive play of the day for OU. With one out and runners on the corners, Nicklaus was able to make a miraculous catch in shallow right and gunned down KU's Lenny Ashby at home plate. Oklahoma's offense carried the momentum into the bottom of the seventh where Snyder and Nicklaus punched RBI hits into the outfield. The Sooners had their biggest lead of the game at 7-4 through seven.
Skip Johnson looked into the bullpen again in the eighth, putting Dylan Crooks into the game. Crooks made quick work of the inning, sitting down two of the four batters he faced. In the ninth, OU went back to Crooks to close the game out, but he would be pulled after allowing a pair of baserunners.
Malachi Witherspoon was called upon to put out the fire, and he did just that. Despite entering with no outs and runners on second and third, he limited the Jayhawks to one run on a sacrifice fly. Oklahoma would go on to win 7-5 despite committing seven errors.
With the victory against the Jayhawks, OU will advance to the semis on Friday at 12:30 p.m. versus the winner of Kansas and TCU. Their remaining tournament games will be win-or-go-home.
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