Oklahoma won't die, at least not without one hell of a fight.
To say the Sooners had the deck stacked against them on Sunday evening is putting it mildly. For one thing, they were facing elimination against a UConn team that had defeated them just 24 hours earlier. Moreover, they had already played nine tense, emotionally taxing innings of baseball earlier in the day. And to add insult to injury, the Huskies hung a crooked number on the scoreboard in the first inning.
None of it deterred the Norman regional's relentless and determined host team.
Despite the brutal circumstances, Oklahoma rallied from an early hole — and got the performance of a lifetime from reliever Jett Lodes — to defeat UConn 6-4 and keep their College World Series dreams alive. With one more victory tomorrow at L. Dale Mitchell Park, Oklahoma will advance to super regionals, where national No. 8 seed Florida State awaits.
Mere minutes after a brilliant outing from left-hander Grant Stevens in a triumph over Duke, Skip Johnson had to dig deep into his rotation for the first time all weekend. He tabbed Texas Tech transfer Brendan Girton as his starter for a win-or-die matchup with the Huskies, who had overcome a dominant start from Davis to win 4-1 over Oklahoma on Saturday. Girton entered the contest with an 0-1 record and a 6.75 ERA in 15 appearances (nine starts) on the year. But with Davis, Kyson Witherspoon and Stevens already burned, Johnson didn't have many viable alternatives to Girton.
The Sooners found themselves in a hole right from the jump, as Girton surrendered a leadoff home run to Caleb Shpur. After a Paul Tammaro single, a wild pitch and an RBI hit from Luke Broadhurst, UConn had a 2-0 lead before Girton had even recorded an out. The junior right-hander later issued a walk and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases, but struck out Jake Studley to strand the baserunners.
However, Oklahoma got a run back in the top of the second, as Huskies starter Garrett Coe walked Jackson Nicklaus and Kendall Pettis. That set the table for Scott Mudler, who flicked a single into center to chase Nicklaus home. After a Rocco Garza-Gongora groundout, John Spikerman came to the plate with two outs and tattooed a hard line drive into center field. However, Shpur made the catch to end the frame.
Johnson went to the bullpen in the bottom of the second after Girton walked the leadoff man, and Lodes got the call. The right-hander allowed another walk, then an RBI single from Korey Morton as UConn increased their lead to 3-1. But the Huskies managed nothing further in their half of the third, and the Sooners drew even with one mighty swing in the bottom of the inning. With one on and one out, Michael Snyder annihilated a high fastball from Coe, sending it well over the left-field wall for a two-run homer to tie the game.
And as the middle innings arrived, Lodes' stuff began to get better and better. In the bottom of the third, he retired the side in order, then did the same in the fourth. He allowed a leadoff double to Morton in the fifth, but set down the next three hitters without incident, whiffing Matt Garbowski to end the frame as the crowd roared in approval.
Come the top of the sixth, the Sooners loaded the bases with one out. Nicklaus singled, and Pettis and Mudler each drew walks. But Garza-Gongora fanned on three pitches, and Spikerman grounded into an inning-ending fielder's choice. Unfazed by the fact that his offense couldn't break through for another run, Lodes continued to retire one Husky after another, spotting pitches and missing bats with clinical efficiency. He tossed a perfect sixth, then a perfect seventh, at which point he had retired nine consecutive UConn hitters.
And at long last, the dam broke in the eighth.
Jaxon Willits led off with a single, then Nicklaus coaxed a free pass. After a flyout from Pettis, Mudler stepped to the plate and delivered, slicing an RBI single into right to bring home Willits for the go-ahead run. After a pinch-hit walk from Isaiah Lane to load the bases, Spikerman popped out, and it looked as if the Huskies might wriggle out of the jam with minimal damage. But Bryce Madron had other plans, as he barreled up the first pitch he saw and drove it deep into the left-center gap for a bases-clearing double. But controversy ensued when UConn appealed at third base, contending that Lane had missed the bag on his way home. The umpires ruled Lane out, which nullified his run and ended the frame with the score 6-3 in the Sooners' favor.
Lodes returned to the hill in the bottom of the eighth, having already worked a career-high six innings. And upon recording one quick out, the senior finally surrendered his first run of the evening, as Tyler Minick clubbed a solo homer — but only after Lodes himself dropped a foul pop-up that would have retired Minick. Despite the momentary lapse, Lodes went right back to work, inducing a lineout and a groundout to end the inning. And thus, the Sooners moved to the ninth with a two-run advantage.
The Sooners couldn't get anything across in their half of the ninth, but it didn't matter. Lodes finally gave way to fireballing right-hander Ryan Lambert, who needed just seven pitches to record three contact outs and slam the door.
Lodes picked up his second win of the season, surrendering just one run on three hits and a pair of walks over seven innings of work. He tallied seven strikeouts in the memorable outing. UConn reliever Kieran Finnegan was charged with the loss, and the perfect ninth frame earned Lambert his first save of the year.
As the focus turns to the Monday rubber match, both teams are going to be stretched to their respective limits if they're to win and advance. Even after Lodes' Herculean performance, the Sooners' pitching staff is rather exhausted, and it's thoroughly unclear how Johnson will manage his staff with so many of his top arms unavailable. The Sooners could elect to roll out spot starter Carter Campbell (4-1, 5.52 ERA), who pitched three clean innings of relief on Friday. Other options could include setup man Carson Atwood (1-1, 3.34 ERA) or closer Malachi Witherspoon (2-2, 6.10 ERA), who's a converted starter. But that's a problem for tomorrow, as Oklahoma will revel in the crucial victory tonight and relish the reality that their magical season is not yet over.
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