OSU/OU Baseball Update – NCAA Tournament Preview

Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on Twitter

Oklahoma State is hosting a regional and Oklahoma made their way into the NCAA Baseball Tournament beginning this weekend. Cowboys earned the right to host with their work in the Big 12 Tournament, while the Sooners did just enough to land on the right side of the bubble.

After losing their first game in Arlington to OU, OSU won four games in three days to make the Big 12 Championship game. In Wednesday’s opener, the Pokes fell behind 7-0 after 2 ½ innings. Carson Benge struggled on the mound, allowing 7 ER in 2 1/3 IP. Cowboys closed the gap to 7-4 after Marcus Brown hit a fifth inning HR, but the Sooners answered with 2 runs in the 7^th to pull away. The loss dropped OSU into the elimination bracket, but the Pokes were far from done for the weekend. OSU sent West Virginia home on Thursday with a 3-2 win behind a strong start from Nolan McLean (2 ER in 6 IP), and 3 scoreless innings from Juaron Watts-Brown. Interesting call to bring Watts-Brown out of the bullpen, but with a spot as a regional host possibly on the line, the decision paid off. Friday night, OSU eliminated OU with an 8-3 win. David Mendham led the Pokes with a 3-4 night, driving in 5 runs. Ben Abram continued his mastery of his former team, tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball.

Cowboys entered Saturday knowing that they’d have to beat Texas Tech twice to advance to Sunday, and that’s exactly what the Pokes did. OSU won the first game 8-1 behind fantastic pitching from Brennan Phillips and Bayden Root. Phillips went 6 innings, allowed only 1 run, and stuck out 7, while Root went the final 3 innings and didn’t allow a Red Raider to cross home. Felt great for Phillips. The freshman from Owasso began the season in the Cowboys’ weekend rotation but struggled, and he only pitched twice in April and once in May before Saturday. Phillips could be a major piece of the Pokes’ postseason puzzle if he can continue to pitch like that. In the second game Saturday, OSU won in dramatic fashion. After falling behind 5-0 after 4 ½ innings, Cowboys scored 5 runs in the 8^th and won the game in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a long HR into the second left field deck from Aidan Meola, who had replaced Roc Riggio at 2B in the top of the 9^th. Credit Isaac Stebens for stabilizing the game with 3 shutout innings, giving the Pokes a chance to claw back into the game and ultimately win, 6-5.

OSU ran into a red hot TCU team in Sunday’s championship game, as the Horned Frogs led 8-0 after 2 ½ innings and would go on to win 12-5. Abram got off to a slow start, and the Cowboys’ bullpen wasn’t able to keep the Pokes within striking distance. Nolan Schubart went 2-3 with a 3 run HR and 4 RBI’s in Sunday’s title game. Despite the loss, Oklahoma State was selected as 1 of 16 regional hosts for the 2^nd straight year and the 5^th time in the last 9 seasons. Cowboys begin tournament play Friday night at 6:00 PM against Oral Roberts on ESPN Plus.

Sooners began their weekend with an important win over OSU on Wednesday. OU won 9-5 after getting off to a 7-0 start. Oklahoma took advantage of 13 walks as John Spikerman went 2-3 in his return to the leadoff spot, and Easton Carmichael went 2-4 on the day. Sooners had a heartbreaking loss in a winners bracket game on Thursday evening, falling to Texas Tech 10-9. Oklahoma led 5-0 going into the bottom of the 4^th, but the Red Raiders took advantage of two Jackson Nicklaus errors to draw within 1 at 5-4. OU led 9-5 going into the bottom of the 7^th but allowed 2 runs in the 7^th and 3 runs in the bottom of the 9^th to fall into the elimination bracket. Braden Carmichael deserved better as he only allowed 1 ER in 5 innings and was cruising before bad defense extended the bottom of the 4^th. Will Carsten and Braxton Douthit combined to surrender 5 runs in the final 2 2/3. Anthony McKenzie went 2-4 with a walk and 2 RBI’s to lead the Oklahoma offense.

Friday night, the Sooners couldn’t figure out their old teammate Abram, and OU dropped an 8-3 decision to Oklahoma State. Spikerman remained hot, going 2-4 with 2 RBI’s. Carsten struggled on the bump for the second straight night, but Jett Lodes and Aaron Weber combined to throw 6 innings of 3 run ball, only 2 of which were earned. Oklahoma could use both of those guys to produce if they’re going to make a run in the Charlottesville Regional. OU is the 3 seed and will take on East Carolina at 6:00 PM on ESPN 2 and ESPN Plus.

OSU enters the tournament at 41-18 and is playing good baseball despite the loss to TCU on Sunday. OSU plays ORU and then will meet either Dallas Baptist or Washington on Saturday, either with a spot in Sunday’s championship game or their season on the line in the elimination bracket. OSU split two games against DBU this season and went 0-2 against ORU, but I wouldn’t make too much of midweek games in which guys like McLean and Watts-Brown aren’t pitching. That said, I’m a little worried about the Pokes’ pen, as Evan O’Toole didn’t pitch in Arlington and Ryan Bogusz has missed the last three weekends. I have no worries about OSU’s offense. They’ll hit and score. As long as the Pokes get solid pitching, the Cowboys should advance, and I believe that they will. Winner of the Stillwater regional will meet the winner of the Nashville regional, where Vanderbilt is favored as the 1 seed.

OU begins the NCAA Tournament at 31-26 and was one of the last four teams to receive an at large bid. After Tulane beat East Carolina to win the AAC Tournament and Charlotte beat Dallas Baptist to win the Conference USA tourney, I wasn’t sure the Sooners would be in, as the Green Wave and the 49ers would not have made the field of 64 without winning their conference tournament. Then on Monday morning, when Louisiana was announced in the field, Oklahoma had even more reason to be nervous as the Ragin Cajuns were on the bubble with the Sooners. OU gets in based on their RPI of 40 and 12 Quad 1 wins. Sooners have to have good starting pitching if they want to make noise in Charlottesville. Oklahoma’s bullpen is simply not deep or consistent enough for the Sooners to make a run if Carmichael, Hitt, and Douthit do not have quality starts. OU better tighten up their defense too, as 2 errors in the bottom of the 4^th in Thursday’s game against Texas Tech changed the trajectory of their weekend in Arlington. OU meets East Carolina on Friday and will play either Virginia or Army on Saturday. Winner of the Charlottesville regional will take on the winner of the Conway regional, in which Coastal Carolina is favored.

I’ve got the Cowboys advancing to a Super Regional, more than likely at Vanderbilt, and the Sooners’ season ending in Charlottesville. It’s wall to wall baseball this weekend and I can’t wait.