Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on Twitter
Rough weekend for the Cowboys and Sooners on the baseball diamond as Oklahoma State fails to win a game in their own regional while Oklahoma was eliminated after one win. A good year for the Pokes came to an abrupt halt while OU wasn’t able to put together a second straight deep postseason run.
Embarrassing showing for OSU over the weekend inside O’Brate Stadium. Cowboys lost to white hot Oral Roberts 6-4 in the tournament opener. Nolan McLean did not have a good start on the mound, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, and a HPB. Closer Isaac Stebens was called upon in the fifth inning to keep the Cowboys in the game, and he and Bayden Root only allowed 1 run the rest of the way. Zach Ehrhard homered as he and Carson Benge had a pair of hits a piece. David Mendham drove in 2 run and Aidan Meola went deep, but the Cowboys were not able to dig out of a 5-0 hole.
Season crashed and burned in an elimination game on Saturday as the Pokes lost to Dallas Baptist 18-4. Juaron Watts-Brown ended a disappointing season with a disappointing outing, allowing 8 runs (7 earned) on 7 hits in 4 1/3 innings, and the Pokes’ pen allowed 10 more to score as the Patriots hit 6 HR’s on the day, 3 from Miguel Santos. Benge and Mendham had a pair of hits each and Nolan Schubart and Roc Riggio blasted a HR, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Cowboys lose two straight and fail to win a tournament game for only the third time in 48 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Oklahoma’s weekend in Charlottesville, VA started much like Oklahoma State’s ended, as the Sooners fell behind East Carolina 10-0 before going onto lose 14-5. After being very reliable over the last two months, Braden Carmichael struggled, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 5 walks. Carter Campbell, Carson Atwood, Aaron Calhoun, and Gray Harrison combined to allow 10 runs over the next 4 2/3 innings. Dakota Harris, Anthony McKenzie, and Easton Carmichael had 2 hits each in the loss.
OU staved off elimination on Saturday, beating Army 10-1. Really happy for Braxton Douthit. The Sooners’ starter went the distance, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7. Douthit struggled in the second half of the season after having a very good first half. Bryce Madron went 2-3 with a double, triple, and 4 RBI’s, and Carmichael and Wallace Clark each homered, the first of Clark’s career. John Spikerman went 2-3, stealing 3 bases and scoring 3 runs, and he and Kendall Pettis made several fantastic running catches in the OF.
Sooners would see East Carolina again on Sunday as the Pirates lost Saturday night to Virginia. OU struck first for a 1-0 lead, then while trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Sooners would fail to score when having the bases loaded with nobody out. Jackson Nicklaus hit a screaming line drive to 1B, which Josh Moylan caught, and Moylan outraced Clark to the bag for the unassisted double play. One out later and OU had missed out on a golden opportunity to stay in the game. Pirates scored 5 in the top of the 5th to pull away and essentially end the Sooners’ season. Oklahoma chipped away with 2 in the 5th, 1 in the 7th, and 1 in the 9th, but it wasn’t enough as ECU won 8-5. Madron hit his team leading 12th HR as he and Harris had 3 hits a piece. Carson Pierce and Will Carsten gave the Sooners a chance, keeping the Pirates scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings after James Hitt and Campbell were both knocked out of the game in the top of the 5th.
Cowboys end the season at 41-20 overall and 15-9 in the Big 12 which earned them a share of the conference championship. OSU fought their way out of the losers bracket to make it to the Big 12 Championship game before losing to TCU, but two straight losses in their own regional leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Pokes simply didn’t pitch well enough this season, especially in the starting rotation. Watts-Brown had moments of brilliance, but those were fleeting in the last few weeks. McLean missing several weeks didn’t help, and the rotation outside of Watts-Brown was unsettled all year. Stebens stepped into the closer’s role when McLean was out and proved to be the Pokes’ most reliable pitcher. As potent as OSU was offensively, hitting .301, slugging .536, and hitting 108 HR’s, a team ERA of 5.41 kept a good season from being a great one. Root, Mendham, and Ben Abram are the only seniors on the roster, while McLean, Tyler Wulfert, Marcus Brown, Evan O’Toole, Chase Adkison, Stebens, and Ryan Bogusz are all juniors that are worth keeping an eye on as to whether or not they choose to go pro. McLean was taken by the Orioles in the third round a season ago but chose to come back. Watts-Brown is a draft eligible sophomore and could choose to go pro. Riggio, Schubart, Carson Benge, Ehrhard, and Colin Brueggemann should all return to form the nucleus of next year’s lineup.
Sooners finish the year 32-28 and in seventh place in the Big 12 at 11-13. OU won one game in the Big 12 Tournament before losing two straight and one game in the NCAA Tournament before falling to East Carolina for the second time in three days. Much like OSU, pitching was the main problem for the Sooners. Carmichael turned in a nice season, especially after entering the weekend rotation. Hitt was decent, and Douthit was much better in the first half of the season than the second. If you’re going to have a team ERA of 5.95, you better hit and score a lot. Sooners were OK offensively but nothing special, hitting .284 as a team. Madron ended up being the best all around offensive player. After getting off to a slow start, Madron hit .320, good for second on the club, and leading the team with 12 HR’s and 51 RBI’s. OU stole 114 bases as that’s part of the identity that Reggie Willits has brought to this program. Carmichael and Douthit will depart the rotation and Hitt is draft eligible, so Skip Johnson will need to rebuild much, if not all, of his rotation for a second straight season. Easton Carmichael and Ralph Garza-Gongora should return after solid freshman campaigns, and Spikerman, Nicklaus, and Clark can all return for their junior seasons. Oklahoma has several juniors in the lineup that could choose to go pro, including McKenzie, Harris, and Madron, and Pettis could either leave or return for his super senior campaign. Much like the Cowboys, the Sooners could either return or lose a lot of key players off this year’s team.
The Major League Baseball draft is July 9th-11th, and players usually have a few weeks after the draft to sign or to elect to return to college. The 2024 college baseball season will begin in mid February.
