Oklahoma
Oklahoma Drops Second Consecutive Conference Series in a Tight Battle with the Tide
NORMAN — From the first to the beginning of the bottom of the fifth, Alabama pitchers retired 13 of 17 Oklahoma batters, with only one Sooner reaching at least second. As the opportunities went by, OU’s first inning blunder loomed larger and larger.
Despite forcing a decisive game for Saturday, Oklahoma could not overcome one bad inning and squandered opportunities, losing 3-2 and the series to the Crimson Tide. It’s OU’s second conference series loss in the last two weeks after winning their first two against Texas A&M and LSU.
The left-hander Trent Collier (1.93 ERA) got the call to start in Saturday afternoon’s rubber game for No. 11 Oklahoma against No. 16 Alabama. They typical day three starter Cord Rager sat out, dealing with lat tenderness — Skip Johnson said the freshman’s future wasn’t worth the risk of playing him.
Oklahoma (21-10) and Collier started off with turbulence. An ill-timed shift led to a base hit. That was followed by another base hit. A walk loaded the bases. Then two back-to-back pitches resulted in a wild pitch and a passed ball to allow Alabama (25-8) two runs.
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Eric Hines cracked a shot to deep center that Jason Walk lost in the sun, resulting in an error and the Tide’s third run.
But Oklahoma bounced back when they had their chance. Where base-running aggression bit them last week in Austin, it earned the Sooners their first run of the game when Trey Gambill beat the tag at the plate after a Brenden Brock base hit.
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“I thought we gave that game away for sure,” Johnson said afterwards. “We’ve got to keep the ball in front of us. We’ve got to play fundamental baseball. We beat ourselves in that inning.”
It took almost two hours for the OU to find an offensive spark against the pesky Alabama. They found it in an unorthodox way.
Down 3-1 with two outs and bases loaded in the fifth, Kyle Branch singled up the middle where second basemen Brennan Holt attempted to throw out Deiten LaChance for the third and final out. LaChance beat the force out, running a few feet passed the bag — allowing Drew Dickerson to score.
But LaChance wasn’t done trying to add another run. After beating the tag, he rounded towards third to buy time for Alec Blair to reach home. Alabama short stop Justin LeBron applied the tag to LaChance but not before Blair appeared to score to tie the game.
A review would show that Blair didn’t reach in time, leaving the Sooners still behind at 3-2.
OU would continue to have chances in the final three innings. Solid performances from their bullpen allowed minimal damage at the plate from Alabama. But the Soners had trouble making the most of any opportunity after a batter reached a base.
Oklahoma’s inability to do much damage at the plate counter balanced their superb pitching performances on the day.
“Early in the year, we’re getting two-out hits,” Johnson said. “Now, we haven’t got a two-out hit in a while. So, that goes back to having confidence, that goes back to trying too hard. You’ve got to deal with it and keep playing.”
The Sooners will head back on the road for a Monday clash against Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, OU will take on Vanderbilt in Nashville for a weekend series beginning Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m.
Crews responded to a fireworks stand after it caught fire in Broken Arrow Saturday night.
Authorities urged people to avoid E. Kanosha Street near S. 236th E. Avenue as the road is closed and fireworks could spread in the area due to the fire.
Broken Arrow Fire Department released a statement confirming no injuries were sustained as a result of the explosions or fire.
Fire crews quickly controlled the fire in about 20 minutes according to Broken Arrow Fire Department.
The initial cause of the fire is under investigation.
Viewer Leslie Maxey, who lives close to the fireworks stand, sent in video of the ongoing fire.
“We were putting our daughter to bed with a book when we heard an explosion that was gradually getting louder and louder,” Maxey said.
This is a developing story.
What you need to know about Oklahoma ahead of the College World Series
North Carolina will face a dangerous Oklahoma team that is on a roll.
Oklahoma (41-22) has been just as dominant. The Sooners, making their 13th College World Series appearance and first since 2022, surged through the postseason as road warriors. They won the Atlanta Regional by upsetting No. 2 seed and ACC champion Georgia Tech in the final, then swept Big 12 champion and No. 15 seed Kansas by a combined score of 21-3 in the Lawrence Regional.
The Sooners, who are 3-0 in Omaha after beating No. 7 seed Alabama and knocking off No. 3 seed and SEC champion Georgia twice, are seeking their third national championship. Oklahoma won titles in 1951 and 1994 and finished as runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022.
Here are a few things to know about Oklahoma:
Best player: Catcher Deiten LaChance
LaChance is Oklahoma’s most powerful hitter. He is batting .333 with 12 doubles, two triples and team highs of 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Throughout the postseason, he is hitting .326 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In Omaha, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run and five RBIs.
Strengths
Like North Carolina, Oklahoma is a balanced team that is good at a little bit of everything and is built to frustrate opponents.
Oklahoma is a balanced hitting team like UNC, but the Sooners have hit a few more homers with 91, compared to the Tar Heels’ 82. That is largely due to the Sooners smashing 26 home runs in their 10 postseason games. In Omaha, OU has homered eight times, including five homers in its win over Georgia in its previous game.
The Sooners have stolen 129 bases this season. That is good for 24th nationally and second in the SEC.
Pitching-wise, OU is 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings and leads the SEC in shutouts.
Weaknesses
The most glaring weakness is the pitching staff, despite its ability to strike out opposing batters and record shutouts.
The Sooners have a 4.98 ERA as a staff. Only one pitcher with 10 or more appearances has an ERA under 3.60.
They also allow 4.51 walks per nine innings, which ranks 138th nationally.
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It was a Friday Night Lights in June kind of moment for the Oklahoma State Cowboys as Israel “Izzy” Hammons made his commitment announcement.
The Choctaw, Okla., rising senior announced his decision to commit to Oklahoma State on Friday during an Instagram Live session. The Cowboys beat out a roster of schools vying for the linebacker, most notably Texas.
Hammons made just two official visits — one to OSU and one to Texas last week.
His commitment pushed the Cowboys’ 2027 recruiting class back to nine players after the defection of Mount Carmel (Chicago, IL) offensive lineman Chase Clark to Purdue.
Commitments are non-binding. The earliest that Hammons can sign with OSU is in December.
Izzy Hammons to OSU
Hammons is the first four-star player to commit to the Cowboys this cycle. Their previous commitments all came from three-star players. The 6-3, 225-pound linebacker was considered a Top 200 player in the country by both On3/Rivals and 247Sports. Both services had him ranked as a Top 10 player in the state of Oklahoma at any position. He’s also considered the No. 1 linebacker in the state.
He also runs track and field, competing in the high jump and the 100-meter days, with a personal best of 11.30 seconds in the latter.
The Longhorns came in hot at the end but already had linebackers committed to the program this cycle. For the Cowboys getting a pledge from a player like Hammons is key to shore up a position where they didn’t have a commitment and where they plan to use senior transfers as starters in 2026. That means OSU and head coach Eric Morris must start building a pipeline now.
OSU’s Class of 2027
After Clark’s decommitment the Cowboys were down to eight recruits for 2027 entering Friday, most of which were on the offensive side of the ball and starting with Iowa Colony (Texas) quarterback Carson White, who was the cycle’s first commitment in April.
Up front, OSU has two offensive line commitments Jake Baker of Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tenn., and Sonny Mullen of Troy, Texas. When it comes to skill positions players the Cowboys have three commitments as well, including two wide receivers — Cooper Hooker of Pryor (Quapaw, Okla.) High School and Ake O’Neal of Argyle, Texas. Oklahoma State also has a pledge from tight end Talan Scott of Queen City, Ariz.
Defensively, the Cowboys have commitments from safeties Chayce Davis of Euless (Texas) Trinity High School and Bryson Brown of Broken Bow, Okla.
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