It’s been more than a decade since the Oklahoma Sooners graced the streets of Omaha for the College World Series. Playing as well as any team coming in, the Sooners have taken full advantage of their opportunity to make a run at the national title with wins over Texas A&M and Notre Dame.
The Sooner have gotten standout pitching performances, have put on power displays at the plate, and displayed a versatility that makes them difficult to get out for opposing pitchers.
Skip Johnson has this group of youngsters playing fantastic and the aggressive style of play has put Oklahoma one win away from reaching the College World Series championship series.
While they await the winner of the elimination game between the Fighting Irish and the Aggies, the Sooners get a much-deserved break. They’ll take on the winner on Wednesday in the semifinal matchup.
With a couple days till Oklahoma next takes the field, here are five takeaways from their 2-0 start to the College World Series.
1-2 Punch
We’ve known Oklahoma could score runs. They’ve been doing it an incredible clip for the last two months. What’s helped them reach this point in the postseason is their pitching.
Jake Bennett and Cade Horton have been fantastic since the Big 12 tournament and that’s carried over through the NCAA tournament to the first two games of the College World Series. Sure they’ve allowed a combined six runs in the CWS, but it’s come on just three home runs.
Other than those three home runs, Bennett and Horton have done a great job limiting base runners and working through adversity when multiple runners get aboard.
In their 12 combined innings they’ve given up just 10 hits and one walk. That’s a sub 1.00 WHIP. That’s good.
With Oklahoma’s offense performing the way it has, the Sooners don’t need their pitching staff to be perfect. But the combination of Jake Bennett and Cade Horton have been great and give the Sooners a shot at winning the national championship.
And a Haymaker
Not to be outdone, Trevin Michael’s been fantastic closing out games. He’s thrown 4.2 innings in the first two games of the College World Series, allowing just three hits, a walk, while striking out four batters.
His ability to throw multiple innings to finish off a game is huge for Oklahoma. When they get to the eighth inning with a lead, Michael provides the confidence that the ball game is over. And like in the win against the Aggies, Michael coming in in the seventh to close the door on Texas A&M’s rally was a key to winning the ball game.
Versatile Offense
On Friday against Texas A&M, a three-run homer from Jimmy Crooks and a grand slam from Jackson Nicklaus provided the fireworks in the Sooners’ 13-8 win. On Sunday, the Sooners manufactured runs with six walks and timely hitting. They ran the bases well and took advantage of a Notre Dame throwing error to score an extra run on the safety squeeze.
Oklahoma’s offense has shown they can beat you in multiple ways. Their patience and discipline at the plate have been the difference. They draw walks at an incredible clip and are fantastic at moving runners along the basepaths.
Clutch Hitting
Against Texas A&M on Friday, the Oklahoma Sooners exploded for seven runs in the second. All of which came with two outs. They added two RBIs with two outs against Notre Dame on Sunday. This team isn’t slowed by two outs. They keep the pressure on.
It would be remarkable except this team has been really good with two outs for some time now. They’ve been great with runners in scoring position as well. With runners in scoring position over the first two games of the College World Series, the Oklahoma Sooners are 10-for-32, hitting .313.
Youth Movement
On Sunday night, the only upperclassmen starting for Oklahoma was Tanner Tredaway. Fellow senior Trevin Michael came in to close the door on the Fighting Irish. Other than, the rest of Oklahoma’s lineup was comprised of freshmen and sophomores.
While experience matters, the Sooners haven’t let it slow them down one bit. They’re playing aggressive baseball, looking to take it to every team they face. Oklahoma is playing to put pressure on their opponents and like we saw with the safety squeeze that led to a throwing error by Notre Dame, that pressure can lead to unforced errors like a bad throw or a missed pitch that leads to a home run.
The Sooners are playing like the team to beat in the College World Series and at this point, they have just as good a chance to win the national title as any team still standing.