Oklahoma Baseball Looks to Lift Trophy in Omaha for Third Time

The Oklahoma Sooners have made it to the Faculty World Collection Championship spherical to fulfill Ole Miss. The Sooners have received the NCAA baseball title twice—in 1951 and 1994.

Each occasions they swept via foes in Omaha with no loss.

1951—They Weren’t Anticipated To Be There

The start of the ’51 OU baseball season didn’t look very promising, with six straight losses. Then the Sooners received six of the subsequent 9 and completed with a flurry of 13 consecutive victories to the NCAA crown.

“We simply weren’t a terrific group, however everyone labored onerous,” mentioned OU Head Coach Jack Baer. “We had a few good hitters and two good pitchers, three actually.”

Oklahoma entered the CWS as Massive 7 champs with a report of 19-9 total and 10-1 within the convention in Baer’s seventh season on the helm. Oklahoma swept Houston in three straight video games within the District 5 Regional.

The Sooners started their quest on the double-elimination CWS with a victory over Ohio State, Springfield Faculty, and USC to succeed in the championship recreation. The Tennessee Volunteers (20-2) had swept via their aspect of the bracket to succeed in the ultimate.

The Vols jumped to a 2-0 lead over Oklahoma within the fifth inning earlier than 6,230 followers at Omaha’s Municipal Stadium. OU scored a run in every of the subsequent three innings for the deciding 3-2 tally. Centerfielder Charley Pugsley delivered the game-winning hit for the Sooners. With two outs within the high of the eighth, Pugsley laced his solely hit of the night into centerfield to attain third baseman Ray Morgosh with the successful run.

Oklahoma’s beginning pitcher Jack Shirley went the gap giving up solely three hits and placing the aspect down so as in seven of the 9 innings. The Sooners pounded out 11 hits off two Tennessee pitchers.

OU turned the primary group to win the event in straight video games with no loss. Oklahoma additionally turned the primary establishment to say three nationwide championships in a single faculty 12 months—soccer, wrestling, and baseball.

1994—25 Guys Pulling on the Similar Rope

That was the motto the ’94 Sooners used to indicate unification, and it labored. Oklahoma had a superb however not nice common season. The Sooners misplaced to Oklahoma State within the Massive Eight event championship recreation however didn’t lose once more.

OU acquired a bid to the Central Regional in Austin, Texas, beat Arkansas State and Stanford, after which swept the host Longhorns in two straight video games to make the forty eighth Faculty World Collection. Oklahoma, seeded fourth within the tourney, edged Auburn and Arizona State by one run every within the first two rounds of the double-elimination event. The Solar Devils superior to fulfill the Sooners within the subsequent spherical, and so they must beat OU twice to succeed in the ultimate. Oklahoma received 6-1 to advance.

In the meantime, No. 2 Georgia Tech swept via its aspect of the bracket to succeed in the ultimate. The championship spherical was tied at 2-2 after three innings, and the Sooners exploded for 5 runs within the fourth for a 7-2 benefit, and so they by no means seemed again. The Yellowjackets scored three runs within the high of the sixth inning, however Oklahoma answered with 4 runs within the backside of the body due to a three-run blast by designated hitter Damon Minor.

The Sooners added two extra runs within the backside of the seventh enroute to a 13-5 victory earlier than a crowd of 21,053 at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.

Stellar pitching helped OU to its second baseball title. Mark Redman pitched seven innings towards Auburn within the CWS opener and went the gap within the second assembly with Arizona State. The sophomore left-hander allowed two runs and struck out 11 Tigers. He gave up just one run and struck out six Solar Devils. Senior reliever Bucky Buckles obtained saves towards Auburn and Georgia Tech and earned a win in reduction within the first recreation towards the Solar Devils. Buckles one other save towards the Yellow Jackets, his 14th of the 12 months.

The new bat for the Sooners belonged to senior heart fielder Chip Glass, who was named the Most Excellent Participant of the CWS. Glass hit solely three residence runs in the course of the common season, however he hammered three homers in the course of the collection, together with one within the championship recreation. Glass batted .389 with 4 RBI and three stolen bases over the four-game collection.

Oklahoma trailed in simply one of many 72 innings in eight video games of the NCAA Match. “We obtained sizzling on the proper time,” commented OU Head Coach Larry Cochell following the championship recreation. “The momentum that we obtained in Austin carried over, and the 2 one-run victories right here (towards Auburn and Arizona State) gave us the boldness to maintain it going.”

“We didn’t have any superstars,” Glass mentioned. “This was a group within the truest sense of the phrase. All of us pulled collectively and did what it took to win.”