Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Drop Series Finale to Kansas State

NORMAN – A disappointing finish to what had been a dominant weekend.

After hanging 22 runs on the board in a blowout win on Saturday, Oklahoma concluded their sequence with Kansas State on Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.

Sadly for the Sooners and in contrast to final weekend, they’d not be capable of full the sweep falling to the Wildcats by a remaining rating of 8-7. 

“We did not execute some stuff on the mound facet of it,” head coach Skip Johnson mentioned postgame. 

“All in all, we got here again and swung the bats actually good. However we left a man at second with no outs that value us in all probability one other run early. We received to proceed to develop in these areas. It isn’t a completed product, in no way.”

Getting the beginning for Oklahoma was right-hander Cade Horton, who received eased again into the fold after a again harm compelled a fast exit of his final begin per week in the past.

Whereas it wasn’t for lengthy, Horton was efficient in his two innings permitting only a single run and a single hit.

Recording the subsequent ten outs after Horton was left-hander Chazz Martinez, who was large in aid on Sunday. 

The JUCO switch labored 3.1 scoreless innings permitting only one hit and no runs with a pair of strikeouts. 

Trailing 1-0 within the backside of the primary, Sooners second baseman Jackson Nicklaus would get the OU offense going immediately with a solo shot to left middle that tied the sport.

Nicklaus homered in each recreation of the sequence.

“He is (Nicklaus) gotten going once more,” Johnson mentioned. “That is a very good factor. He is been working actually arduous at it. Him and Coach (Clay) Van Hook have been engaged on his swing, which is nice.”

Brett Squires put Oklahoma in entrance only one inning later with a house run of his personal, a two-run shot to left middle to make the rating 3-1 in favor of OU.

After the Wildcats labored a run within the fifth to slice the deficit in half, Nicklaus would as soon as once more get it proper again for the Sooners with an RBI single to push the lead again to 2 runs at 4-2.

One inning later, third baseman Wallace Clark doubled the Oklahoma lead with a two-run double chopped over third base. The Sooners led 6-2 after six innings.

However, it was at this level that the Kansas State offense would begin to get it rolling.

The Wildcats scored two within the seventh on RBI hits from Kaelen Culpepper and Dylan Phillips to trim the deficit to 2 runs at 6-4.

KSU then jumped in entrance within the eighth hanging for 4 runs on a solo dwelling run by Josh Nicoloff, an RBI double by Justin Mitchell and a two-run homer by Dominic Johnson. 

The normally-reliable reliever Trevin Michael would end his day having allowed six earned runs and eight hits. 

“We won’t count on him (Michael) to exit and throw up goose eggs each time,” Johnson mentioned. “He is good. It is like I instructed him in there, that is the man we would like up.

“He’ll be good the remainder of the 12 months.”

Oklahoma would work one run again within the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Horton, however that may be all because the Wildcats bullpen held on for the 8-7 win. 

The robust loss drops Oklahoma to 27-15 on the 12 months and ends their Massive 12 successful streak at 5 video games, transferring their league document right down to 9-6. 

“We have put ourselves in a very good place (within the convention standings),” Johnson mentioned. “That is what we’re on the lookout for, our aim is to win the convention. That is what we need to do.”

After a time without work on Monday, the Sooners will step out of Massive 12 play for a midweek conflict at Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night time.