Sooners Send Aggies to Losers' Bracket
OMAHA, Neb. – Oklahoma rode a seven-run second inning to the winner's bracket, shaking off a six-game losing streak to Texas A&M in the process, 13-8.
The Sooners will face the winner of Texas and Notre Dame Sunday evening while the Aggies away the loser Sunday afternoon.
PLAY BY PLAY RECAP
The College World Series opens with a game between former Big 12 foes.
Texas A&M comes in on a six-game winning streak against Oklahoma.
WEATHER: It will be 88 degrees at first pitch with a high of 90 and an east wind at 10 mph.
Texas A&M will be the home team today. The Aggies are wearing white shirts and pants with Texas Aggies on the chest. Oklahoma is wearing all gray uniforms with red pinstripes and Oklahoma across the chest in all caps.
Top 1st: Oklahoma 1, Texas A&M 0
Nathan Dettmer will take the mound for Texas A&M. John Spikerman and Peyton Graham will get things started at the plate for Oklahoma.
Dettmer starting the game consistently at 95 mph as he works a 1-2 count.
A pitch in the dirt inside makes it a full count, followed by a pitch low over the middle of the plate to put Spikerman on first with a walk.
Graham comes to the plate. At 6-4, 171, he looks like a stiff wind would blow him back to the dugout, but looks are deceiving. Graham comes in with 20 home runs.
Graham takes a high pitch to right field on a grounder between first and second that moves Spikerman to third base with no outs.
Blake Robertson comes to the plate looking for an RBI. Robertson drives a pitch down into the ground for a slow, high chopper to short. Because the grounder got up in the air, Robertson drives in a run and the only play is the force out at first. Graham moves to second.
Tanner Treadway turns on an inside pitch and drives it completely out of the park. However, it carries foul. He lifts a high fly to center that keeps Graham at second with two outs.
Jimmy Crooks grounds to short and Dettmer gets out of the inning.
BOTTOM 1st: Oklahoma 1, Texas A&M 0
Trevor Warner, Jack Moss and Dylan Rock will open the CWS at the plate for Texas A&M. Jake Bennett is on the mound for Oklahoma.
Bennett strikes out Warner on a 94 mph fast ball. Rock follows with a soft grounder to second to make it two outs.
Rock grounds to short and the Aggies go down in order.
TOP 2nd: Oklahoma 8, Texas A&M 0
Wallace Clark, Jackson Nicklaus and Brett Squires lead off the second for Oklahoma.
Dettmer seems more settled on the mound as he quickly strikes out Clark to open the inning.
Nicklaus falls behind in the count, but manages a walk with one out.
Squires turns on an 0-2 slider and he launched a deep shot to right that just barely slid to the right of a foul pole. On the next pitch he popped up to the infield for the second out.
Kendall Pettis comes to the plate and gets hit by an 0-2 pitch. The replay shows the ball hit off the nob of the bat, but he goes to first anyway. That brings Oklahoma back to the top of the lineup with runners at first and second.
Spikerman hits a slow roller just off the first base line that neither Dettmer, nor the first baseman can get in time to load the bases. Dettmer walks Graham on four straight pitches after a visit to the mound by coaches to walk in a run.
Dettmer goes fast ball down the pipe and Robertson grounds a shot off the mound that is just beyond the reach of a diving Targac at second base to drive in a pair of runs.
Treadway bloops a ball just over the gap between second and third to drive home another run and Oklahoma has extended the lead to 5-0 with this two-out rally.
Schlosnagle brings in Joseph Menefee who immediately gives up a 3-run blast over the right field wall on his second pitch to Crooks and things are getting out of hand for the Aggies. That shot into the OU bullpen makes it five runs this innings with two outs.
Menefee gets Clark to ground out, but the damage is done.
BOTTOM 2nd: Oklahoma 8, Texas A&M 3
The good news for the Aggies is they have eight at-bats to come back.
Austin Bost flies out to center followed by a long fly ball to nearly the exact same spot by Targac for two quick outs.
Aggies catcher Troy Claunch finally gets something positive going for A&M with a grounder between the right side gap for a single.
Brett Minnich battles through several pitches before lining a sharp hit to right to put runners at first and second with two outs.
Jordan Thompson comes up with a chance to start a rally and get an RBI. He responds to the moment with a 3-run home run into the A&M bullpen to make it 8-3.
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Kole Kaler grounds out to end the inning.
TOP 3rd: Oklahoma 8, Texas A&M 3
Menefee walks Nicklaus to open the inning. Claunch makes a perfect throw to second to gun down Nicklaus for the first out of the inning.
Squires is hit on the hand. It was ruled that he wasn't in the process of swinging as he checked his swing. Had it been ruled that he didn't hold up on the swing, he would have been out.
Pettis walks to put runners on first and second with one out. Every Sooner to come to the plate has been put on by a walk or hit-by-pitch so far this inning.
Menefee strikes out Spikerman for the second out. He then gets Graham, who is the highest rated MLB prospect in the CWS, to pop out to right field to get out of the inning with no damage.
BOTTOM 3rd: Oklahoma 8, Texas A&M 3
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Werner opens the inning with a deep fly to right for the first out of the inning.
Bennett gets Moss to ground out to short. He has opened with a strike to all but one of the dozen batters he has faced so far today.
He then strikes out Rock to close the inning and send OU into the fourth with an 8-3 lead.
TOP 4th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 3
Treadway hits a roller down the first base line, but Menefee didn't realize he didn't scoop the ball up before tagging the runner. Treadway awarded a hit.
Texas A&M puts on an extreme shift, moving the third baseman almost all the way to second. Crooks recognizes the shift and drops the bunt toward third base. Menefee scoops it up, but throws high as he wheels around for the throw to first, putting runners on first and second with one out.
Menefee walks Clark, not only loading the bases, but officially having every Sooner starting hitter reach base.
After a meeting at the mound, Schlossnagle opts to keep Menefee in the game. Nicklaus makes the skipper pay for the decision by blasting the next pitch into the top of the OU bullpen in right field for a grand slam.
Cade Horton comes in as a pinch hitter and burns a grounder to a diving Werner at third. Werner is unable to make a clean throw and Horton is on with a single with one out.
Menefee strikes out Pettis on a nasty pitch to get to two outs. He then gets Spikerman to fly out to center to get out of the inning.
BOTTOM 4th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Bost again answers an OU home run to the Sooners bullpen with a home to the A&M bullpen on the first pitch of the inning.
Bennett gets Targac out swinging for the first out of the inning. Claunch then tries to bunt, but the ball bounces up as he is running and hits him. The umpire calls interference, ruling Claunch out.
Minnich reaches to push a looping fly to right-center for an out to end the inning.
TOP 5th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Wyatt Tucker is now on the mound for the Aggies.
Graham flies out to right in what was almost a disaster for Texas A&M as both right field and shortstop went after it before Rock called it and hauled in the catch in a sprint.
Robertson walks to put a runner on first with one out. Treadway crushes a hard shot down the third baseline that is smothered by a diving Werner who gets up and makes the throw to first in time to get the second out.
Crooks then flies out to left end the inning.
BOTTOM 5th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Bennett back on the mound again.
Thompson grounds out to third. Kaler grounds out to short.
Werner keeps the two-out trend for both teams going with a hard liner to the gap in right field that he is able to stretch into a double with hard running.
For the second time this game a miscall at the plate has gone against the Aggies. Moss fouled a ball off his foot that was easy to see on replay, but after a meeting between officials, the umpire declared the inning done. It's not a reviewable play, so nothing could be done.
TOP 6th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Tucker strikes out Clark and Nicklaus. Bad news for Oklahoma as Squires is out of the CWS with a broken hand. He was hit by a pitch that was originally ruled a foul ball. Despite showing his trembling hand, it took a long time before officials agreed he had indeed been hit by a pitch.
Tucker strikes out the side as Sebastian Orduno strikes out swinging in a pinch hit at-bat.
BOTTOM 6th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Bennett gets Rock to ground out to third to start the inning. Bost hits a hard line drive to second, but it's caught. Then Targac hits a long drive to center that gets held up by the wind for the third out.
TOP 7th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 4
Tucker gets Pettis swinging for his fourth consecutive strikeout. Tucker records his second strikeout of the inning before Claunch throws out Spikerman to catch his second runner of the day stealing.
BOTTOM 7th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 8
Bennett is done for the day. He threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 23 batters he faced. Now David Sandlin comes in to face the Aggies.
Sandlin walks the lead-off batter and then hits Thompson with a pitch to put runners on first and second.
Kaler lines a single to left field that scores Claunch from second to score to cut the lead to 12-5, putting runners on first and second with one out.
Werner singles a line drive to short right field to bring home Thompson while advancing Kaler to third and it's now 12-6.
Sandlin exits. The Sooners now bring in their closer, Trevin Michael.
Moss loops a curve ball into shallow center to bring home Kaler and move Werner to third to cut the lead to five at 12-7.
Rock follows with a slow roller to short that brings Werner home and moves Moss to second. The Aggies give up an out, but cut the lead to 12-8.
Michael then gets Bost to fly out to center to finally get out of the inning.
TOP 8th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 8
Ryan Prager comes in for A&M.
Prager strikes out Robertson to open the inning. Treadway then grounds to short, but the throw is wide and he moves to second on the passed ball.
Prager then strikes out Crooks with a 98 mph fastball.
Clark draws a walk with two outs. Nicklaus then grounds into a fielder's choice to end the at-bat.
BOTTOM 8th: Oklahoma 12, Texas A&M 8
Targac will lead off the inning. Michael gets Targac to pop out to shallow left.
Claunch grounds out on a high chopper to short and the Aggies are now down to four outs to complete the comeback.
Minnich strikes out to end the inning.
TOP 9th: Oklahoma 13, Texas A&M 8
Ordundo leads off with a single to center. Chris Cortez then hit Pettis in the upper ribs near the chest on a bunt attempt to put runners at first and second with no outs.
Spikerman extends on a curveball to line a double to center to add an insurance run for the Sooners. That leaves runners on second and third before loading the bases for Robertson.
Robertson strikes out for the first out of the inning. Treadway then lined into a double play.
BOTTOM 9th: Oklahoma 13, Texas A&M 8
Jordan Thompson leads off the inning with a walk.
Kaler strikes out. Werner followed with another strikeout, bringing the Aggies to their final out. Moss pops out to left and it's over.