Oklahoma Baseball: Big Game Experience Key for Sooners in Omaha

NORMAN — Behind consistent pitching, power hitting and a chip on the shoulder, the Sooners completed upset after upset en route to punching their ticket to Omaha and the College World Series.

After accomplishing the coveted postseason feat, Oklahoma starts its biggest stretch of games of the season on Friday — and that’s saying something.

The Sooners have played on some of the sport’s top stages multiple times this season, preparing them for the bright lights in Omaha.

"We've played on quite a few big stages this year," said pitcher Jake Bennett. "Just having that experience under your belt kinda eases the nerves a little bit."

During the regular season, Skip Johnson’s team travelled to Globe Life Field on four separate occasions, including the Big 12 Tournament, playing many high stakes games. Aside from Globe Life, the Sooners played stiff competition at Minute Maid Park in Houston, and won a neutral road games against Oklahoma State at ONEOK Field in Tulsa and Texas Tech in Amarillo.

Ramping up the regular season competition by playing in big time environments has already helped the Sooners in postseason play. Oklahoma has won back-to-back series on the road as underdogs, knocking off Florida at the Gainesville regional and Virginia Tech at the Blacksburg super regional.

Playing in high-level games, especially on the road in hostile environments, has helped the Sooners develop a calm, confident and undisturbed mindset. It’s been a point of emphasis to tune out the outside noise, and focus on what has gotten them to this point.

"It feels comfortable for us," said catcher Jimmy Crooks. "We're really comfortable playing on the road. We didn't get to host, and it's okay, I don't think it really bothers us as a team. I think it just makes us a little bit stronger in a sense."

Trusting big game experience and settling in will be key for Oklahoma in Omaha. Experience in the spotlight on some of the biggest stages seems to give the Sooners an obvious edge.

"Ever since we got here in the fall, our main goal was try to get to Omaha, try to win the whole thing," said Crooks. "All of our hard work in the fall with weights and practicing everyday is just paying off, we can feel it right now. It won't really hit us ‘til we step on that field."

Oklahoma begins its quest for a third national championship Friday at 1 p.m. against No. 5 Texas A&M.

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