COLUMN: Pitching, Hitting, and Of Course Defense Power Oklahoma Over Notre Dame

OMAHA – Of course Oklahoma got another quality start on the hill. And of course the Sooners swung the bat like an offensive juggernaut.

Those have become almost a given.

But to beat Notre Dame on Sunday night at the College World Series, OU needed some blue chip defense – and they got it. Lots of it.

Oklahoma outlasted the Irish 6-2 in the nightcap at Charles Schwab Field largely because of outstanding glove work.

"They outplayed us in essentially every phase of the game," said Notre Dame coach Link Jarrett.

It started on Cade Horton's first pitch of the game, when first baseman Blake Robertson did his best Kendall Pettis impersonation and made an upside-down catch, flipping head-over-heels into the Notre Dame dugout.

"That was spectacular play," Horton said, who was on the mound when Pettis made his flip-catch into the dugout last week at Virginia Tech. "Honestly, at this point I think I'm starting to get spoiled by all these great catches."

"Played really good defense," said OU coach Skip Johnson.

That was just the beginning.

Peyton Graham squelched a potential Irish rally in the eighth inning by starting a slick 6-4-3 double play, followed by Tanner Tredaway’s diving catch in center field to end the inning.

Graham also ranged deep in the hole behind second base for what became a routine out in the third inning.

Pettis – who caught a foul ball by flipping over the dugout fence at Virginia Tech last week to help clinch the Super Regional victory – caught a ball over the shoulder on the warning track to keep a runner at first base in the fifth inning.

Third baseman Wallace Clark got the first out of the seventh inning with a high, leaping stab of a hot line drive, then turned a double play during a tense ninth inning.

And second baseman Jackson Nicklaus saved an errant Graham throw to second – and ended Notre Dame’s first real scoring threat – to record the inning-ending out in the fourth inning with runners at first and second.

All those web gems supported Horton’s fourth consecutive quality start: 6 innings, two runs allowed on just five hits scattered and one walk and a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Robertson's catch, followed by all those other plays, "did settle me down and make me more comfortable," Horton said. " This defense behind me is incredible. ... They all make great plays for me and that makes it easy to challenge up the hitter."

"They know they're gonna put whatever they had to do to make a play," Johnson said. "What he did was incredible. It might not have settled Cade down, but it settled me down when he went over there and caught that ball, because it was an important out."

Horton gave up a two-run home run in the sixth inning to cut OU’s lead to 5-2, then fired his 100th pitch for his final strikeout and turned the late innings over to Jaret Godman and closer Trevin Michael, who recorded his 11th save.

The Sooners also hit like they have been for the past month. Graham went 4-for-4, Tredaway was 3-for-4, and Nicklaus was 2-for-4, helping pile up a total of 12 hits. OU hit two doubles and worked Irish pitchers for six walks and a hit batter, and did all that offensive damage with Sebastian Orduno filling in for DH Brett Squires, who went down with a broken hand on Friday against the Aggies.

"They played a really complete game," Jarrett said. " ... That ability they had to finish us didn't give us enough opportunities to truly threaten them."

OU jumped ahead to Wednesday’s bracket finals for a rematch with either Notre Dame or Texas A&M.

The Sooners (44-22) are now one win away from the CWS Championship Series next weekend. If they play defense on Wednesday like they did Sunday night, they’ll get there.

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