Oklahoma Baseball: Cowboys Take Game One in Dominating Fashion

The Sooners were completely outmatched at home in the first game of Bedlam.

NORMAN — Expectations were sky high heading into Norman’s first three-game Bedlam series since 1982. Oklahoma State had different plans.

The Sooners fell flat against the Cowboys in blowout fashion, dropping the series opener 13-2.

“That’s baseball, tomorrow it’s zero to zero," head coach Skip Johnson said. "That’s the unique opportunity about the game is you get to wake up tomorrow, and it’s a new opportunity.”

Colin Brueggeman notched the play of the evening for the Cowboys, blasting a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning, and from there, Oklahoma State never looked back. He finished the night batting 2-of-4 with two home runs and five RBI's.

Braxton Douthit started on the mound for the Sooners and had a forgettable outing, giving up five hits and 10 runs in three innings. He notched four strikeouts on the night before Oklahoma turned elsewhere.

“You give free bases and you don’t play defense, that’s basically how you lose momentum of the game," Johnson said after the loss. "And all of a sudden, it just spins out of control.”

Dakota Harris and Kendall Pettis led the way for Oklahoma, each recording two hits with Harris notching a double.

In need of a massive midseason spark, Oklahoma had to grind to even make this Bedlam series meaningful across the national picture. Johnson's club sat at 19-19 overall and 4-8 in the Big 12 before catching fire down the stretch.

Since the Sooners reached .500, they rattled off a 10-3 record and seven massive conference wins to jump back into the postseason picture. After opening the crucial Bedlam series, Oklahoma is a 29-23 overall and a 10-12 in conference.

Oklahoma State (36-15, 14-8) put OU’s hype to rest in a hurry.

Things started off rocky for Douthit and the Sooners, allowing a hit, a walk and a hit-by-pitch within the first three Cowboy batters. Oklahoma State had the bases loaded with no outs on the board. Oklahoma’s defense battled, though, finding three quick outs and giving up just a single run. Jackson Nicklaus bobbled a potential double-play ball at second, which allowed the lone run to score, but the Sooners avoided a disastrous start.

Oklahoma’s first run through the order was quickly put to rest with Nolan McLean’s strikeout against Pettis. Harris netted a single to first, but the Sooners couldn’t make anything happen. Oklahoma State led 1-0 after the first inning of play.

In the second inning, the Cowboys picked up right where they left off planting two runners in scoring position almost immediately. Roc Riggio drilled a shot to left field, scoring both OSU runners and extending the lead to 3-0.

When the Sooners took to the plate, Nicklaus piped a rocket to right center advancing Carmichael to third base. Sebastian Orduno was walked on the next at-bat, loading the bases for Oklahoma. That’s where the fun ended, though, as Rocco Garza-Gongora struck out and Anthony Mackenzie popped one up near the dugout. Oklahoma left the bases loaded, still trailing 3-0 at the end of the second.

The Sooners found a way out of a self-inflicted hole in both the first and second innings, but things went south in a hurry in the top of the third. Oklahoma’s errors took a toll, loading the bases for the Cowboys once again thanks to two walks and another batter hit-by-pitch. With three runners on, Brueggemann launched a grand slam to right field, and extending Oklahoma State’s lead to 7-0.

Once again, the Sooners found life on the offensive end with a couple walks and a Pettis single. Easton Carmichael, who notched two hits on the evening, found his way home with a bases-loaded walk, giving the Sooners a run on the board. Once again, though, the Sooners couldn’t build off the momentum, leaving the bases juiced and ending the inning trailing 7-1.

Somehow, matters worsened in the fourth inning. Chase Adkinson’s single brought Riggio home, and a wild pitch on the next play scored another runner. With Adkinson as the lone Cowboy left on the bases, Tyler Wulfert hammered a two-run shot down the line, extending Oklahoma State’s lead to 11-1.

Oklahoma went down quietly in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning, setting up Brueggeman for his second homer of the night — a solo shot to left field. After six, the Cowboys led the Sooners 12-1.

With Oklahoma trailing 12-1 in the bottom of the seventh, both Harris and Pettis notched back-to-back hits to give the Sooners life. John Spikerman grounded into a double play in the Sooners next at-bat, however, cutting off Oklahoma’s momentum and ending the inning.

Peyton Olejnik made an appearance in the top of the eighth as relief for the Sooners. He brought home a Cowboy run, hitting Marcus Brown with the bases loaded, but was able to find a way out of the inning surrenduring a single score.

In the bottom of the ninth, Oklahoma found a second run by way of a Carmichael single up the middle. His shot brought Patrick Engskov home, cutting the Cowboys' lead to 13-2.

That was the end of the action, as Nicklaus struck out swinging on the very next at-bat. Oklahoma went down in blowout fashion.

Game two of Bedlam is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, as the Sooners look to bounce back in a big way.