Oklahoma CWS Notebook: Another Rookie, a Quick Pick and Brock's Bomb

OMAHA, NE — Oklahoma will try to go 3-for-3 on dynamite freshman pitchers when the Sooners get back to Charles Schwab Field on Wednesday night.

Following the path laid before him by Cord Rager (9-0 shutout of Alabama) and Xander Mercurius (4-3 win over Georgia), Nick Wesloski will take the mound at the College World Series when OU resumes against whoever survives Tuesday night’s elimination game between the Bulldogs and the Longhorns.

OU coach Skip Johnson’s decision to go with three freshmen on the game’s biggest stage has worked out pretty well so far.

The other guys were great, so no pressure on Wesloski, right?

Well … right.

“No, no,” Wesloski said after practice Tuesday at Bellevue East High School. “I mean it's the same Sooner baseball we've been playing all year. So no matter if there's — I said earlier — no matter if there's five fans or 50,000 fans in the stands, we're gonna go out and trust Skip to put us in the right position. Just baseball.”

Wesloski’s first collegiate start came two weeks ago against The Citadel — in the NCAA Tournament Atlanta Regional. In a career-long seven innings, he gave up three earned runs (five total) on six hits and two walks. He struck out four in the Sooners’ 15-5 win and threw 105 total pitches.

He charted Mercurius’ pitches on Monday, and he liked how both started have conducted themselves under the bright lights against the elite competition.

“These guys, Cord and Xander, are awesome,” he said. “ … We live in the same dorm together, so I see them outside of the field. I see him on the field, and the way that these guys go out compete is super special. And you know, it's been a real fun season to get to watch them go out there.”

What qualities does Johnson like about his latest freshman phenom?

“Quarterback in high school. Tough kid,” he said. “Works extremely hard and gets after it, you know? I mean, he pitched really well for us in the regional, and it's his time to go out and shine.”

The Sooners need just one more win to return to the CWS Championship Series, which begins Saturday. If they win Wednesday, they’re in. If OU loses, they’ll return on Thursday for a winner-take-all rematch with either Georgia or Texas.

Quick Pick

Maybe one of the overlooked plays in the Sooners’ 4-3 victory over Georgia came in the fourth inning, when Xander Mercurius wheeled and fired to Jaxon Willits at second base to pick off Ryan Wynn.

The Bulldogs had just gotten on the scoreboard against Mercurius when Kenny Ishikawa hit a two-out home run to cut OU’s lead to 3-1. Wynn doubled to left, but he wasn’t on base very long. A replay review confirmed that he was indeed out on Willits’ deft tag.

The out might have saved a run, as Brennan Hudson led off the Bulldogs’ next inning with a solo home run. If Wynn is still on second base when Hudson comes to the plate, a Hudson home run there could have meant a tie game late.

Willits broke down how the play unfolded from his perspective behind Wynn.

“I feel like I kind of saw the way he was taking his lead,” Willits said. “The first pitch he was on second, he was doing a five-step lead, and on his fifth step he still had his chest facing third. And he went 0-1. So, I'm, like, ‘Well, I'm not going to it with an 0-1 count. But if he throws a ball here, we're going to run a pick.

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“He threw a changeup in the dirt, and I'm, like, ‘Man, now's the time. Now's the opportunity.’ So we ran a quick pick.

“And I feel like all the times that nobody wants to work on that in the fall when it's 100 degrees and everybody's complaining that we have to do team defense for 45 minutes — it all came together in that one play.”

“That's that's one thing … you hope that they get,” Johnson said, “and he realizes that in that moment right there is a big out. We talk about it as coaches, like, ‘Hey, pay attention to it, make the game like all those things that matter, and then you never know when a big out like that happens.

“Guy leads off for the double, boom, he goes and back, picks, and it was in a big moment for us. He gave us a little bit momentum, and I think (Brendan) Brock hit a home run the next inning.”

Brock Bomb

It was indeed the fourth inning that Oklahoma got that run back thanks another huge moment: Brendan Brock’s solo home run pushed the OU lead back to three at 4-1.

There wasn’t any real science or emotional inspiration behind Brock’s 13th homer of the year, he said.

“I mean, I just tried to put a good swing on, and you know, trying to pass the baton,” he said Tuesday. “I was trying to pass it on to Dasan (Harris), and (Dayton) Tockey, and then (Kyle) Branch, and then J-Walk (Jason Walk). Keep going, and yeah, all our guys just kept passing the baton.”

Brock acknowledged he’s amazed that he’s getting to live out the dream his younger self imagined by making college baseball’s final four.

“I still don't believe it,” he said. “Honestly, I think it'll take a couple months for me to come back down to earth and kind of realize how cool this is. But right now, we're just playing baseball.”

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