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Oklahoma Defeats Dallas Baptist in a Slow-Burn Midweek Affair

The dreaded DBU Patriots were tough as always, but the Sooners made just a few more plays to earn a victory.
Brady Trantham|
Oklahoma infielder Camden Johnson throws to first base against Gonzaga.
Oklahoma infielder Camden Johnson throws to first base against Gonzaga. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

The 47th meeting between the No. 12-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Dallas Baptist Patriots finally got the home team in the win column for the first time in four games.

OU defeated the visiting Patriots 2-0, bringing the series lead to 27-20 in favor of the Sooners. It was a game where both teams left runners stranded in scoring position five times (three for DBU), featured three hit batters, eight Sooner pitchers and saw three reviews.

Dallas Baptist (8-5) has long been a thorn in the side of the OU baseball program. DBU had won 18 of the previous 24 matchups (seven of the last nine) dating back to April 19, 2011. Tuesday night's midweek matchup, however, went to Oklahoma (11-2) in a slow-burn affair.

Skip Johnson elected to get midweek starter lefty Jaden Barfield (3-1) back on track following last week's disastrous outing against Arizona State. Barfield's quick 1-2-3 outing with two strikeouts was so efficient that Johnson's next pitcher, right-hander Isaac Williams, matched the feat in the second inning.

That’s when Oklahoma got its first hit of the game — a double off the bat of Drew Dickerson, who’s hitting .350 on the year. OU was retired in the next at-bat.

Johnson again went to the bullpen to open the third inning, this time calling on right-hander Xander Mercurius.

Oklahoma Sooners, Jason Walk
Oklahoma outfielder Jason Walk slides to home plate against Gonzaga. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Things got hairy quickly when Mercurius’s fastball nicked the elbow pad of Dallas Baptist center fielder Landon Underhill, giving the Patriots their first baserunner of the game. Mercurius then allowed a single, putting two on with nobody out.

He quickly settled down, retiring the next three at-bats to keep the game scoreless.

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Third baseman Camden Johnson, who came into the night leading the SEC and ranking second nationally with 21 RBIs, logged the second hit of the game in the third inning.

That led to an RBI-single by Deiten LaChance two at-bats later. Kyle Branch made it home before LaChance was thrown out trying stretch the single into a double, ending the inning with Oklahoma leading 1-0.

The fourth inning found Mercurius in the same situation he was in during the third. With one out and nobody on, the freshman from Las Vegas issued back-to-back walks. Once again, Mercurius left the Patriots runners stranded by retiring the next two hitters to escape the inning.

With the score still at 1-0 in the fifth, Johnson pulled in his fifth pitcher of the evening, right-hander Michael Catalano. With two outs, Dallas Baptist had runners on the corners after a third HBP of the evening and a DBU single. Catalano again escaped with a fly out for the third out—the third consecutive inning the Patriots had a runner in scoring position only to come up empty.

Play was temporarily halted with two outs in the top of sixth inning when the home umpire Shawn Arthur was struck in the mask by a pitch. After the 20-minute delay, Arthur left the game and was replaced by umpire John Perez.

Oklahoma Sooners Michael Catalano
Oklahoma pitcher Michael Catalano | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Left-hander Gavyn Jones came on in the seventh inning to retire the first three DBU at-bats with two Ks.

Jaxon Willits earned Oklahoma's third hit of the game with a lead-off double (his fifth of the season, tied for team lead). With two outs, two on, and Jason Walk at the plate, an Avery Duncan wild pitch led to Willits and Trey Gambill advancing to third and second.

That's when Walk hit a grounder directly to Duncan. Walk, with his speed, and Duncan being a tad casual with the ball, beat the throw to first. However, a review ruled that Walk was beaten by the throw for the third out—OU leaving two on, still leading 1-0.

In the bottom of the eighth and one out, Dasan Harris scored off LaChance's second RBI—this a sacrifice fly—to give the Sooners some insurance at 2-0.

With one out, closer Jackson Cleveland gave up a lead-off single in the ninth inning and walked the third batter to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Cleveland struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Oklahoma will host a four-game series with Santa Clara starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Sooners will play a double-header on Saturday afternoon and evening before closing the series on Sunday. UT-Arlington will head to Norman for the midweek clash before the Sooners gear up for SEC play with Texas A&M the following weekend.

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Brady Trantham
BRADY TRANTHAM

Brady Trantham covered the Oklahoma City Thunder as the lead Thunder Insider from 2018 until 2021 for 107.7 The Franchise. During that time, Trantham also helped the station as a fill-in guest personality and co-hosted Oklahoma Sooner postgame shows. Trantham also covered the Thunder for the Norman Transcript and The Oklahoman on a freelance basis. He received his BA in history from the University of Oklahoma in 2014 and a BS in Sports Casting from Full Sail University in 2023. Trantham also founded and hosts the “Through the Keyhole” podcast, covering Oklahoma Sooners football. He was born in Oklahoma and raised as an Air Force brat all over the world before returning to Norman and setting down roots there.

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