OU Baseball: Cade Crossland Steps Up as Oklahoma Bats Come to Life vs. Vanderbilt

NORMAN — Oklahoma pitcher Cade Crossland was asked to move up a spot in the rotation.

Now, might he stay there?

The Sooners’ hard-charging left-hander threw his best game of the year on Friday night against No. 14-ranked Vanderbilt as OU beat the Commodores 9-4 at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

No. 19 Oklahoma improved to 24-9 overall and 6-7 in SEC play, while Vandy fell to 25-9 and 7-6.

The importance of the Vanderbilt series is high after Sooners were swept last week by LSU and lost two out of three the week before at Alabama.

Oklahoma’s bats had produced just five runs in its previous four games, but they supported Crossland plenty by scoring four runs in the first inning and then adding three more in the seventh and two in the eighth.

Crossland, a junior from Rockwall, TX, who began his career at Division II Ouachita Baptist before a stint at Weatherford (TX) Junior College, began the year in the bullpen before a couple of midweek starts. He came out of the pen in the opening conference series against South Carolina, and on Friday made his sixth start of the season — his fourth in an SEC game.

It was his first time to start a series opener, however, after ace Kyson Witherspoon was scratched due to back spasms.

Crossland got knocked around in starts against Mississippi State (eight runs in three innings, two strikeouts and three walks) and LSU (five runs in five innings, six Ks and two walks), but he threw very well against Alabama (two runs in six innings with seven strikeouts and just one walk).

His last two starts against LSU and Bama — both five-plus innings, 13 combined strikeouts, just three walks — gave OU coach Skip Johnson the confidence to move him into Witherspoon’s spot. Johnson said during the broadcast that Witherspoon — easily the Sooners’ best pitcher over the first half of the season — is expected to pitch in Game 2 on Saturday. It’s also entirely likely that Witherspoon would resume his Friday night role next week at Missouri.

Still, Crossland’s quality start gives Johnson some options. He pitched a 1-2-3 first inning with a strikeout, then struck out the side in the second around a Vanderbilt double. In the third, Crossland gave up three singles, including an RBI hit, but then he recorded two more strikeouts to end that rally. His seventh strikeout ended another three-up, three-down fourth inning.

“I thought he really located his fastball and made some really good off-speed pitches when he needed to,” Johnson said during a fourth-inning in-game TV interview. “Gotta keep those guys off balance. … He made quality pitches.”

Crossland got two quick outs to open the fifth, but then issued back-to-back walks before Jaxon Willits went deep behind second base to scoop a hot grounder and finished it off with a pirouette and perfect throw to first.

Crossland went 5 2/3 innings and gave up just one earned run on five hits and two walks with an OU career-high eight strikeouts. He threw 103 pitches (63 strikes) and allowed only one extra-base hit among 24 batters faced.

With Crossland in control, the OU offense got going early.

Vanderbilt starter J.D. Thompson had walked only 12 hitters all season, but he walked Trey Gambill and Willits to open the first inning.

Gambill was thrown out at third trying to advance on a bouncing pitch behind the plate, but then Easton Carmichael also drew a base on balls to put runners at first and second.

Sam Christiansen’s double down the first base line rolled into the right field corner and scored Willits to give the Sooners a 1-0 lead, and Jason Walk’s first triple of the season made it to the fence in right center, scoring Carmichael and Christiansen for a 3-0 lead.

Drew Dickerson’s groundout to third allowed Walk to score easily as Oklahoma jumped in front 4-0.

Crossland yielded the three hits in the third inning, including an RBI single by Mac Rose that made it 4-1 before leaving with two out in the sixth after a Vandy single by Jonathan Vastine.

Jamie Hitt, another lefty, replaced Crossland and immediately advanced Vastine with a wild pitch, and Vastine strolled home on third baseman Dawson Willis’ throwing error that cut the OU lead to 4-2. But Dayton Tockey ended the threat by handling a mile-high fly ball at first base.

Commodores leadoff man Jacob Humphrey blasted a solo home run to right field off Hitt in the top of the seventh to make it 4-3.

Willits immediately got that run back when he smashed a 2-2 pitch from Miller Green deep into the night well past the left field wall, his ninth home run of the season, to give OU a 5-3 lead.

The Sooners weren’t done scoring, however. After Green got two outs, Walk singled to right center, then moved to second on a wayward pickoff throw. Dickerson walked to put runners at first and second, and Walk came all the way home from second base on a wild pitch by Green to make it 6-3.

Dayton Tockey then ripped a double inside the bag at first base to score Dickerson for a 7-3 lead.

The Sooners added two more in the eighth when Willis singled to left, stole second and came home on Gambill’s single to center for an 8-3 lead.

Willits then singled that moved Gambill to third, and Gambill came home on another wild pitch — one that sent Willits from first to third — as Oklahoma’s lead grew to 9-3.

Tockey went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI, while Walk was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Gambill and Willits each had two hits.

OU’s defense matched the Sooners’ excellent hitting and pitching.

Walk’s running, leaping, acrobatic catch in center field in the top of the eighth was one of a handful of gems by the Sooner defense. Carmichael also made a full-extension catch of a foul bunt behind home plate in the third.

Michael Catalano pitched the ninth for the Sooners and gave up a run on a double by Colin Barczi, who came home on two deep fly balls.

The teams meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday’s finale starts at 2 p.m.

OU travels to Stillwater next Tuesday to take on Bedlam rival Oklahoma State.