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OU Baseball: Oklahoma Offense Rallies, But Pitching Falls Short at Dallas Baptist

The Sooners used back-to-back long balls to overcome a four-run deficit, but OU's bullpen couldn't keep the momentum going.
John E. Hoover|
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Offense Rallies, But Pitching Falls Short at Dallas Baptist
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Offense Rallies, But Pitching Falls Short at Dallas Baptist

Oklahoma got a late offensive spark, but the Sooners’ bullpen ultimately came apart.

Dallas Baptist leadoff hitter Nathan Humphreys pounded a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to break open a tie game and beat OU 11-7 on Tuesday night at Horner Ballpark in Dallas.

OU fell to 2-2 after a successful opening weekend at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Dallas Baptist improved to 4-0 on the young season.

OU rallied from four runs down with a pair of runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh — on back-to-back home runs from Michael Snyder and Jackson Nicklaus — to tie it at 7-7.

But the Sooners’ rally couldn’t keep up with their shaky relief pitching in the late innings.

The offense wasted opportunities early as OU put the leadoff runner on base in each of the first four innings but turned that success into just two runs.

Bryce Madron’s single to left-center field scored John Spikerman to put the Sooners up 1-0 in the first inning.

After DBU jumped in front 2-1 on Miguel Santos’ two-out, two-run home run to right-center, the Sooners knotted it up on Jackson Nicklaus’ leadoff home run in the top of the second.

Spikerman and Madron opened the third inning with back-to-back singles, but after two OU strikeouts, Spikerman was caught stealing for the third out.

In the fourth, Michael Snyder led off with a walk, but was then picked off first base. That was followed by two more strikeouts that left the game deadlocked at 2-2.

DBU gained separation in the bottom of the fourth against OU starter Grant Stevens, however.

Tom Poole led off with an infield single that rolled deep to second base, where Nicklaus’ throw to first deflected off Stevens’ glove. Luke Heefner ripped a triple down the right field line to score Poole, breaking the tie and putting the Patriots back on top 3-2. After Alex Pendergast drew a walk, Humphreys singled to right to drive home Heefner for a 4-2 lead, and Ethan Mann singled up the middle to plate Pendergast for a 5-2 lead.

OU nearly answered in the fifth when Kendall Pettis hit a one-out single to left and Spikerman added a single to right. But Madron grounded out and Easton Carmichael struck out to kill the rally.

Stevens, a left-handed transfer from University of the Pacific, allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts for the Sooners.

DBU added to its lead off OU reliever Will Carsten in the bottom of the fifth, making it 6-2 when Pendergast reached on an infield single behind the bag at second to score Poole, who had led off with a single, stole second and took third on a groundout.

Snyder sparked things in the sixth with a one-out triple into the right-field corner and raced home on a wild pitch by DBU reliever Jerrod Jenkins to make it 6-3.

After Nicklaus walked, Scott Mudler bounced a two-out infield single to third to put runners at first and second, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Jenkins then beaned Pettis to load the bases and force a pitching change.

Lefty Dillon Haines’ wild pitch allowed Nicklaus to score from third and cut the lead to 6-4, but Haines then struck out the red-hot Spikerman to quell the Sooners’ rally.

Mann got the run back for the Patriots immediately, smashing a slider from Carsten, a colossal shot over the fence in left field and nearly out of the stadium that made it 7-4.

But the Sooner lineup was not done.

Snyder pounded a 2-0 off-speed pitch from Haines over the wall in left center field to score Carmichael and cut the lead to 7-6.

Nicklaus followed that up with a solo blast to straightaway center that chased Haines and tied it at 7-7.

Left-hander Jace Miner got two outs around a walk in the bottom of the seventh, but OU coach Skip Johnson called in right-hander Jacob Gholston, who issued a four-pitch walk in his first collegiate appearance and was immediately pulled for Dylan Crooks.

Crooks induced a ground ball from Chayton Krauss, but the high hop deflected off Crooks’ glove to load the bases for Humphreys, who crushed his grand slam high over the wall in center field.

Madron led off the top of the ninth with a single up the middle, but Carmichael grounded into a double play and Rocco Garza-Gongora grounded out to end it.

Madron went 3-for-5, Spikerman was 2-for-4 and Snyder and Nicklaus were both 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Nicklaus scored three runs for the Sooners as OU left just five runners on base.

Humphreys finished with two hits and five RBIs for DBU.

Oklahoma’s bullpen gave up six earned runs in four innings. Reid Hensley struck out the side in the eighth.

OU leads the all-time series with DBU 26-17, but the Patriots have had plenty of success recently — especially in Dallas. Last year’s road victory by the Sooners was OU’s first at Horner Ballpark since 2010.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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