All Sooners

OU Baseball: Oklahoma Walks Off No. 2 Virginia in 12 Innings

The No. 20-ranked Sooners got their second win of the year against a top-10 opponent and improved to 6-0 with a dramatic victory over the Cavaliers in the Round Rock Classic.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma catcher Scott Mudler
Oklahoma catcher Scott Mudler | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

For 11 innings, Oklahoma stood toe-to-toe with college baseball’s No. 2-ranked team, and didn’t blink.

Then in the 12th, the No. 20-ranked Sooners seized the moment and walked off Virginia 5-4 in the final game of the Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond near Austin.

OU scored its second ranked win of the year already and improved to 6-0 on the season. Virginia fell to 3-3.

It was OU’s highest-ranked opponent since 2021, when Texas was ranked No. 2.

The Sooners opened the event by beating Minnesota and No. 7 Oregon State on Friday and Saturday, respectively, to start the season with five wins following last week’s season-opening sweep of Lehigh in Norman.

Pinch runner Brayden Horton scored the game-winning run on Dawson Willis’ bunt single to third base with nobody out in the 12th inning, forcing a throwing error by Luke Hanson that produced an unearned run and a dramatic Sooner victory.

OU got clutch relief pitching late from senior Dylan Crooks, who threw 42 pitches and tossed three scoreless innings, as well as a shutout frame in the top of the 12th by freshman left hander Jaden Barfield.

Oklahoma also got a solo home run from Jaxson Willits, an RBI single from Scott Mudler, an RBI double from Jason Walk and a clutch, pinch-hit, RBI single from Dayton Tockey to rally from an early three-run deficit before Virginia sent it to extra innings.

The Cavaliers jumped on top early off OU starter Cam Johnson, scoring three runs in the second inning.

Johnson gave up a leadoff single to Aidan Teel and then hit Trey Wells with a pitch to put two runners on. Harrison Didawick’s bunt was mishandled behind the plate by Mudler on the throw, and Teel scored from second to make it 1-0. Hanson then delivered a two-run single through the right side to bring home Wells and Didawick for a 3-0 lead.

Johnson, the Sooners’ talented left-handed sophomore transfer from LSU, struck out the side in the third inning and retired the last six hitters he faced. 

But Johnson didn’t come out for the fourth inning, instead giving way to right hander Gavyn Jones, who got through the fourth with three quick groundouts and also went three-up, three-down in the fifth.

In the bottom of the fourth, Oklahoma finally got on the scoreboard when Willits’ solo home run to right center field climbed over the wall to cut it to 3-1.

Kyle Branch singled to lead off OU’s fifth inning, and Mudler smacked a double off starter Tomas Valincius deep to the wall in right-center field that brought Branch home from first base to cut it 3-2. 

Mudler reached third on Brandon Cain’s two-strike sacrifice bunt, and he scored on Walk’s RBI double down the left-field line to tie it up at 3-3. 

Left hander Jamie Hitt came in for Jones with one on and one out in the sixth and got a fly ball and a strikeout to end the threat. 

Then in the seventh, Hitt got two outs and yielded a walk before Michael Catalano relieved him and induced an inning-ending fly ball.

The Sooners took their first lead in the bottom of the seventh when Branch doubled down the left field line to lead off against reliever Kevin Jaxel and Mudler moved Branch to third with a groundout.

Tockey came in to pinch hit, and after Virginia subbed Jaxel for lefty Blake Barker, Tockey slapped a 2-0 pitch into left field to score Branch easily for a 4-3 lead.

After another UVa pitching change to Drew Koenen, Tockey was ruled out at second base on an interference call for a double play ground ball by Willis that ended the rally.

Jason Boden relieved for the Sooners, and he walked catcher Jacob Ference to lead off the eighth. Boden then advanced Ference to second with a wild pitch, and Ference took third on Teel’s deep fly ball to center field on a 12-pitch at-bat. Ference then came home  on Wells’ sacrifice fly to center to knot it up at 4-4.

The Sooners nearly staged another rally in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Walk drew a leadoff walk from Koenen to open the frame, and after Willits flew out to left, Trey Gambill beat out an infield single to shortstop while Walk raced to third, giving OU runners at the corners with one out. 

After Easton Carmichael lined out to second, Sam Christiansen drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Branch.

Branch came into the at-bat hitting .524 this season, including a pair of hits already in his ledger against the Cavs, but Koenen induced a harmless fly ball to right field to end the threat.

Crooks came on to pitch the ninth for OU. He got a popup, but then gave up a single to Eric Becker in the leadoff spot. Becker was erased, however, when Mudler threw behind him at first base for a pick-off. Crooks struck out Henry Godbout on the next pitch to end the inning.

Oklahoma also had two early base-runners picked off as Christiansen and Mudler were erased by Valincius, a freshman left-hander, in the second and third innings, respectively.

Oklahoma Sooners

Tockey gave OU another quick jolt in the ninth with a one-out single through the left side, but that rally was quashed two pitches later when Willis grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Crooks pitched around a two-out walk in the top of the 10th, and Koenen needed just six pitches to get through the bottom, including first-pitch fly outs by Willits and Gambill.

Crooks got three quick outs in the 11th, and after Christiansen’s one-out single, Koenen took down OU with another rally-killing double play off Branch’s bat.

Barfield took the hill for OU to start the 12th, his collegiate debut, and was tough as nails, setting up the dramatic finish in the bottom of the frame. 

The Sooners are back at home Tuesday and Wednesday with a couple of 4 p.m. games against Texas Southern. Next weekend, OU hosts Cal State-Northridge.

Published | Modified
John E. Hoover
JOHN 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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