OU Baseball: Oklahoma's Bullpen Falters in Loss to Baylor

After Braxton Douthit worked four scoreless innings, the OU bullpen allowed ten runs in the final five frames on Thursday.

A missed opportunity in the series opener.

After rolling over Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Oklahoma returned to Big 12 play on Thursday night in a series-opening tilt against Baylor at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, TX.

Despite jumping out to a comfortable early lead, the Sooners (16-15, 2-5) wound up on the wrong end of the scoreboard after some bullpen troubles, losing to the Bears (11-19, 3-7) by a final score of 10-6.

While the night didn’t end well, things started off quite positively for Oklahoma on Thursday as they struck for four quick runs in the second inning.

Rocco Garza-Gongora got the scoring started with an RBI fielder’s choice before Jackson Nicklaus scored two on an infield single.

J-Nick singled home two more!

💻 ESPN+ | @j_nicklaus15 pic.twitter.com/x2viaR8cKk

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) April 7, 2023

Anthony Mackenzie later tacked on another run on an RBI groundout to give the Sooners a 4-0 lead in the early going.

Getting the start on the mound for Skip Johnson’s club was right-hander Braxton Douthit, who continued his rock solid season.

The transfer pitcher worked four shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four - lowering his season ERA down to 2.95.

But, going on short rest having worked deep into the game less than a week ago last Saturday, Douthit was removed before the fifth inning at 83 pitches.

It was at that point that some of OU’s bullpen demons would crop up again, as right-hander Carson Pierce entered and ran into serious trouble.

Pierce promptly gave up five straight hits to tie the game, highlighted by a back-breaking bases-clearing triple by Kolby Branch.

Left-hander Carter Campbell would enter the inning and do a good job to limit the damage and keep the game tied, but that didn’t last for long.

Two innings later, the Bears took their first lead with Cole Tremaine pounding a two-run homer off of Campbell.

Walker Polk then followed to make it back-to-back blasts and give BU a 7-4 advantage having plated seven unanswered runs.

The Sooners, however, would fight back in the eighth. 

Mackenzie and Bryce Madron opened the inning with consecutive doubles to get one run back. 

𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 💥

💻 ESPN+ | @Bryce_madron pic.twitter.com/fX4MwiYzbg

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) April 7, 2023

John Spikerman then ripped a ball to third base that was mishandled, allowing him to reach base and Madron to score - cutting the deficit down to a single run. 

But, unfortunately for Oklahoma, the bullpen woes weren't quite finished.

In the bottom half of the eighth, Hunter Simmons smoked a three-run homer to left field to deliver a gut-punch to the Sooners and extend the Baylor lead out to 10-6. 

OU was then retired in order in the ninth to finish the game. 

The loss stymies some momentum Oklahoma had built up in recent action after having come into play having had won three of their last four games.

Hoping for a bounce back, the Sooners will turn to left-hander James Hitt for the start in the middle matchup of the three-game set on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. back in Waco.