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    OU Baseball: Pitching, Defense Haunt Oklahoma in Blowout Regional Defeat

    Sooners starter Braden Carmichael faced early control issues and suffered his first defeat of the season, and OU committed two errors as East Carolina rolled to an easy win.

    Pitching and defense have been Oklahoma’s weaknesses all season, so it was appropriate that that’s what cost the Sooners in their opener of the NCAA Tournament.

    No. 3-seed OU was pounded 14-5 by No. 2 East Carolina in the first round of the Charlottesville Regional on Friday night.

    The Pirates (46-17) jumped on the Sooners (31-27) early at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, VA, and turned up the heat with an offensive showcase and quality starting pitching.

    Earlier in the day, host and No. 7 national seed Virginia routed Army 15-1 in the opener.

    With the loss, the Sooners face the Black Knights Saturday in an 11 a.m. CT elimination game. UVa and ECU meet at 5 p.m. CT.

    Despite a lifeless performance, OU isn’t dead. Historically, the Sooners have had plenty of recent NCAA Tournament success in the state of Virginia: they won the Charlottesville Super Regional in 2010, won the Charlottesville Regional in 2012, won the Blacksburg Regional in 2013 and won the Blacksburg Super Regional last year on their way to Omaha.

    But while the Sooner bats were mostly quiet against ECU right hander Trey Yesavage, it was shaky pitching and sketchy defense by Oklahoma that once again plagued the Sooners against the Pirates.

    OU, with a team ERA that ranks 145th in the nation, gave up 15 hits and fell behind in the second inning when left hander Braden Carmichael gave up a one-out single followed by three consecutive walks and a fly ball. The last walk brought in Joey Berini for a 1-0 lead, and the fly ball — a sliding catch by Kendall Pettis in left field — scored Alec Makarewicz from third and put the Pirates up 2-0.

    Carmichael issued his fifth walk to open the third inning, then yielded a single and a deep fly ball that advanced Cam Clonch to third base. That’s when OU’s defense — 158th nationally in fielding percentage — tripped up and contributed to the tough night.

    Second baseman Jackson Nicklaus ranged to his left to get a ground ball but slipped and let in a run while planting his feet before he could release the throw. The play was scored as a hit and an RBI, but the next batter hit a ground ball up the middle that Dakota Harris booted at shortstop, allowing another run to come home for a 4-0 ECU lead.

    The Sooners needed a strong start from Carmichael (7-1), who suffered his first loss of the season after going 5-0 with a 2.68 earned run average in Big 12 Conference play this year. But Carmichael lasted just 2 2/3 innings (81 pitches) and gave up nine baserunners (five walks, four hits) and four runs (three earned). His control problems were uncharacteristic, as he had allowed just six walks in 43 2/3 innings in Big 12 play this season.

    OU put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the fourth, but Yesavage struck out Easton Carmichael looking at one big curveball and then got Nicklaus swinging at another.

    Against OU reliever Carter Campbell, ECU’s Carter Cunningham opened the bottom of the fourth by slapping an opposite field single, and Josh Moylan followed by pulling a bouncing single to right, putting runners at first and third with nobody out. Cunningham then scored easily on Clonch’s sacrifice bunt to put the Pirates up 5-0.

    That brought up Justin Wilcoxen, who put an exclamation point on the night when he blasted a long home run into the seats in right field for a 7-0 lead.

    Cunningham added to the lead in the fifth with a two-run double into the right field corner that pushed the Pirates to a 9-0 advantage, and Cunningham scored on Moylan’s stand-up double to the same spot for a 10-0 ECU lead.

    OU tried to rally in the sixth when Bryce Madron reached on an error and Harris was hit by a Yasavage pitch. Anthony Mackenzie struck out swinging, but Easton Carmichael grounded a sharp ball through the left side to score Madron and put the Sooners on the scoreboard at 10-1.

    That chased Yesavage, who went 5 1/3 innings (102 pitches) and gave up one run on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. Reliever Jaden Winter came to quell the threat with a fly ball and a strikeout.

    The Pirates, who plated runs in six of the first seven innings, still weren’t done scoring and roughed up Aaron Calhoun and a string of OU relievers in the later innings. Wilcoxen missed a solo home run by inches, but settled for a double and still came around to score on Bernini’s sharp single to left and Makarewicz’s sac fly to deep center field for an 11-1 lead.

    OU’s bats delivered more sparks in the seventh as pinch-hitter Diego Muniz lined a single through first base and John Spikerman doubled down the right field line to send Muniz to third. Muniz then scored on Pettis’ deep fly to right to make it 11-2, and Spikerman scored on a wild pitch by Jake Hunter to cut it to 11-3.

    But ECU quickly got those runs back in the seventh with more damage off Calhoun. Clonch drew a one-out walk and pinch-runner Luke Nowak stole second and raced home on an error by Mackenzie at first, giving the Pirates a 12-3 lead. Riley Johnson then came home from third on Berini’s RBI double into the right field corner to make it 13-3.

    ECU made it 14-3 in the eighth when Lane Hoover scored singled, stole second and moved up twice on wild pitches.

    The Sooners tried to rally again in the top of the ninth when Pettis walked, stole second and scored on Madron's single up the middle. After Madron stole second, Harris brought him home with a single to left to make it 14-5. Harris took second, then moved to third as Mackenzie made first base on a dropped third strike. The rally ended, however, on a routine ground ball to short.

    Mackenzie and Easton Carmichael each collected two hits for the Sooners, while Berini had four hits and two RBIs, Cunningham had two hits and three RBIs and Hoover had three hits, two runs and three steals for the Pirates.

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