Redshirt freshman catcher Jimmy Crooks strolled to the dish in the top of the 7th inning in Sunday’s game against Dallas Baptist, the final of OU's four games in the Frisco College Baseball Classic.
OU was down, 9-3, but the opportunity for a major rally was certainly there, as runners stood on second and third with only one out. If Saturday’s 16-6 win over Missouri showed any indication, it was that OU’s bats, especially Crooks’, can strike at any moment.
But this time, it didn't work out for the Sooners. Crooks struck out swinging, and two batters later redshirt senior infielder Conor McKenna flied out to strand the bases loaded. The Sooners (5-6) went on to lose once again for their third defeat in four games in the 2021 Frisco College Baseball Classic, and made the trek back to Norman a losing baseball team.
“I thought that all weekend we really hadn’t been ourselves,” head coach Skip Johnson said. “Hadn’t put a complete game together pitching and hitting.”
On both the pitching and hitting side, a lack of consistency seemed to be the common thread for the Sooners in Frisco. The offense produced 13 runs in the opener against Arizona and topped it with 16 in Saturday’s win against Missouri.
There were games where the entire lineup, from Crooks and redshirt junior infielder Tyler Hardman at the top of the order all the way to players like redshirt freshman outfielder Kendall Pettis and redshirt senior infielder Brandon Zaragoza at the bottom, seemed to reach base and score multiple times. There was also the two games sandwiched in between, where OU tallied one run against the Wildcats on Friday and mustered just five hits in Sunday’s loss to Dallas Baptist.
“We swung the bats very good this weekend which is a great thing, we didn’t swing the bats as well last weekend.” Johnson said. “Pitching was better last weekend but I think those things are gonna turn around.”
On the pitching side, none of OU's four starters lasted more than four innings but the team was able to get key innings from redshirt junior Carson Carter, who tossed five scoreless in relief against Missouri. Redshirt sophomore Ben Abram relieved redshirt sophomore Dalton Fowler just one out into the ballgame on Saturday and was able to get OU out of a really tough jam, which kept the early deficit at just 3-0.
But Arizona, whose offense never seemed to slow down all weekend, tallied 32 runs on the Sooners in the opening two games. Dallas Baptist then put nine on the board Sunday before Tyler Hardman got his second at-bat.
Now under .500, the Sooners head into a week featuring a second matchup with UT Arlington (5-5) on Tuesday and then a three-game weekend series against Arkansas State, who is winless in seven games this season.
“It’s early in the year and playing a tough schedule like we have is only gonna benefit us,” Johnson said. “We just have to keep staying in the process, and it’s about confidence and keeping our confidence as we go through the remainder of the non-conference season.”
