Baseball: Vegas Recap and Wichita State Midweek Preview

By Kaden Boyd

The old saying is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, and boy do I hope the Sooners leave this rough stretch in Vegas.  Sooners are heading back home from Vegas going 0-2 while there bringing their season record to 5-5.

To start the weekend Oklahoma would go against Pittsburgh for the first time in program history but would sadly fall short.  To start the game the Sooners would strike first early and fast with Spike scoring on an RBI from Carmichael, and then a immediate hit right after from Anthony Mackenzie scoring both Madron and Carmichael having the Sooners up 3-0 in the first inning.  Sooners would not hold onto this lead long because in the bottom of the first inning, Pitt would score on a double to right field.  Pitt would follow up that hit with a hit to Sooners shortstop Jaxon Willits, who would have a throwing error scoring 2 runs tying the ballgame back up.  Skip and the Boys would eventually get back to the plate in the second inning where the offense was able to take off yet again.  Madron would get it started showing off his wheels with a true stand up triple scoring John Spikerman, and then shortly being batted in himself off a double from Carmichael making the lead now 5-3.  That would not be the end of the hot streak that was going because Snyder wanted to get in on the fun getting an RBI of his own scoring Easton Carmichael taking the 3 run lead back with the score now being 6-3 in the top of the third inning. 

Pitt however, took notice of what the Sooners were doing, and decided to make some noise of their own.  In the bottom of the third inning Grau would single up the middle scoring Funk, and then shortly Grau would be hit in himself off a double to right center from the batt of Spiegel cutting the Sooners lead down to 6-5.  Just when it felt like the Sooners could stop the bleeding and get out of it.  Kendro would hit a 3 run homerun to dead center field taking the lead for the Panthers with a score of 6-8.  The flood gates just would not end and Pitt would end up getting one more run before the inning ended making the score 6-9.  After the Sooner just gave up a 6 run inning, the Sooners were now in a spot where they had to respond.  Anthony Mackenzie would the only one getting a run across the board this inning hitting in Madron on a single to the left side of the field.  Going into the bottom of the 5th inning, it was now time for the pitching to step up, sadly, that would be the opposite of what happened.  Pitt would go on to have yet another INSANE inning at the plate starting with a Homerun to right field bring the lead to 7-10.  That would be only the beginning on what felt like an inning that would never end. 

Shortly after the homerun, Popa would double to left field scoring Kendro on a throwing error from Spikerman.  Popa would also be hit in on a ball hit from Funk to the left side of the field, and almost immediately after Grau would get himself an RBI advancing Funk to second bringing the lead for Pitt to 7-13.  With bases loaded, and a 3-2 count, the Sooners would go on to walk in a run bringing the score to 7-14.  Right after that, Kendro would single to left field scoring another run, and again with bases loaded, Popa would force a walk bringing in another run.  That would complete the inning, on what felt like the longest inning of all time bringing the score in the bottom of the 5th inning to 7-17.  The Sooners are now fighting to avoid the run rule, so in the top of the 6th inning, Snyder would get himself a basehit up the middle where both Carmichael and Madron would score bringing the score to 9-17 and avoiding the run rule for the meantime.  Pitt would only be able to plate one run in the 6th inning before shutting out the Sooners offense in the top of the 7th.  To end the game, Pitt would score one more run off a walk to end the game on a run rule of 9-19.  

Overall, the pitching was ROUGH.  Not one pitcher would see over 2 innings of work in this game, and that truthfully is a problem.  It is easy to say “it is just one of those games”, but this was fresh off of losing by 10 to Wright State and it felt sickening as a fan.  Now, it is still extremely early in the season, and that is no need for Sooner fans to worry.  Many people are quick to remember that the 2022 Omaha team had a terrible start in Arlington, but would work out the kinks as they go.  You can even look back to last years team as well that went on to make a regional.  Last years team lost their first series to California Baptist, but quickly was able to turn it around come conference play.  

Sooners were supposed to have 2 more games in Vegas, but Saturdays game against California would be canceled due to storms all day which gave the Sooners a day of rest before they would look to bounce back against Ohio State on Sunday.  

Sunday’s game would be a lot more competitive compared to the game played against Pitt on Friday.  To start the game Ohio State would take an early lead in the top of the first inning with a single to center field from the bat of Pettorini scoring Kaczmar.  Sooners would not be able to make any noise until the bottom of the second inning where Kendall Pettis would have himself an absolute monster shot of a homerun to left field tying the ball game up at 1-1.  The tie would be shortly broken in the top of the third inning when Ohio State was able to get an RBI single to first off the bat of Okuley scoring Kaczmar who has now came across to score for the second time of the day bringing the score to 2-1 for Ohio State.  Just in Skip fashion, the Sooners would strike back fast in teh bottom of the third inning scoring 2 runs off the bat from Snyder and a little help on a throwing error from the centerfielder for Ohio State.  Sooners now have their first lead of the day with a 2-3 lead in the bottom of the third.  Both teams would be held scoreless until the top of the 9th inning where the Sooners would give up a costly error scoring one run for Ohio State, which would also tie the game.  To make matters worse, with bases loades, Okuley would draw a walk giving Ohio State the lead with a score of 4-3.  The Sooners would not be able to get anything else going unfortunately, bring their Vegas run to an 0-2 record.  

Oklahoma heads home on Tuesday night to host Wichita State, who has been nothing short of impressive thus far this season.  Wichita State comes into this midweek game with a record of 7-3 with their only 3 loses being from Little Rock (after winning the series), No. 14 Virginia, and Auburn.  Wichita State comes in with two notable wins as well with those being No. 18 Iowa, and being able to beat Oral Roberts on the road.  Wichita State has lost quite a bit of key players it feels like this past off-season due to the transfer portal, but with that being said, they are not someone that the Sooners should even begin to overlook.  There is a reason that year after year Wichita State is an incredible ball club.  For the past 4 years, Wichita State has always been a team that has bit at our heels and has given us a run for our money, kind of like Dallas Baptist does for us as well.  I believe that this is a HUGE game for the Sooners.  Not only because it would help to get a win going into conference play this weekend, but more so the fact that Wichita State is a team that later down the road, having a victory over would look extremely well resume wise.  I fully expect Wichita State to bring their A game as well, due to the fact that games like these are crucial for them later down the road when trying to get into a regional.  

For those that are still trying to go to the game this Tuesday, there will still be tickets available for purchase on SoonerSports.com, as well as free submission on the berms in the outfield.  Do not forget, those who are inside the stadium get the luxury of watching a game in the ballpark on the first $2 Tuesday of the season!!! All beer, and Hotdogs will be $2 on Tuesday night in L. Dale Mitchell. 

Hope to see you at the park, Boomer!