5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s big series win over No. 13 TCU
Oklahoma’s baseball team started the year in a rough spot as they struggled to gain consistency and dropped some games to opponents they knew they should have beaten. While the past is the past, all the Sooners could do moving forward is lock in as Big 12 play starts.
The Sooners started Big 12 play with a weekend series at L. Dale Mitchell Park. They hosted No.11/13 TCU, which was always expected to be a tight series. The three-game set lived up to the hype as Oklahoma lost Friday before doubling up with wins on Saturday and Sunday to take the series. A hard-fought effort brought Oklahoma’s record to 13-7 as they take Monday off before hosting Dallas Baptist midweek.
With the TCU series over, here are five takeaways from the weekend set.
Oklahoma is on fire
Make no mistake, Oklahoma has found its rhythm. With the series win over TCU, Oklahoma has now won 11 of their last 13 ball games. Included in that stretch is the series win over a top 15 TCU team and a three-game road sweep at Houston last weekend.
The series win against TCU marks the sixth straight Big 12 series win dating back to last season. In the 12 games since the calendar flipped to March, the Sooners have scored at least seven runs in nine of them.
Braxton Douthit has found himself
After giving up four earned runs to Ohio State, Douthit bounced back with 13.1 IP of scoreless ball. His latest effort Saturday’s win over TCU saw him pitch 6.1 shutout innings allowing just one hit and four walks.
Douthit also did his team a solid by throwing 101 pitches to help preserve a bullpen that was beaten up on Friday evening in a 13-5 TCU rout. With the win, Douthit stands at 3-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.39.
Spikerman starting to find himself
After a solid opening to his Oklahoma career which saw him hitting .317 in 2022, John Spikerman is in a bit of a slump as he’s hitting below .200 on the season.
He hit the game-winning triple in the Saturday showdown driving in two runs during the fifth inning, and followed that up with a pinch-hit two out, two RBI hit in Sunday’s comeback affair.
Could those clutch hits catapult him to rediscover his hitting prowess? If Spikerman can get hot, it’ll help deepen this OU lineup and make it harder for opposing teams to find relief while navigating their way through the order.
Sooners are resilient
Oklahoma needed some mental toughness to pull out the series win. Facing a 3-0 deficit in the rubber match Sunday, the Sooners fought back to make it 3-2 in the fifth inning.
Sebastian Orduno and Kendall Pettis led off the frame with base hits to right field. Orduno came home eventually on a fielder’s choice, and shortstop Dakotas Harris singled home Pettis. OU tied the game at three in the sixth when Rocco Garza-Gongora was plunked by a TCU pitcher with the bases loaded, plating Muniz.
TCU would jump right back on top before a four-run two-out rally by the Sooners gave Oklahoma the game’s final lead. Two out, two RBI singles by John Spikerman and first baseman Anthony Mackie led the way for the Sooners as they pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th on their way to a series win.
Dakota Harris is replacing Peyton Graham just fine
The biggest domino for the Oklahoma Sooners was where the production would come from out of the middle infield after losing Peyton Graham to the MLB. Junior Dakota Harris has answered the call, batting .386 on the season to go along with four home runs and 27 RBI. Against the Horned Frogs, he went 5-for-10 with three walks, one homer, and five RBI.
His defense has been splendid, with only three errors to his name and a fielding percentage just a shade under .970.
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