Unforgettable OU season ends in MCWS Finals
OMAHA, Neb. — Oklahoma’s incredible 2022 baseball season came to an end Sunday afternoon as the Sooners fell to Mississippi 4-2 in the second game of the 2022 NCAA Men’s College World Series Championship Finals at Charles Schwab Field.
Redshirt freshman Cade Horton registered a career-high 13 strikeouts over 7.1 innings, which was his longest outing of the season. The Norman product also set an MCWS Championship series mark with his 13 punch-outs. In two starts at the MCWS, Horton struck out 24 batters over 13.1 innings and became the fourth pitcher since the NCAA Tournament expanded in 1999 with multiple 10-strikeout outings in the MCWS, joining Florida’s Alex Faedo (2017), UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (2010) and Cal State Fullerton’s Jason Windsor (2004).
OU ends its season with a 45-24 record, including a 27-12 mark since April 12. OU won the Big 12 Championship, went 12-4 after the end of the regular season (8-4 in the NCAA Tournament) and won 14 of their last 19 games to end the year.
On Sunday, Horton dueled with Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott for five scoreless innings, striking out nine batters and stranding two singles and a hit batter through the first half of the game. After the Rebels took the lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Jacob Gonzalez, Horton retired the next three batters and struck out four in a row to end his outing.
The Sooners took a 2-1 lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Redshirt sophomore catcher Jimmy Crooks started the rally with a twoout double and scored on a double by freshman second baseman Jackson Nicklaus. Kendall Pettis drew a bases-loaded walk to put OU in front. Ole Miss went ahead again with three runs in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Gonzalez and two wild pitches that produced runs.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Blake Robertson drew a walk in the eighth inning to raise his total to 69 walks on the season, breaking the school record of 68 previously set by Terry Bogener in 1976.
OU appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning when freshman right fielder John Spikerman laid down a squeeze bunt single to score Nicklaus. It was ruled, however, that Spikerman ran inside the baseline to first base and was called out for interference when the throw got away, negating the play.
Ole Miss reliever John Gaddis (4-2) was credited with the win and Brandon Johnson earned a save while OU reliever Trevin Michael (4-2) took the loss.
OU dropped the first game of the MCWS 10-3 to Ole Miss on Saturday.
Nicklaus recorded OU’s first hit of the game to lead off the sixth inning and scored on an error following a bunt single by Pettis. Tanner Tredaway drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Sebastian Orduno, who followed Nicklaus’ single with a base hit.
Jake Bennett (10-4) struck out 10 batters over 6.1 innings but took his first loss in his last seven starts. He pitched three scoreless frames after the third inning and retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Ole Miss scored two two-out runs in the first inning on a single by Kevin Graham and an error. A two-out RBI single in the second by Justin Bench and a solo home run in the third inning by Tim Elko made the score 4-0. Three straight home runs in the eighth inning made the score 8-2.
The OU pitching staff totaled 59 strikeouts over five games in Omaha and finished the 2022 campaign with a single-season school record 644 strikeouts. The total surpassed the previous program-best of 608 strikeouts set in 2018.