Sooners’ O’Brien toughs it out after suffering torn ligaments

NORMAN — Pete Hughes’ stomach dropped.

Heading into the ninth inning of Oklahoma’s March 11 game against Buffalo, up 5-1, Hughes had considered removing veteran first baseman Austin O’Brien for the last inning.

But it was too cold to throw a new guy in there at that point and it was just three outs and the likelihood of it being anything other than a routine frame was virtually nil.

Then Phillip Tomasulo grounded a ball to third and Jack Flansburg’s throw led O’Brien’s elbow into Tomasulo’s path.

O’Brien’s cleats were firmly planted in the turf and Tomasulo’s momentum concentrated on O’Brien’s left — nonthrowing — elbow.

The jarring collision not only partially tore a muscle in O’Brien’s forearm but tore the ulnar collateral ligament as well.

“Last out of the game, I almost threw up — physically threw up — when I saw it happen,” Hughes said. “With his reaction — he’s such a tough kid — I knew it was really bad.”

That was confirmed after the game when O’Brien and his parents sat in the training room at L. Dale Mitchell Park and got the confirmation that it was the UCL that was torn.

“Why is this happening,” O’Brien thought after hearing the dreaded diagnosis — the injury most often suffered by pitchers, leading to Tommy John surgery and often a year of rehab.

But less than a month later, on April 11, O’Brien was back in the lineup and has been there ever since.

He’ll be there this weekend when Oklahoma hosts TCU in a series that is the Sooners’ biggest since O’Brien arrived from Owasso in time for the 2014 season.

O’Brien was hitting .373 when the injury happened.

Since his return, he’s hit just .228 but he’s had 14 of his 29 RBIs and five of his seven home runs since coming back with a brace now on his left arm.

“It’s just unbelievable that he put himself — because of all the work he’s done up to this point — in a position to play for us again,” Hughes said.

O’Brien said he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable at the plate lately.

It’s still hard for him to imagine that he’s able to play.

Team doctor Brock Schnabel first brought up the possibility when O’Brien visited the emergency room following the training-room diagnosis.

“Guys have been back in as little as two weeks,” Schnabel told O’Brien.

While Hughes — who was in the room at the time — was skeptical, O’Brien latched onto the possibility of being able to play again for the Sooners.

“I was fired up,” O’Brien said. “Let’s go, whatever it takes.”

Less than three weeks later, O’Brien was back taking cuts with no real pain.

“The hardest thing was really extending, reaching for balls,” he said. “It still hurts a little bit if I really have to try to fully extend, but it’s just a short-lived pain. It goes away quick. The biggest thing now is that I lost a lot of strength, but I’m getting to the point where I can kind of start building that back up again.”

O’Brien’s return has also made a difference beyond just what he does in between the lines.

“He’s our leader. He holds kids accountable socially,” Hughes said. “They don’t want to let Stoney (O’Brien) down. He’s a 4.0 student. He’s in here at 11 o’clock at night hitting. I mean that’s who the kid is. In the weight room, he’s an animal.

“He’s the gold standard.”