Sooners walk way to Bedlam Round 1 win

TULSA — Former Oklahoma State Cowboy Blake Robertson came back to haunt his former team in a baseball game worthy of the Bedlam tag.

Robertson provided a key hit for Oklahoma against the No. 6-ranked Cowboys, and then the Sooners won 7-6 on a walk-off, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night before 7,061 fans at ONEOK Field.

Trailing 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, OU’s Robertson singled home Peyton Graham to tie the game with no outs off OSU closer Trevor Martin.

Four batters later, Martin walked Sebastian Orduno on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and one out for the win.

“It’s fun. I didn’t get to experience it my freshman year because COVID, obviously, but uh, you know, it’s fun being out here and playing against them,” Robertson said of facing his former team.

Robertson, a 6-foot-5 first baseman out of Edmond Santa Fe, said assistant coach Reggie Willits pulled him aside after 1-2 count. He told Robertson to swing away.

“I went down and tried to have a good AB and put a good swing on it,” Robertson said.

The 2019 Minnesota Twins draft pick finished 2-for-5, including a double. He’s now batting .317 on the season.

“Coach Willits and Coach (Clay) Van Hook calmed him down,” OU coach Skip Johnson said. “He’s really intense. He works extremely hard at it. That at-bat for him was really huge.”

The win for OU (15-8) ended an 11game winning streak by OSU (18-7), and ruined a dramatic home run in top of the eighth inning for the Cowboys. David Mendham had broken a 5-5 tie with an opposite-field solo homer off Keegan Allen.

Cade Horton, who moved from third base to pitch, picked up his first win of the season. He was one of five OU pitchers who combined for 10 strikeouts.

OSU jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning off OU starter Braden Carmichael. Nolan McLean started the inning with a double, and Hueston Morrill doubled him in with a line shot that deflected off OU third baseman Horton’s glove into left field to open the scoring.

A two-out RBI single by Aidan Meola scored Morrill, and Zach Ehrhard’s double to left field scored two more runs.

But the Sooners stormed back They scored three runs in the bottom of the second off OSU starter Mitchell Stone, with Jimmy Crooks and Tanner Tredaway leading off the inning with singles. Horton doubled in Crooks with one out, and Max McGwire’s grounder to second scored Tredaway from third.

Jackson Nicklaus added a two-out single that scored Horton to make it 4-3.

The Cowboys extended the lead to 5-3 in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Mendham on a play that was overruled by the umpire. Originally, it was ruled that Diego Muniz’ throw from left field had gotten McLean out at third base before Ehrhard had crossed home plate.

Nicklaus was the catalyst when OU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 5-5. His two-out double down the left field line scored both runs, but it was Chazz Martinez scoring from first on the double that was a difference.

It originally looked like Martinez had no chance of beating the throw from left field.

Even though the ball bounced a few times on the way home, the throw beat Martinez to the plate, but Martinez avoided the tag.

Menham’s third homer of the season gave OSU the 6-5 lead the next inning.

IAN MAULE/TULSA WORLD OU outfielder Sebastian Orduno (11) celebrates with infielder Blake Robertson after Orduno drew a bases-loaded walk to beat OSU 7-6 Tuesday night.