OMAHA, Neb.- The bats came alive for the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas A&M Aggies in Game One of the Men’s College World Series, with 21 runs and 19 hits combined between the two teams. However, Oklahoma’s eight runs combined in the first two innings, including a seven-run second inning and four-run fourth inning, cultivated the Sooners to a 13-8 win in Game One.
Oklahoma’s scoring began with an RBI groundout by Blake Robertson that scored Sooner center fielder John Spikerman.
The Sooner offensive barrage continued in the top of the second as Oklahoma batted around their lineup. Sooner shortstop and first-team All-Big 12 Peyton Graham walked with the bases loaded, scoring Oklahoma second baseman Jackson Nicklaus. Run-scoring singles by first baseman Blake Robertson and center-fielder Tanner Tredaway extended the Sooner lead to 5-0.
The major blow of Oklahoma’s inning came off the bat of Oklahoma catcher Jimmy Crooks hitting a three-run home run into the Sooner bullpen in left field to extend Oklahoma’s lead 8-0 in the top of the second inning.
“I thought we set the table really early in the game; we gathered the momentum and kept the momentum,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said.
The Aggies were quick to respond; however, after Jordan Thompson hit a 372 foot three-run home run of his own to cut the Oklahoma lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the second inning.
Oklahoma continued its offensive attack in the top of the fourth inning as Nickolaus recorded his second hit, hitting with his 11th home run of the season; a 394 foot grand slam to extend the Oklahoma lead to 12-3.
A solo home run by Aggie designated hitter Austin Bost in the bottom of the fourth inning cut the Sooner lead to 12-4. The Aggies used multiple-RBI singles and an RBI groundout to further cut into the Sooner lead with a four-run bottom of the seventh inning to make the deficit 12-8.
Oklahoma added an insurance run when Spikerman delivered an RBI single to center field to drive in pinch hitter Sebastian Orduno, extending the Sooner lead to 13-8 in the top of the ninth inning.
Oklahoma starter Jake Bennett went six strong innings while striking out five batters.
“I really tried to just execute one pitch at a time,” Bennett said.
Aggies starter Nathan Dettmer meanwhile, failed to pitch through the second inning, allowing seven earned runs on four hits with just one strikeout.
Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said Dettmer’s struggles were attributed to him being unable to get off the field.
“All seven runs in the second inning were with two outs and two strikes a lot of the time,” Schlossnagle said.
Junior reliever Joseph Menefee allowed five runs and four earned runs in 2 ⅓ innings pitched and had to burn through six pitchers in total to navigate through all nine innings.
Schlossnagle said that despite the pitching struggles in Game One, it’s not indicative of how his team has pitched this season. But Schlossnagle said he recognizes his team will have to rise to the occasion to keep their hopes of a national championship alive.
“In order for us to play deep in this tournament, someone’s going to have to give us something,” Schlossnagle said.
The Aggies (42-19) will play the loser of Game Two between Notre Dame and Texas on Friday at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Sooners (43-22) will play the winner of Game Two on Friday at 6 p.m.
Johnson said the Sooners are embracing playing the role of the underdog.
“They’re a team that believes,” Johnson said, “they’re just a team full of Davids.”
