OU Baseball: Sooners Making a Habit of Walk-Off Wins

The four-game losing skid is now in the rear-view mirror as OU baseball climbed back to even in the win-loss column on the season with yet another walk-off win, plus a 12-6 blowout on Saturday.

It was a freshman-senior combination that made the difference in Oklahoma’s 1-0 10-inning shutout victory on Friday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park over visiting West Virginia. The Sooners made it two straight, and clinched their third Big 12 series win this season, with a 12-6 bashing of the Mountaineers on Saturday.

Freshman right-handed starter Chris Andritsos pitched six no-hit innings before yielding a single in the seventh inning, and senior Alex Wise reached base in the 10th and scored the winning run to record the Sooners’ fifth walk-off win of the season, four of them in Big 12 play.

Wise singled to lead off the 10th, stole second and came around to score on an error by West Virginia reliever Blake Smith.

Andritsos is one of a handful of newcomers to the Sooners’ roster this season. He is one of five Oklahoma freshman pitchers who have won 12 of OU’s 19 wins on the season. Andritsos, who has a record of 4-3, did not get the decision in the Friday night win, however. That went to Sheldon Neuse, the Sooners leading hitter but who also has four wins on the mound this season, all in relief.

“We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us.” –OU head coach Pete Hughes after Friday’s 1-0 Sooner win

About OU’s narrow 1-0 win on Friday, OU head coach Pete Hughes had this to say after the game: “We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us. We knew we were going to have to scratch one late. Lucky we did.”

The Sooners’ win on Saturday was not of the walk-off variety, but it was a come-from-behind victory. After spotting West Virginia three runs in the top half of the first inning and trailing 6-5 after seven, Oklahoma scored seven runs on nine hits in the bottom of the eighth to blow open the game and pull away for a 12-6 victory.

What you should know about the back-to-back Oklahoma wins over West Virginia, with a game still to go in the three-game series:

• In addition to posting the win pitching in relief, junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse hit a double, his 12th of the season and 39th of his career, and stole his 10th base of the season.
• Alex Wise was two for four in Friday’s game, his 13th multi-hit game of the season, and scored the winning run in a 1-0 OU victory.
• Friday night starting pitcher Chris Andritsos struck out eight Mountaineers in seven and a third innings. In nine starts this season, the freshman has pitched through the sixth inning five times and through the seventh three times.
• Friday night’s game was Oklahoma third extra-inning game of the season. OU is 2-1 in those games.
• Chris Andritsos was the designated hitter in Saturday’s Sooner win after pitching into the seventh inning in OU’s 1-0 win on Friday. He went three for five at the plate and knocked in two runs.
• Right fielder Alex Wise and first baseman Austin O’Brien also went three for five on Saturday, and catcher Domenic DeRenzo was two for four with two RBI, two runs scored and a home run. Collectively, the Sooners had 18 hits in the 12-6 win.