Other Sooner sports on spring postseason championship trail
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma’s defending national champion softball team is already safely in the 2017 NCAA Championship field and the OU baseball team is all but assured a postseason spot. But those aren’t the only Sooner sports teams that are competing in postseason NCAA championships.
As previously reported in this space, OU men’s tennis advanced out of the regional round with a 4-1 home-court victory over Mississippi State last weekend and now moves on to Athens, Ga., and the college tennis version of the Sweet 16.
The Sooners, who own the No. 14 overall seed, will face No. 3 Ohio State on Thursday in the round of 16. If OU is able to get by the Buckeyes, they would move on to go up against either Illinois of TCU, the Big 12 champions, who are seeded sixth.
OU men’s tennis has made it to the final match in the NCAA Championship in each of the last three seasons. Unfortunately, the Sooners were unable to get to the top rung, finishing as runner-up on each occasion (to USC in 2014 and to Virginia in both 2015 and 2016).
“We need to do a better job of executing and making putts these next couple of days.” –Ryan Hybl, Oklahoma men’s golf coach, about the Sooners at the NCAA Stanford Regional
The Oklahoma men’s golf team is also in NCAA Tournament action this week, competing as the No. 3 seed in the Stanford Regional. The Sooners carded an opening day, 18-hole score of even-par 280, with sophomore Brad Dalke and junior Grant Hirschman paving the way.
Dalke shot a five-under score of 65 over the par-70, 6,727-yard Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif. . He is tied for the lead after 18 holes with Maverick McNealy of Stanford, the No. 3-ranked Division I golfer, according to Golfstat.
Hirschman also was under par, shooting an 18-hole round of one-under-par 69.
“I feel like we let quite a bit slip away from us today,” said Sooner head coach Ryan Hybl in an article posted on the OU athletic website. “Brad (Dalke) had a great bogey-free round, and that is what we need from some of our other guys. We need to do a better job of executing and making more putts these next couple of days.”
Host Stanford leads the field in the 54-hole regional tournament with a score of 271 after the first 18 holes. Baylor, out of the Big 12, is second at 277, BYU is third at 278 and North Florida fourth at 279, one stroke better than the Sooners.
If OU is able to hold on or better its fifth-place standing in the Stanford Regional, the Sooners will advance to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship finals to be played May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Ill.
The low five teams from each of the six regional sites qualify for the NCAA Championship finals, as well as the low individual not on one of the five top teams at each regional.