Oklahoma baseball: Takeaways from Sooners’ Bedlam letdown

Following a walk-off win in the Bedlam series opener at Oklahoma State, the Oklahoma baseball Sooners dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday and were never really a factor in the Sunday series finale.

For the second time in a little over a week, the Sooners rallied in their last at bat on Friday night at OSU’s O’Brate Stadium to knock off their in-state rivals 8-7.

OU was on its way to a second consecutive win over the 5th-ranked Cowboys on Saturday, scoring four times in the top of the seventh innings to take a 7-3 lead, only to squander the advantage over the next two innings and give up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

In Sunday’s finale, Oklahoma State took command early and cruised to a 9-4 victory, evening the four meetings this season between the two rivals at two games apiece.

With the two weekend losses, Oklahoma’s Big 12 record dropped below the .500 mark at 4-5, and the Sooners are now 18-12 overall. Oklahoma State improved to 7-2 in the conference, tied with Texas Tech in second place, and is 23-9 overall.

Oklahoma is next in action on Tuesday in a nonconference contest against Texas Tech in Amarillo, Texas. The No. 4 Red Raiders are the third Big 12 team the Sooners have played in the last two weeks that is ranked in the top 10 of the college baseball rankings. No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 7 are the two others.

Here are five primary takeaways from the weekend Bedlam baseball series

• In OU’s win on Friday night, Sooner first baseman Blake Robertson, who began his collegiate career at Oklahoma State, collected three hits in four plate appearances and drove in three of the Sooners’ seven runs.
• In addition to Robertson’s three-hit game in OU’s win in the Friday series opener, three other Sooners had two hits apiece.
• The winning and losing pitchers on Saturday night were position players. The two teams used a combined 14 pitchers in the game, seven for each team.  Nolan McLean, who started the game at third base for Oklahoma State, was awarded the win, pitching the final inning and setting down the side along and also recording a strikeout. Cade Horton, who was the OU designated hitter in the game, faced seven OSU batters over the final two innings, and was charged with the loss. Horton allowed two runs on three hits and struck out two.
• Oklahoma senior center fielder Tanner Tredaway was 5 for 13 at the plate over the three games along with three runs batted in.
• The Sooners added to their Big 12-leading stolen base total (65), but were only able to steal two bags against Oklahoma State catcher Chase Adkinson and the Cowboys’ pitching staff.