Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma baseball; Sooners a win away from advancing to Super Regionals

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma pitcher David Sandlin throws against Florida during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, June 4, 2022. (Cyndi Chamber/Ocala Star-Banner via AP)Ap22156120227575
Oklahoma pitcher David Sandlin throws against Florida during an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, June 4, 2022. (Cyndi Chamber/Ocala Star-Banner via AP)Ap22156120227575 /
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Oklahoma baseball did not earn a national seed in the 2022 NCAA Baseball Championship, but the Sooners are one of the hottest teams in college baseball and are peaking at the perfect time.

OU (39-20) knocked off the country’s 22nd-rated team, Florida (40-23), the No. 1 seed in the Gainesville Regional, on Saturday on the Gators home field. The victory gives the surging Sooners a 2-0 record in that regional and moved them into the championship game on Sunday against either host Florida or Central Michigan.

The regional final is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on Sunday. Whoever the Sooners end up playing will have to beat them twice to advance to the Super Regional round.

Florida jumped on top early on a pair of solo home runs in the second inning off of OU starter David Sandlin to go up 2-0. The Sooners wasted no time in responding, putting up a four-spot in the top of the third, Kendall Pettis walked, and two batters later, Peyton Graham blasted a long home run to left field, and Blake Robertson followed with a solo shot that cleared the right field fence, OU added a fourth run in the inning with Tanner Tredaway scoring on a wild pitch.

The long balls by Graham and Robertson were two of four the Sooners hit in the game. Catcher Jimmy Crooks went yard twice, launching a solo shot in the fifth and clearing the fence again in the seventh with a two-run blast. Crooks collected three hits in five official plate appearances and accounted for three of Oklahoma’s nine runs.

Three other Sooner hitters (Graham, Tredaway and Pettis) had a couple of hits each, as Oklahoma recorded 11 in the game

OU right-hander Sandlin settled down after Florida’s two-run uprise in the opening inning, going six complete innings and allowing three runs on five hits and striking out six to earn his eighth win of the season.

The Florida starter, Brandon Neely, did not make it out of the four-run Sooner second inning, but did strike out four OU hitters in just 2 1/3 innings.

The two teams combined for seven home runs in the game. Long balls accounted for 9 of the 13 combined runs scored in the game.

The victory over Florida was the Sooners’ fifth consecutive win and their 12th in the last 15 games.

The last time Oklahoma won a regional championship in postseason NCAA baseball was in 2013, defeating Virginia Tech on the Hokies’ home field, which is ironic because Virginia Tech is the team the Sooners are likely to face next if they are able to advance to the next round in the NCAA Championship.

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