Oklahoma baseball: Sooners defeat Texas A&M, advance to MCWS final

The unseeded Oklahoma baseball Sooners defeated Texas A&M 5-1 on Wednesday to advance to the Men’s College World Series championship series.

A sensational pitching performance by OU starter David Sandlin and a three-run, home run blast in the opening inning by catcher Jimmy Crooks was all Oklahoma needed to secure their spot in the championship final against the winner of the semifinal matchup between Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Sandlin, who gave up four earned runs on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning in relief against Texas A&M in OU’s opening-game MCWS win over the Aggies, quieted the A&M bats for seven strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits and striking out a career-high 12 along the way. Sooner closer Trevin Michael finished off the Aggies over the final two innings to preserve the win and eliminate Texas A&M from the College World Series.

Oklahoma added a fourth run in the third inning on an error by A&M first baseman Jack Moss that allowed Peyton Graham to score from second. The Sooners added another insurance run in the sixth on a single by Tanner Tredaway , who has been a hitting machine in the MCWS, that scored John Spikerman.

The lone Texas A&M run was provided by left fielder Dylan Rock, who led off the sixth inning with a towering home run to left off of Sandlin. That was pretty much the extent of the Aggie offense, which had produced a couple of home runs and eight runs off of Sooner pitchers in the first game between the two teams.

Sandlin struck out the next three A&M batters after the home run by Rock.

Crooks and Spikerman both had a pair of hits for Oklahoma, but the credit for this win largely rests with Sandlin and his ability to throw first-pitch strikes and keep the Texas A&M hitters off balance in three trips through the lineup. The sophomore right-hander got off on the right foot from the start, striking out the side in the top of the first. Sandlin improved his season record to 9-4.

Sandlin’s superb performance overshadowed an equally impressive effort by Aggie reliever Jacob Palisch, who entered the game in place of starter Ryan Praeger with a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the third and OU leading 3-0. Palisch, who throws from the left side shut down the Sooners over the next 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing just one run on three hits.

Texas A&M, the No. 5 national seed in this year’s NCAA postseason, was the last remaining seeded team in the MCWS. No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Texas and No. 14 Auburn had been eliminated previously. A&M ends its season with a 44-20 record.

This is OU’s third appearance in the MCWS championship series. In the other two appearances (1951 and 1994), the Sooners went on to win the national championship.

Oklahoma (45-22) is now 7-2 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and has won 13 of its last 16 games. The Sooners now move to the MCWS best-of-three championship series, which begins a 6 p.m. CT on Saturday.