It seems the Georgia Bulldogs could have the better baseball team than the Oklahoma Sooners, unless Kyson Witherspoon is on the mound.
The 12-seed Sooners knocked off 5-seed Georgia 3-2 in the second round of the SEC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday night thanks to Witherspoon's right arm. Not only did the Bulldogs get a bye as a top-8 seed, but they also entered the postseason ranked 10th in the country.
Sooners upset No. 10 Georgia in SEC Baseball Tournament
Witherspoon shut down Georgia for the second time this season. In Round 2, he gave up just two runs on five hits and no walks in a season-high 7.2 innings. He also struck out eight Bulldogs.
During the regular season, Georgia took two of three from OU in Athens, Georgia. The only game the Sooners won was the first with Witherspoon on the mound. It ended up being an 8-6 shootout, but not until Witherspoon was gone after holding the Bulldogs to one run in seven innings.
This has become accustomed to Witherspoon, though. He entered the SEC Tournament with the best ERA in the conference at 2.48. OU head coach Skip Johnson took a risk by going with a bullpen game in the first round against 13-seed Kentucky, but it obviously paid off as he saved his ace to notch an upset to the quarterfinals.
The Sooners are set up nicely through two games. They got a career-best outing out of freshman Jaden Barfield in the first round before Witherspoon tallied a season-high in innings.
The Sooners get the 4-seed Vanderbilt Commodores in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday in Hoover, Alabama. OU beat Vandy in two of three games in the regular-season matchup. Witherspoon was dealing with back spasms that weekend so didn't start until Game 2. He tossed a complete-game seven-inning shutout as the Sooners run-ruled Vandy 14-0 in Norman.
Lefty Cade Crossland started the first win in that series, giving up one run in 5.2 innings. Crossland is still available in the SEC Tournament.
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