Oklahoma State has had the number of the Oklahoma baseball team all season, and the Cowboys did it once again on Saturday, beating their in-state rivals 9-3 to capture the championship of the Big 12 postseason tournament.
The Big 12 regular-season champion Sooners were seeking a championship sweep to follow on to their first regular-season conference crown as a member of the Big 12 and their first conference championship in nearly 30 years (1995). But their in-state rivals from Stillwater had other ideas.
The Sooners (37-19) fell behind early in their championship showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, but battled through the first four innings down by just a run, 1-0. Despite allowing just two hits through the first four innings, both coming in the first inning, OU starter Carter Campbell ran into trouble in the fifth, giving up a single and a double to the first two batters he faced, and was replaced by Dylan Crooks in relief with runners on second and third an no outs.
Crooks allowed a pair of singles and a walk, and three runs had crossed the plate, making it 4-0, before the Sooner right-hander was able to stop the bleeding. Oklahoma got back two of the runs in the bottom of the fifth on a hit batter, a double by John Spikerman and a sacrifice fly by Easton Carmichael.
The Sooners were able to muster just one more run from their offense, a single tally in the eighth inning, but the Cowboys unfortunately had the game well in control by that time. OSU scored three times in the seventh on a three-run home run blast by Nolan Schubert and back-to-back jacks in the eighth by the Pokes' Kollin Ritchie and Ian Daugherty.
"Hats off to Oklahoma State for winning," said Sooner head coach Skip Johnson in his postgame interview session. "I thought we never gave in at the plate. We get a couple guys on and just couldn't get a rally to get going.
"A loss is probably a good thing going into the regionals. It'll probably make us work even harder this week to get prepared."
The Sooners used five pitchers out of the bullpen after Campbell left the game. Campbell was charged with the loss, his first of the season after four wins.
Takeaways from OU's 9-3 loss to OSU in Big 12 Championship title game
- Oklahoma will now await to see who it will be matched up against in the NCAA Tournament bracket. The 16 regional sites are expected to be announced on Sunday. While the Sooners are assured of being a top-16 seed and a regional host site, head coach Skip Johnson believes they are worthy of a top-eight national seed, which would make Norman a super regional site as well should OU prevail in the regional tournament. The regional matchups and the entire 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be revealed on Monday morning.
- No. 19 Oklahoma State has beaten No. 8 Oklahoma four out of five times this season.
- Oklahoma falls to 3-2 in Big 12 Tournament championships. The Sooners won in 1997, 2013 and 2022 and lost in 2012 and this season. OU is 46-44 overall in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament.
- This is the 13th consecutive time the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Baseball Championship has failed to win the championship.
- Six Oklahoma players made the 2024 Big 12 All-Tournament team, the most of any team: 2B Jackson Nicklaus, 3B Anthony Mackenzie, SS Jaxon Willits, OF Kendall Pettis, SP Braden Davis and RP Grant Stevens.