OU baseball: Jimmy Crooks providing steady offense, leadership for Sooners
Jun. 23—Throwing the first punch has been a point of emphasis for Oklahoma during the postseason.
Wednesday against Texas A&M in the Men's College World Series semifinal, it was Jimmy Crooks that delivered.
Facing two outs with two base runners in the bottom of the first, Crooks swung at the first pitch and delivered a three-run home run to right field, giving the Sooners an early 3-0 lead. That was a lead the Sooners never relinquished as they defeated Texas A&M 5-1 to advance to the MCWS final.
"It's really important for us to score first," Crooks said after the game. "That's the whole game."
It wasn't the only time Crooks has delivered during the MCWS. In the opening round last week against the same Aggie team and again facing two outs, it was Crooks' three-run home run in the second inning that capped off a seven-run frame for a lead the Sooners kept the rest of the game.
He's the only Sooner to record two home runs during the MCWS.
"Our approach is just to be aggressive and just do our thing," Crooks said. "... Getting base runners on and [getting] our base running to be aggressive is important, and then just hitting it in the gaps is what we try to do is and just stick with our approach and see what happens."
He's been a solid offensive player all season for the Sooners. He's fourth on the team in hits (75), second in doubles (20), tied for third in home runs (9) and third in batting average (.311).
But he's stepped up during the postseason. He's recorded at least one hit in 12 of the Sooners' 14 playoff games, and five of his home runs have come since the Big 12 Tournament.
The redshirt sophomore has also been key defensively, providing a solid presence as the team's catcher. He's only recorded four errors this season — just one in the postseason — while adding 33 assists from behind the plate.
David Sandlin, who recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in the MCWS semifinal, credited Crooks for his success against the Aggies.
"Whatever Jimmy called, I just wanted to execute it to the best of my ability," Sandlin said. "No matter if there [were] runners on, bases loaded, no outs, two outs — whatever happened, I just wanted to execute what he called."
But his biggest contribution, OU coach Skip Johnson said, is his leadership.
"The leadership that he provides, the comfort when he goes to the mound and either chews their butt out or gets them fired up or makes them execute pitches, I think that leadership from the catching standpoint is what is really needed," Johnson said. "We've had guys in the past — I've had guys in the past that were really good at that, and we work really hard on that as a staff to teach that. [OU assistant coach Clay] Overcash works with the catchers and does a great job of teaching that leadership quality.
"Those guys know that Jimmy cares about them because they know he will put his body in front of you, he will play hurt. He is just a baseball player, and he is a prospect too."
The Sooners await the winner of Thursday's game against Ole Miss and Arkansas at 3 p.m. in the championship series this weekend. The series opens at 6 p.m. Saturday at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jesse Crittenden is the sports editor of The Transcript and covers OU athletics. Reach him at jesse@normantranscript.com or at 405-366-3580
