OU baseball rolls past Army in NCAA Charlottesville Regional elimination game

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Army and Oklahoma had less than memorable performances in the opening round of the NCAA Charlottesville baseball regional on Friday. When the two teams took the diamond on Saturday in an elimination battle, both teams planned to put the events of the night before in the rearview mirror.

It was Oklahoma that came out on top decisively to defeat Army 10-1 by playing small ball early and then posting an offensive outburst that appeared to demoralize the Army efforts.

“I was really pleased with them,” OU coach Skip Johnson said when asked about his teams’ performance with the short turnaround. “We got back to the hotel around 12 or 12:30. They ate, turned in their loops and probably went to the trainer and got to bed at 1 or 1:30. Then they had to wake up at 7:30 for breakfast and then batting practice and meetings.

“You look at the turnaround and I can tell you this: Army was going to be ready to play. If you don’t think Army’s not going to be ready to play, you’re a failure. Look what they do every day. We got to be just as mentally prepared to play as they were and I thought our players responded really well.”

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The Sooners (32-27) struck first on the scoreboard in the opening inning against Army’s top pitcher Mike Ruggieri. John Spikerman singled to lead the game off and then advanced to second base on a fielders’ choice. Next, the speedster showed off his wheels by stealing third base before Bryce Madron doubled into right centerfield to give the Sooners a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.

Spikerman’s speed was on exhibit again in the bottom of the third. The sophomore reached base on an infield single beating out an errant throw to first base by Ruggieri. He then stole second and reached third on a groundout by Kendall Pettis. Madron plated Spikerman with a sacrifice fly to leftfield just deep enough for the runner to beat the tag at the plate following the snare in the outfield. The score would put Oklahoma ahead 2-0.

For the Sooners, Spikerman’s success on Saturday was a breath of fresh air following a midseason slump.

“I don’t really think I’ve changed much at all,” he said when asked about what has changed since the struggles. “I’ve just been consistent in my work. Early and midseason struggles are going to happen. Like I said, stay consistent and things will start to fall eventually. I wouldn’t say anything has changed really, it’s just baseball.”

It was in the fifth inning that the Sooners pulled away. Sophomore Wallace Clark led the inning off with a single to right field and advanced to second with the teams’ third stolen base of the day. Back-to-back walks for Rocco Garza-Gongora and Spikerman loaded the bases to spark the scoring bonanza.

Kendall Pettis knocked in two runs with a double to left field and then Madron collected a pair of RBI’s with a base clearing triple. Madron later scored on a single up the middle by Anthony Mackenzie to give Oklahoma what would become an insurmountable 7-0 lead.

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Madron finished the game going 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs. Spikerman and Clark went 2-for-3 as well with Spikeman scoring three runs and Clark two.

Army (38-18) managed to light up the scoreboard after Derek Berg singled to start the sixth inning. The junior was moved into scoring position and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Ross Friedrick. Oklahoma didn’t wait long to respond, however, when Clark bombed a solo homerun to right center in the bottom half of the frame.

The very next inning, freshman Easton Carmichael delivered a two run shot to nearly the same place and Oklahoma found themselves on top with the 10-1 advantage.

The combination of the Sooners offensive outburst and a solid performance by Braxton Douthit on the mound allowed Oklahoma’s hopes of a regional championship to stay alive. Douthit threw 109 pitches in a complete game, striking out seven batters while giving up four base hits.

“Good win for us,” Johnson stated. “I thought Braxton [Douthit] set the tone for us early and us scoring in the first inning kind of settled him down. He got in a rhythm, kept them off balance and our outfield defense played extremely well…I thought it was a good win for the Sooners.”

OU will face East Carolina at 11 a.m. Sunday in another elimination game, seeking to avenge a 14-5 loss on Friday. The winner of that game would need to beat Virginia twice, beginning with a 5 p.m. game on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Army’s season comes to a close following their second loss in as many games in the regional bracket.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball beats Army, stays alive in NCAA Charlottesville Regional