By John Shinn
After three innings Oklahoma looked like a team on a bus with the gas pedal floored and a cliff straight ahead.
The Sooners trailed by three runs and their ace pitcher, Andrew Doyle, was gone to the showers after just 22⁄3 innings against Wichita State. It wasn’t the way OU wanted to start its Norman Regional opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
The finish, however, turned out to be just what the Sooners had planned all along in a 5-4 victory over the Shockers.
Chase Anderson came out of the bullpen to throw 51⁄3 innings of one-hit shutout relief and Garrett Buechele delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to key the victory.
“We took a pretty good punch from a pretty good baseball team and responded like we had to,” OU coach Sunny Golloway said.
Quality pitching out of the bullpen and clutch hitting were huge keys in allowing the Sooners to obtain an NCAA Tournament regional. Friday night’s victory was their 16th of the come-from-behind variety. None, however, were more critical.
Losing in the opening round is usually a death sentence in postseason play. It means having to win four straight games to advance to the super regional round. Instead, two more wins will send OU forward. It faces Arkansas, which topped Washington State 10-3 earlier Friday, in the winners’ bracket game at 7 tonight.
For about half the game, it looked like it would the Shockers (30-26) playing tonight. Wichita State jumped on Doyle and grabbed a 4-1 lead after three innings.
OU’s only response had been Jamie Johnson’s home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
But the momentum turned when Golloway went to the bullpen for Chase Anderson (3-1). The right-hander has a two-year history of turning around losing efforts. May 9 against Oklahoma State, he pitched five innings of one-run ball. April 26 against Baylor, it was 41⁄3 innings of scoreless relief.
“I just try to go out and work hard, and do the things I can control,” Anderson said. “I can control throwing strikes and leaving it up to my defense.”
The Shockers were stopped in their tracks.
“Anderson came in and he pretty much stopped us,” Wichita State coch Gene Stephenson said. “He threw well and we couldn’t get on against him. That was difficult on us.”
OU (42-18) inched back with a solo home run from Aaron Baker in the fourth inning and took over in the sixth.
Buechele looked overmatched in his first two at-bats against Wichita State starter Tim Kelley, who took the loss to fall to 5-4, striking out twice. But with J.T. Wise and Baker aboard, he drilled a single to left field to tie the game.
“Those first two at-bats, I was swinging at junk in the dirt,” Buechele said. “I knew he would throw me something off-speed and I got a pitch up and trusted my mechanics and hit it.”
The Sooners caught a break in tying the game. The throw got there in plenty of time to get Baker, but it short-hopped Wichita State catcher Cody Lassley, allowing the tying run to cross.
Ross Hubbard gave OU the lead for good with a sacrifice that scored Buechele.
Ryan Duke gave up a two-out single in the ninth, but got Josh Rosecrans to line out to for his 16th save.
“I’m proud of this club for overcoming the deficit,” Golloway said. “That’s not an easy task with the pressures of hosting at home and wanting to stay in the winners’ bracket.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
