OMAHA, Neb. — The waiting was the hardest part for Oklahoma Sunday. And it did a lot of it Sunday before finally securing a 4-3 victory over South Carolina in the opening round of the College World Series.
“It wasn't an easy day,” OU coach Sunny Golloway said.
It wasn't easy in any sense of the word.
The Sooners arrived at Rosenblatt Stadium around 10:30 a.m. Sunday. It was the typical time of arrival for a 1 p.m. game. But it was anything but a typical game.
It started four hours and 15 minutes late to thunderstorms. After five and a half innings, a two hour and one minute delay ensued.
The rain never stopped, and neither did the lightning. If that wasn't enough OU had to work out of bases-loaded jams in both the eighth and ninth innings.
No big deal.
“We're just not a team that gets down in any situation,” OU third baseman Garrett Buechele said.
The Sooners (50-16) didn't.
After the second delay, they got the final nine outs they needed and Buechele, who struggled in last week's Super Regional series against Virginia, cranked a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that proved to be the game winners.
“When you look at our guys, there's an 'it' factor with them,” Golloway said.
Sunday's win was about rising to the occasion more than anything.
Michael Rocha (8-2) got the win despite being wild with his slider. Ryan Duke finally secured his first save since May 8 and tied a program record with 28 despite struggling to locate his fastball. And the Sooners managed to scrape two runs on two-out base hits and get a solo homer from Caleb Bushyhead in the second inning.
“We never came up the really big hit,” South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said.
The Gamecocks (48-16) left the bases loaded in the eighth and ninth innings and their only runs came on a pair of solo home runs and a bases-load walk in the ninth inning.
Duke said the four-pitch walk he gave up Jackie Bradley Jr. that made the score 4-3 was intentional. The Gamecocks' center fielder cranked a solo home in the fourth inning and OU didn't want to mess with the left-hander slugger.
The move paid off. Duke got Adam Morales pop out to center field for the final out.
Blake Cooper (12-2) took the loss for South Carolina.
It finally ended a very long day, but one the Sooners' relished.
Most of it was spent relaxing the clubhouse. The official game time was two hours and 53 minutes, but six and hours and 16 minutes were gobbled up by rain delays.
OU wasn't complaining though. The victory was their first at Rosenblatt Stadium since winning the national championship in 1994.
“There's no place we'd rather be,” Golloway said. “When you think about it from that standpoint, it's something everyone could draw upon … Surely, you're not going to let a little rain dampen your day.”
The Sooners face the winner of the Arizona State-Clemson game at 8 p.m. Tuesday. That game was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday, but instead will be played at 10 a.m. today.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
