From improbable to remarkable.
Somehow. Someway. Oklahoma got it done improving to 20-12 (3-2) on the season with a come-from-behind 7-6 extra inning victory Thursday night.
With his uniform drenched in gatorade there stood Jacob Evans. The hero of Thursday nights thriller, delivering the Sooners first walk-off solo home run in over a year.
Pete Hughes' 'bulldog'.
"You just got to stay ready in here. He can call on all 35 of us to go out there and do our job," Evans said. "I was just trying to do my job and get on base right there."
He entered the game somewhere in between the improbable and remarkable. His team down four runs heading into their final at-bat. Evans did what he does best. Live in the moment.
Starting the ninth inning rally with a single. There was hope. Hunter Haley pinch hit single to left followed advancing Evans all the way around to third. Robert Tasin finished the trifecta of left-handed bats with a RBI single to center. And the comeback was on.
Kolbey Carpenter reached on an infield single and all of the sudden there was life with the bases loaded. Taylor Alspaugh then lifted a sac fly that cut the Kansas lead to 6-4. That set the stage for Craig Aikin who squeezed a ball inside the the third base bag. The game was tied, 5-6.
"Never say die. That's how we feel. There's nine of us everytime and 5,6 guys on the bench that are going to get it done everytime," said Aikin.
When the dust settled Evans found himself in the middle of a celebration at homeplate the improbable had become reality. With it the type of momentum Hughes hopes his team can carry with them for the rest of the weekend.
"I told our guys those are the type of wins that get you going for a month. I've got to keep them in that mindset," said Hughes. "Sometimes one game wins you the series. Sometimes one game loses you the series too cause you have that hangover the next day but we've go to keep it with a positive."
That opportunity starts Friday when Oklahoma goes for its fourth win in a row.
*********************************************************************
Couple thoughts from the win ...
* Simply put ... Jake Elliott didn't have his best stuff Thursday night. Hughes chalked it up 'as one of those nights'. For Elliott to be effective his change-up is usually his go-to. Thursday night it simply wasn't there.
"Elliott is usually rock solid. The ball just wasn't coming out tonight. He knew it. I knew it. You could see with your eye. When his change-up not good, he doesn't have arm speed. It flattens out so you have those nights," said Hughes.
* There can't be too many people that watched Thursday nights game in full and thought Oklahoma would be able to put together what they did in the 9th. I sure didn't.
Think about what all went into it. Pinch hit single, pinch hit single, infield single, sac fly, double. That's how Oklahoma got back in the game.
What else can you say about Jacob Evans? Since his freshman year he's been the guy Oklahoma can turn to in tight situations.
However, I would be lying if I told you I thought we'd be talking about his heroics made with a bat in his hand. It's something Hughes has talked about for awhile.
"Evans can hit. He can run into a ball. he gives you a chance," Hughes said. "I know how to pitch him cause I'm his coach but he does match-up versus certain guys. He gives us a chance to hit a homer."
Much to the surprise of everyone in attendance it happened Thursday night.
"You know I've called him a pitcher and I know you guys have called him a pitcher but after that swing I think he might have just joined the hitters side of things," Craig Aikin told reporters after the game.
"We got a little bit of dog in us."
The Jacob Evans kind of dog.
****************************************************
Notes ...
- Jacob Evans' walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth was the Sooners' first since Matt Oberste hit a three-run shot to beat Hofstra (2/17/13).
- Evans' home run was the Sooners' first walk-off hit since Sheldon Neuse delivered a win against Texas Tech (5/22/14) at the Big 12 Championship.
- With the one-inning win, Evans improves to 4-0 this season with an ERA of 2.14.
- Evans 2-for-2 effort at the plate improves his batting average to .571 on the year.
- Evans' walk-off homer gave him his third RBI of the season.
- Anthony Hermelyn picked up his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-5 effort. He also tied for the team-lead with eight doubles.
- The win is the Sooners first of the year when trailing after the 8th inning. OU trailed 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth.
- Oklahoma now has seven wins and just one loss when hitting at least one home run.
- Thursday nights game marks the 20th time this season the Sooners have outhit an opponent.
- Sheldon Neuse picked up his team-leading 11th two-out RBI in the first and recorded his 11th multi-hit game.
- Taylor Alspaugh recorded his ninth multi-hit game and is hitting .441 (15-for-34) over the last eight game, including a team-leading .458 average in Big 12 games.
- The Sooner bench was hitting .300 (6-for-20) in pinch-hit opportunities entering the night and went 3-for-3 to start the ninth to push their collective average to .391.
This post was edited on 4/3 1:20 AM by Eddie_Rado
This post was edited on 4/3 2:30 AM by Eddie_Rado
GAME THREAD: OU Baseball vs. Kansas (Thursday)
Somehow. Someway. Oklahoma got it done improving to 20-12 (3-2) on the season with a come-from-behind 7-6 extra inning victory Thursday night.
With his uniform drenched in gatorade there stood Jacob Evans. The hero of Thursday nights thriller, delivering the Sooners first walk-off solo home run in over a year.
Pete Hughes' 'bulldog'.
"You just got to stay ready in here. He can call on all 35 of us to go out there and do our job," Evans said. "I was just trying to do my job and get on base right there."
He entered the game somewhere in between the improbable and remarkable. His team down four runs heading into their final at-bat. Evans did what he does best. Live in the moment.
Starting the ninth inning rally with a single. There was hope. Hunter Haley pinch hit single to left followed advancing Evans all the way around to third. Robert Tasin finished the trifecta of left-handed bats with a RBI single to center. And the comeback was on.
Kolbey Carpenter reached on an infield single and all of the sudden there was life with the bases loaded. Taylor Alspaugh then lifted a sac fly that cut the Kansas lead to 6-4. That set the stage for Craig Aikin who squeezed a ball inside the the third base bag. The game was tied, 5-6.
"Never say die. That's how we feel. There's nine of us everytime and 5,6 guys on the bench that are going to get it done everytime," said Aikin.
When the dust settled Evans found himself in the middle of a celebration at homeplate the improbable had become reality. With it the type of momentum Hughes hopes his team can carry with them for the rest of the weekend.
"I told our guys those are the type of wins that get you going for a month. I've got to keep them in that mindset," said Hughes. "Sometimes one game wins you the series. Sometimes one game loses you the series too cause you have that hangover the next day but we've go to keep it with a positive."
That opportunity starts Friday when Oklahoma goes for its fourth win in a row.
*********************************************************************
Couple thoughts from the win ...
* Simply put ... Jake Elliott didn't have his best stuff Thursday night. Hughes chalked it up 'as one of those nights'. For Elliott to be effective his change-up is usually his go-to. Thursday night it simply wasn't there.
"Elliott is usually rock solid. The ball just wasn't coming out tonight. He knew it. I knew it. You could see with your eye. When his change-up not good, he doesn't have arm speed. It flattens out so you have those nights," said Hughes.
* There can't be too many people that watched Thursday nights game in full and thought Oklahoma would be able to put together what they did in the 9th. I sure didn't.
Think about what all went into it. Pinch hit single, pinch hit single, infield single, sac fly, double. That's how Oklahoma got back in the game.
What else can you say about Jacob Evans? Since his freshman year he's been the guy Oklahoma can turn to in tight situations.
However, I would be lying if I told you I thought we'd be talking about his heroics made with a bat in his hand. It's something Hughes has talked about for awhile.
"Evans can hit. He can run into a ball. he gives you a chance," Hughes said. "I know how to pitch him cause I'm his coach but he does match-up versus certain guys. He gives us a chance to hit a homer."
Much to the surprise of everyone in attendance it happened Thursday night.
"You know I've called him a pitcher and I know you guys have called him a pitcher but after that swing I think he might have just joined the hitters side of things," Craig Aikin told reporters after the game.
"We got a little bit of dog in us."
The Jacob Evans kind of dog.
****************************************************
Notes ...
- Jacob Evans' walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth was the Sooners' first since Matt Oberste hit a three-run shot to beat Hofstra (2/17/13).
- Evans' home run was the Sooners' first walk-off hit since Sheldon Neuse delivered a win against Texas Tech (5/22/14) at the Big 12 Championship.
- With the one-inning win, Evans improves to 4-0 this season with an ERA of 2.14.
- Evans 2-for-2 effort at the plate improves his batting average to .571 on the year.
- Evans' walk-off homer gave him his third RBI of the season.
- Anthony Hermelyn picked up his team-leading 14th multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-5 effort. He also tied for the team-lead with eight doubles.
- The win is the Sooners first of the year when trailing after the 8th inning. OU trailed 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth.
- Oklahoma now has seven wins and just one loss when hitting at least one home run.
- Thursday nights game marks the 20th time this season the Sooners have outhit an opponent.
- Sheldon Neuse picked up his team-leading 11th two-out RBI in the first and recorded his 11th multi-hit game.
- Taylor Alspaugh recorded his ninth multi-hit game and is hitting .441 (15-for-34) over the last eight game, including a team-leading .458 average in Big 12 games.
- The Sooner bench was hitting .300 (6-for-20) in pinch-hit opportunities entering the night and went 3-for-3 to start the ninth to push their collective average to .391.
This post was edited on 4/3 1:20 AM by Eddie_Rado
This post was edited on 4/3 2:30 AM by Eddie_Rado
GAME THREAD: OU Baseball vs. Kansas (Thursday)
