In a surprise upset, the Oklahoma Sooners were defeated by LSU, 6-2, in the first round of the SEC Baseball Tournament on Tuesday night in Hoover, Ala.
The No. 11 seed Sooners exited the tournament with a season record of 32-21 and will now face The Citadel (35-24) in the Atlanta Regional of the NCAA Baseball Championship. The game is scheduled for Friday at 4:00 p.m. CDT on ESPN+. OU will play in its fifth straight and 43rd NCAA Tournament all-time.
The 14th-seeded Tigers improved to 30-26 and moved on to play Auburn in the next round and lost, 3-1.
The two teams played scoreless through the first two innings, but LSU got on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the third inning.
OU answered in the home half of the third with a Camden Johnson RBI single to left, the third of three straight base hits in the inning.
Oklahoma took the lead in the fourth after Brendon Brock reached base on an error, then later scored on a wild pitch.
The Tigers retook the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth, scoring on a double and throw to the plate that was off target. In the eighth inning, a two-run home run pushed the LSU lead to four runs, 6-2.
OSU KNOCKED OUT OF BIG 12 SEMIFINAL
Oklahoma State opened the Big 12 Tournament with a win in the quarterfinals, defeating UCF, 12-6, Thursday at Surprise Stadium in Arizona.
The 19th-ranked Cowboys came into the tournament as the No. 5 seed and used a five-run eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie. UCF answered with a single run in the bottom of the eighth, but OSU scored two runs in the top of the ninth to seal the win.
OSU advanced to Friday’s semifinal where they were defeated by the top-seeded and 13th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, 9-2. With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 37-20 on the season, while the Jayhawks improved to 41-16.
Kansas shut out West Virginia 9-0 in the Big 12 Championship game.
OSU will face South Carolina Upstate (33-28) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Friday at 1:00 p.m. CDT on ESPN+. It will be the Cowboys 13th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.
Avery Ortiz and Aidan Meola each had two hits for the Pokes against Kansas, with Ortiz and Campbell Smithwick collecting RBIs.
Ethan Lund took the loss on the mound to fall to 5-2 as he worked six innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out eight batters to bring his season total to 127 strikeouts.
ORU LOSES TITLE GAME OF SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNEY
The No. 1 seed Oral Roberts University baseball team dug a hole for themselves, getting upset by the No. 4 seed South Dakota State, 7-3, in the opening round of the Summit League Championship at Siebert Field in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday.
ORU had defeated SDSU in all six games during the regular season, and it was the first time in 20 postseason games that the Jackrabbits defeated ORU. It was the first time in program history that the Golden Eagles lost a first-round game.
Having to battle out of the losers’ bracket, Oral Roberts used a big sixth inning to eliminate No. 2 seed Omaha 9-0 during day two of the tournament. Player of the Year Makani Tanaka went 2-for-5 with two RBI, plus he threw out a runner at the plate as the Golden Eagles advanced to play Northern Colorado on Friday.
ORU kept their hopes of a postseason title alive by defeating Northern Colorado, 3-1, putting the Golden Eagles in the title matchup with South Dakota State on Saturday. Since the Jackrabbits had not lost a game in the double elimination tournament, ORU would need to beat SDSU twice on Saturday to win the title.
ORU won the first game, 4-1, jumping on the scoreboard early with a two-RBI single up the middle by Cooper Combs in the first inning.
Jackson Farrell pitched a good game, holding the Jackrabbits at bay, as he allowed only three hits and one run in 6.2 innings of work. Farrell struck out four batters and walked only one.
ORU head coach Ryan Folmar said he was happy with Farrell’s performance on the mound.
“He was good and you know when you get in these tournaments, and especially on the side of the bracket that we’re on, you have to get a couple good starts, and we’ve had that,” Folmar said.
The second and decisive game was an offensive battle won by SDSU, 9-6.
Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, and each scored a single run in the second, before the Jackrabbits broke open a 5-3 lead with two runs in the bottom of the third.
ORU’s Will Edmunson singled to center field in the top of the fourth inning scoring Mathew Mainord from third base. The Golden Eagles tied the game in the fifth inning when Ethan Fender reached first on an error and a runner scored from third.
SDSU scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and the bottom of the sixth innings to seal the win.
However, ORU did get one more run, a solo homer off the bat of Edmunson in the sixth inning.
ORU ends the season with a 35-24 record. SDSU is 24-31 and advanced to the NCAA Regional in Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska in the opening round.