David Sandlin, Jimmy Crooks address emotions of clinching CWS-final berth

David Sandlin and Jimmy Crooks both played huge roles in Oklahoma punching their ticket to the Championship Series in Omaha.

First, Sandlin stifled the Texas A&M offense on Wednesday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball while striking out twelve Aggies. Meanwhile, Crooks provided all the scoring the Sooners would need, launching a three-run home run in the first inning.

Afterwards, both Oklahoma stars spoke about the emotions of clinching their berth in the finals of the College World Series.

“It still feels kind of surreal,” started Sandlin. “I don’t know about for Jimmy. I mean, we’ll feel it come Saturday. We’ll be ready for Saturday.”

Evidently, it was just as difficult to find the correct words for Crooks, who agreed with his pitcher — Oklahoma will be ready.

“Going into the championship series or whatever, I think we’re just going to just stay calm and relaxed and just play our game,” added Crooks.

Now, the Sooners will await the winner of Thursday’s showdown between Arkansas and Ole Miss, wondering who will be the last opponent standing in their way of eternal glory.

Skip Johnson reveals underrated aspect of David Sandlin’s heroic performance for Oklahoma

Skip Johnson recognizes how important the performance of David Sandlin was for Oklahoma.

Not only did the Sooners star pitcher send the team to the College World Series Championship Series, but he saved the team’s bullpen by pitching seven tremendous innings. Afterwards, Johnson spoke about how Sandlin’s performance will help the Sooners down the line.

“It’s huge,” Johnson stated, regarding Sandlin’s performance keeping the bullpen fresh. “Now [Jake] Bennett can go on a full week’s rest. They’re used to doing that. Any time you get them off that, you kind of worry about it a little bit. We actually threw a bullpen for Bennett just in case he had to throw tomorrow just to stay ahead of the game.

“Then [Cade] Horton will have a full game’s rest of going into his outing probably the second game. Then we’ll just get a cowboy hat and pull names out of it after that and go from there.”

As you can see, David Sandlin’s wonderful outing helped Oklahoma in more ways than one. Now, Skip Johnson and the Sooners will have all their horses for whichever team they meet in the finale.