Oklahoma baseball season ends in Chapel Hill, taken out by UNC

There were warning signs for Oklahoma.

Head coach Skip Johnson said his team’s defense was its Achilles heel heading into this weekend’s Chapel Hill Regional.

It’s been a problem. It was a problem. And ultimately was *the* problem. 

North Carolina closed the book on Oklahoma’s season Monday at Boshamer Stadium with a 14-4 win. The Diamond Heels advance to a Super Regional for the 11th time in program history. 

Sooners defense just not close to good enough

See ball. Field ball. Throw ball. Simple pitch and catch. 

For Oklahoma, it wasn’t so simple this season.

It was an adventure every time the ball was put in play. The Sooners ranked 119th nationally in fielding percentage going into Monday afternoon’s regional final. 

So going in you knew there was little room for error. Particularly on the back end of the Chapel Hill Regional as available arms became few and far between.

It didn’t take long on Monday…

…For Oklahoma starter Reid Hensley to find trouble. After retiring the first two batters of the game, Hensley issued a two-out walk. The wheels were in motion. 

Gavin Gallaher, a true menace, who earned Regional MVP honors going 13 for 18 with seven extra-base hits (three home runs) and 10 RBIs, followed by reaching on a throwing error by second baseman Kyle Branch.

Ugh. So it begins. Do I even need to finish? You know the rest. 

Hunter Stokely found a gap, scoring two. Alex Madera followed with an RBI single of his own. Even on a weekend that Oklahoma scored 38 runs in the first four games of the regional, it felt like a three-run deficit might as well have been 300 runs. 

But then Drew Dickerson hit his third home run of the weekend 

Maybe there was a chance. Dickerson’s two-run shot in the second cut the deficit to 3-2. But even that momentum was short-lived. 

Carolina responded in the top of the third with four runs to extend the lead back to 7-2. 

Adding to the pain, it started with a Luke Stevenson ground ball that glanced off the glove of Hensley. Gallaher — that guy again! — followed with a single. Gavyn Jones took over on the mound and walked Stevenson to load the bases. Sam Christiansen then slipped and fell after fielding a ground ball to first, allowing a run to score. Sam Angelo and Carter French – who entered the afternoon with two hits in the regional– each singled home runs and the damage was done. 

Gallaher added a solo shot in the eighth and a three-run home run in the ninth for good measure. This guy! Truly one of the better offensive performances I’ve ever seen in a regional setting. 

Jason Walk added a solo home run in the seventh. Easton Carmichael tallied a run with an RBI single in the ninth, which came in possibly his final at-bat in the crimson and cream. 

Oklahoma falls short and now an intriguing offseason begins

We’ll go ahead and cancel the Bluecollar Boardroom reservations. There’ll be no mid-June trips to college baseball’s promised land of Nebraska this season. 

For now? Oklahoma heads into an intriguing offseason that we will have plenty of time to discuss in the coming days and weeks ahead. 

Oklahoma will likely lose the likes of Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon. Reid Hensley, Jamie Hitt and Dylan Crooks come to the end of their careers, running out of eligibility.

Expect the Sooners to be active in the transfer portal as soon as they return to Norman. Retaining the likes of Cam Johnson, Drew Dickerson and Jason Walk to name a few will be crucial. 

But for now we close the book on Oklahoma baseball.

Maybe they’ll get back to Omaha someday. But it won’t be this year.