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Oklahoma baseball rallies, takes series from 'Dogs

Eddie On3by:Eddie Radosevich•03/23/25
Oklahoma baseball. Photo provided.

Oklahoma closed out its inaugural home weekend in the Southeastern Conference at the friendly confines of L. Dale Mitchell Ballpark with a 7-3 win over Mississippi State on Sunday, winning the series after dropping the first game Friday night. 

Sam Christiansen blasted a solo home run to tie the game fifth. Easton Carmichael broke the deadlock one inning later as part of a three-run sixth. And Dylan Crooks – yes, the Sooners closer– added an RBI sac bunt in the eighth before slamming the door on the Sooners second series victory to start conference play. 

“I think the resilience of the team and them fighting back and being a team really showed today who they really are. The guys off the bench were ready. We pieced it together through the bullpen. Beau Sampson and Jaden Barfield came in and pounded the strike zone. When you have a 6-3 lead, that’s what you have to have. If they’re going to earn their way on, let them hit their way on,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson. 

Surviving a disaster third inning 

Malachi Witherspoon had coasted through the first two innings and toed the rubber in the third with a two-run lead after Oklahoma manufactured two runs in its first two innings.

He led off the inning hitting Dylan Cupp with a pitch. And compounded the initial error with an actual error, making a poor throw to second on a ground ball back to the mound. The Bulldogs didn’t let the opportunity come to pass. 

Ace Reese followed with a two-run double. Hunter Hines shot an RBI single into center to give Mississippi State a 3-2 lead. A game that felt relatively comfortable had flipped on its head.

“Big change in momentum. They got a little momentum going like that, and a good team like them or us at times, if you make a mistake they score. It’s about the details of a game,” said Johnson. 

Seizing momentum of their own 

It’d be hard to not point to the fifth inning as the moment Oklahoma grabbed the momentum back in its favor. 

Sampson inherited a pair of base runners and walked the first batter he faced after taking over for Witherspoon. The base on balls loaded the bags and there was a feeling throughout L. Dale Mitchell Ballpark the Bulldogs were about to build on a 3-2 lead with just one out in the inning. 

Then Gatlin Sanders rolled over a ground ball to Kyle Branch who started an inning-ending double play. Sampson and Oklahoma had escaped a nearly fatal inning. 

Christiansen wasted little time leading off the fifth, turning around the first pitch he saw in the bottom half, sending it into Section 405 beyond the right field wall to tie the game. 

There’s moments of momentum change. And the fifth inning was the key for Oklahoma. 

Carmichael comes up clutch – again

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Easton Carmichael has become the guy for Oklahoma when they need a clutch hit. And he did it again on Sunday. Trey Gambill started the sixth with a single to right and advanced into scoring position on an error. Carmichael followed with a go-ahead single the same direction. 

“He’s experienced. He understands it. Getting big hits in big moments is who he is. Just separating balls from strikes. I think that’s the biggest thing. You look at our lineup. They could go in and pitch around him, but if guys like Jaxon (Willits) and (Trey) Gambill are really hot, you’re going to have to pitch to him. That’s the dynamic of our lineup that Reggie (Willits) talks about and we talk about a lot,” said Johnson. 

Carmichael finished the afternoon going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Saturday’s hero, Dawson Willis, went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the second. 

Crooks does it all, Mudler injury will be monitored

Because of a shoulder injury to Scott Mudler that forced him to leave the game in the second inning, a unique opportunity presented itself to Sooners closer Dylan Crooks in the eighth. 

He had to grab a bat and hit for himself with the designated hitter, Easton Carmichael, moving behind the dish, essentially burning the Sooners use of the DH spot.  

Crooks got a pep talk in the dugout from his Sooners teammates before walking into the on-deck circle. Then Reggie Willits talked to him before he went to the plate with runners on the corners and one out. 

“Reggie (Willits) goes ‘how confident do you feel getting a bunt down?’ I said 110 percent. Then I started going back and forth and I was just like ‘Hey, do you just want to me to get my swing off?’. He said ‘Absolutely not,” said Crooks with smile.

“And so I said ‘I gotta bunt’ and the rest is history.”

Perhaps Crooks was the only person in the ballpark that wasn’t surprised when he laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, scoring another run and extending the Sooners lead to 7-3. 

Following the game, Johnson confirmed Mudler dislocated his shoulder sliding into second base and will be re-evaluated in a couple days.

Next up

Oklahoma hits the road this week with a midweek affair up the Turner Turnpike against Oral Roberts on Tuesday before heading to Tuscaloosa for a three-game series at Alabama next weekend.

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