OU baseball makes too many miscues, drops series opener vs. Tennessee, 9-7

OKLAHOMA CITY – Tennessee took the series opener 9-7 on Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma recorded a season-high 17 hits yet found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard thanks in part to running into four outs on the basepaths and a Sooners pitching staff that allowed nine walks and a hit batter. 

Rough way to start the final regular season weekend of the year for Skip Johnson’s club that has now lost five of its last six games in conference play. 

Insult to injury after Jason Walk opened the Sooners scoring with a home run in the first. Deiten LaChance hit his ninth home run in the last 18 games with a third inning blast. Kyle Branch cut the Vols lead to one run in eighth with a two-run shot of his own. 

SOONERS RUN INTO OUTS … TOO MUCH 

There’s chaos on basepaths. Then there’s running into outs like it’s a 10-and-under rec league game at Reaves Park in Norman. 

Dasan Harris misread a passed ball in the second inning. Jason Walk made the third out at third base in the same inning trying to go first to third on a Camden Johnson single that plated a run. Jaxon Willits was thrown out at third attempting to steal the bag. He was then gunned down at third base – FOR THE FIRST OUT IN THE SEVENTH – attempting to go first to third on a Trey Gambill single. 

“Probably a lot. You look at it. We’re aggressive and you’re either the hero or GOAT in that situation. We have to be smarter. I think it hurt a lot at the end of the day with the score,” Johnson said. “Dasan didn’t see. He was probably blocked out the play and was just being super aggressive. Do or die play there. If it’s probably another two or three feet more down the runway there, it’s probably a score. Especially with no outs and that happens.” 

Ugh. It’s not aggressive baseball. It’s bad baseball. Fair to say it cost Oklahoma not just momentum but the game on Thursday. 

CAMERON JOHNSON EARLY EXIT A CONTINUED THEME

Perhaps look no further than the top of the first as an example of the Cameron Johnson rollercoaster. He struck out the first two batters of the game. Issued walk number one and number two to the next two batters. Only to escape with a strikeout to end the inning. 

There’s moments of really, really good stuff. The kind of stuff that can eventually one day have Johnson pitching at the highest level. But the bad? The bad is all too often backbreaking at best. The bad puts his team in a hole. 

Case in point? The Vols top of the third. Garrett Wright opened with a single and advanced to third following a two-base error charged to right fielder Dasan Harris. Tennessee’s first run of the game followed on a Blake Grimmer double to left. Reese Chapman’s double scored a run two batters later. After Manny Marin tied the game with a sac fly to centerfield, Blaine Brown followed with an RBI single up the middle forcing Johnson out of the game after just 2.2 innings. 

“That’s what you’re going to get. Sometimes it’s going to be hit or miss. When he’s rolling it’s pretty fun to watch. He goes out there and punches the first two out then walks two. It’s getting better and better but for them they got some big hits. I think they were hitting .139 on fastballs in the zone and they hit two doubles off of him. That hadn’t happened all year to him,” said Johnson. “At least he’s throwing it over the plate. I’d rather give up hits than walk people.” 

Unfortunately for Johnson and Oklahoma the free passes played a helping hand in Thursday night’s loss. 

Nick Weslowski walked a batter in front of Levi Clark’s fifth inning blast. Same format one inning later Henry Ford followed a free pass with a two-run shot to left that extended the Vols lead to 8-5. 

In the ninth inning, it was a Willits error that opened the door to the Vols adding an insurance run on a Manny Marin RBI single. 

Weslowski worked 2.2 innings. Isaac Williams worked 2.2 innings of good baseball, not allowing a hit and striking out three. 

Jason Bodin struck out back-to-back hitters to strand the bases loaded in the ninth. 

NEXT UP 

Oklahoma and Tennessee reconvene Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the second game of the series. OU will start Xander Mercurius on the mound.