OU baseball evens series with 4-2 win

There wasn’t a label placed in front of the game on Friday afternoon at Kimrey Family Stadium. It wasn’t the most important game of the year. Nor was it a make or break the season kind of game. 

But after Thursday night’s series opener, Oklahoma baseball needed a reason to exhale. 

Oklahoma rode starter Cam Johnson for 6.1 innings and manufactured enough offense on Friday to even the series with a 4-2 victory over No.16 Alabama. Kadyn Leon pitched the final 2.2 innings, escaping a first and third with one out leverage spot in the seventh. 

There were shades of the Cam Johnson, Oklahoma fans had hoped for. There were also signs of a spark offensively of which Skip Johnson and Co. can work with. A step in the right direction and a reason to be able to breathe a little, setting up a mega-spot and rubber game for Cord Rager on Saturday.  

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED 

“You’d have to be blind to not see he’s the best guy on the field. When he’s rolling. When he’s in a good rhythm. His stuff is electric. He’s probably one of the best left-handers I’ve ever coached,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson following Cam Johnson’s fourth win of the year. 

Despite the ups and downs that Johnson has experienced in his first year and a half in Norman, Friday served as another encouraging sign things are trending in the right direction.  

“Just having a clear mind out there. Not overthinking. Believing in the offense, the defense and Skip. That’s the main thing we’re trying to focus on,” said Cameron Johnson following his third performance of the season with eight strikeouts or more. 

“Perseverance and leadership. It was awesome what J-Will did telling Skip ‘hey lets leave him in’ because we believe in each other. That kind of synergy. It worked really well today.” 

The junior left-hander went a career-high 6.1 innings, scattering eight hits and striking out seven allowing just two runs and walking two. 

There’s a belief in Johnson’s abilities that extend beyond his head coach. 

“The coolest moment of all. Going into the seventh inning he’s at 90 pitches and we’re fixing to make a change. Jaxon Willits walks up to me and says to keep him in the game. So I keep him in the game and then I walk out there to visit the mound. They were saying ‘hey leave him in the game’. He ended up giving up a hit but I’m proud of those guys taking the leadership on their own. It was a pretty cool moment for us,” said Johnson. 

LEON PICKS UP WHERE JOHNSON LEFT OFF

Last weekend’s trip to Austin was marred by woes out of the Sooners bullpen. Kadyn Leon jumped back into the saddle on Friday and slammed the door shut, earning his first career save, throwing the final 2.2 innings. 

After inheriting runners on the corners in a two run game, Leon dispatched of Golden Spikes candidate Justin Lebron on three pitches. And ended the inning with a strike out of Brady Neal. 

“Absolutely. Lebron is one of the best players in America, there’s no doubt about that. He made three quality pitches on him. I think he kind of fooled him on the third pitch. It was a back-up breaking ball. He kind of fooled him. YOu might fool him once but you’re not going to fool him twice. That was really good,” said Johnson. 

SOONERS MANUFACTURE RUNS

Oklahoma’s scoring came in three consecutive innings starting in the second. 

Jason Walk bloop single dropped in front of Alabama centerfielder Bryce Foster, tying the game in the home half of the second. A positive sign for Walk who has struggled offensively this season with two outs. 

One inning later the Sooners loaded the bases with no outs, eventually scoring a pair on a wild pitch and a Deiten Lachance sacrifice fly out. 

In the fourth inning it was – again– the bottom of the line up that set the table with a Kyle Branch walk and a Walk single. Each moved into scoring position via a Trey Gambill sacrifice. Camden Johnson RBI ground out extended the Sooners lead back to three runs, 4-1. 

Small ball in a sense but execution offensively this team is going to need in *this* conference. 

“Just kind of getting back to our offense. That’s what happens when you get away from it and try too hard. We could play the seventh, eighth and ninth a little bit better. I think we are giving some at-bats away and we’re going to address that moving forward for sure,” said Johnson. 

NEXT UP

No.11 Oklahoma (21-9, 5-6) and No.16 Alabama (24-8, 7-4) are set for a rubber game of the series on Saturday. First pitch set for 2p.