With the season on the line, Oklahoma’s bats have gone quiet

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s rally through the Norman Regional fell short of a victory Monday night.

The Connecticut Huskies put on a defensive clinic, suppressing any attempt by OU to string together any offense, to advance to next weekend’s Super Regionals.

A pair of two-run bombs in the fourth inning proved to be all the Huskies needed. Oklahoma lost seven hits, but was shut out and saw its season end with a 7–1 loss at L Dale Mitchell Park.

“I just didn’t play very well tonight. I could never sustain a rally,” OU coach Skip Johnson said after the defeat. “Hats off to UConn. They did a great job.”

Johnson’s Sooners finished 40-21 this year, while UConn improved to 35-24 and advanced to face the 8-seeded Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee.

After Oklahoma got two seven-inning outings on the mound to avoid elimination Sunday, OU’s pitchers relented after a trip to the lineup Monday night.

Carson Atwood started strong for the Sooners, retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced, but the fourth inning proved treacherous.

Shortstop Paul Tammaro continued her excellent regional by starting the inning with her second single of the evening.

Two batters later, the UConn outfielder Korey Morton hit a two-run shot to left field to break the deadlock.

Atwood then looked like he was going to stabilize and get out of the inning.

He induced an easy grounder at OU shortstop Jaxon Willits for the second out of the inning, then he retired the Huskies designated hitter Tyler Minickbut disaster has arrived.

Oklahoma wide receiver Scott Mudler dropped the third strike, then swung the ball trying to reach and touch Minick. His throw to first base passed Michael Synder and drove to the right field corner, allowing Minick to scramble to third.

Johnson replaced Atwood with Carter Campbellbut Minick’s real destination was insignificant. Maddix Dalena smashed the second two-run shot of the inning toward the fans in right field, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead.

“It changed a lot. It kind of took our breath away,” Johnson said.

Oklahoma struggled to punch holes in the Huskies’ defense and UConn got back to work in the fifth.

Campbell’s day ended with two batters in the frame and he left a runner on second base for the junior right-hander. Ryan Lambert.

OU’s new pitcher walked another and back-to-back RBI singles from Luke Broadhurst and Morton saw the deficit balloon to 6-0, completely deflating the L Dale Mitchell Park crowd in the process.

Caleb Shpurwho erased hit after hit all weekend in center field, tormented the Sooners again in the bottom of the fifth.

He robbed Mudler of a hit with a diving catch, preventing OU from gaining momentum as the game entered the sixth.

Lambert held strong in the first half of the inning, bringing Oklahoma’s lead back in an attempt to cut the deficit.

Sensing the desperation of the moment, fans stood on their feet throughout the second half of the sixth.

The Sooners had two consecutive singles of Easton Carmichael and Synder, but UConn starter Gabe Van Emon Willits retired after a seven-length battle to keep OU out of the picture and extinguish the hopes of the Crimson faithful.

“We could never find a leader in the first inning,” Johnson said. “Every offense – when you play offense, you have to recruit leadoff hitters. Every offense is supposed to recruit leadoff hitters, not just ours.”

Oklahoma didn’t put another runner on board until the ninth, although the Huskies added a seventh run in the eighth on a TC Simmons single.

Jackson Nicklaus threw a double play with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth, but he scored OU’s only run of the night.

OU’s final four batters combined to go 0 for 13 at the plate as the door closed on the Sooners’ season.

“I’m just proud of the guys that are fighting and continuing to fight,” Johnson said. “…We didn’t play well enough. We just didn’t do it. We just picked a bad day to play bad.”