The Oklahoma Sooners took to the field hoping to force a decisive game three against a team that looks every bit the part of a National Champion contender in the LSU Tigers.
While the Sooners jumped out to an early lead scoring their first run of the Super Regional in the first inning, any momentum or confidence they had built was quickly derailed as LSU scored runs in three consecutive innings to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the fourth. It seemed as though Murphy's Law was out in full effect for Oklahoma as soon after losing the lead, a rain delay (more like threat of rain) forced a 30 minute break in the action.
Sunny Golloway's decision was to throw Dillon Overton after the delay who beaned the first batter of the inning. Not the start he was hoping for as he would later be pulled in favor of Kyle Hayes.
That is not say OU didn't have their chances. In the sixth inning, Ty Ross recorded an RBI to give the Tigers yet another insurance run. The Sooners answered by putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs as Hector Loranzana stepped up to the plate. Heading into tonight's game, Loranzana had come up with clutch hit after clutch hit throughout the season. However, in an unusual instance for him, he took strike three looking to end the inning as the chance of inching closer to a tough LSU team was squandered.
Jacoby Jones who has been stellar this series, stepped up with a solo homerun in the eighth as the Sooners all but looked out of this game forcing Golloway to run through a handful of pitchers in hopes of finding something that worked. Instead, Golloway got some of his worst results as it turned into batting practice for LSU racking up six runs on five hits giving the Tigers an 11-1 lead.
Oklahoma looked deflated in the dugout facing Chris Cotton for the final two innings of play. Cotton is not a typical closer with his top pitches hitting 85 mph. Yet, this is a kid that throws strikes on a consistent basis and rarely walks a batter. With a mammoth of a mountain to climb, Oklahoma went down in straight games as LSU clinched the first spot in Omaha, Nebraska.
What started as a season with little expectations, ended with an incredible run to the Big 12 Championship along with an improbable appearance at the Super Regional. Now the season has ended and the Sooners have some rebuilding to do. Offense will be an issue that should be addressed on the recruiting trail while pitching will become a major question mark moving forward.