College baseball: Bedlam heads to Tulsa with Cowboys, Sooners gaining momentum
After splitting their first four meetings of the season, OU and Oklahoma State face off at Tulsa’s ONEOK Field at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The game was originally scheduled for Norman before the move to Tulsa was announced in late March.
The Cowboys have dominated Bedlam in Tulsa since ONEOK Field opened, going 11-2 there since the stadium opened in 2010.
OSU has won three consecutive games in the park, with the Sooners’ last win coming in 2017.
For the Sooners, Tuesday’s meeting will be the fourth non-conference game against a Big 12 opponent this season. OU is 1-2 in those meetings, beating Baylor early in the season in the Round Rock Classic, losing to the Cowboys on March 30 in Stillwater and then falling 14-4 to Texas Tech in Amarillo on May 4.
The two Bedlam games are the only non-conference games against Big 12 opponents for the Cowboys.
Carmichael, Ruffcorn come up big in Sooners’ series win
OU sophomore lefty Braden Carmichael had the game of his life Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader at West Virginia.
Carmichael threw seven no-hit innings in the Sooners’ eventual 9-1 win in the rubber game of the series.
The Prosper, Texas, native struck out a career-high 10. Carmichael started the eighth but left after an error allowed the leadoff hitter to reach. Carmichael threw 124 pitches, well above his previous season high of 106.
Carmichael (6-1) lowered his ERA to 3.88.
Earlier that day, Jason Ruffcorn once again was stretched out as a long reliever and though he didn’t come away with the win, kept the Sooners in the game after a rough start from Jake Bennett.
After the Mountaineers scored four in the first inning, Ruffcorn came on in the second and went 7 ⅓ innings, not allowing his first hit until the sixth.
Ruffcorn was in position to get the win after the Sooners carried a 6-5 lead into the ninth before he allowed a leadoff homer in the ninth. OU eventually won 8-7 in 11 innings.
Ruffcorn didn’t pitch more than two innings in his first 15 appearances this season, serving as OU’s closer. But he’s thrown a combined 17 ⅔ in his last three. Saturday, he threw 107 pitches.
Cowboys pitchers come up big
OSU’s pitching staff has operated without two key starting pitchers the past few weeks due to injuries and at times it’s really shown.
This weekend’s series victory at Kansas was a big boost moving forward.
Justin Campbell threw the program’s first no-hitter in 36 years. That was the big highlight, and rightfully so.
But the Cowboys also used just five other pitchers on the weekend.
Six-foot-9 left-hander Mitchell Stone pitched into the eighth inning in Friday’s 13-4 rout. Bryce Osmond pitched into the sixth on Sunday.
Only three relievers were used as Kansas totaled just 18 hits on the weekend.
For a beleaguered staff, that’s huge in a big week against Bedlam rival OU and Baylor, the team ahead of OSU in the Big 12 standings. The three-game set against Baylor is OSU’s final Big 12 series of the regular season.
The Cowboys’ offense is clicking. They scored 39 runs and totaled 44 hits in the three games.
Last weekend was a big chance to reset the pitching staff moving forward for the stretch run.
OU
So far this season: 24-22, 8-10 Big 12
Last week: 2-2 (Lost to Texas Tech 14-4, lost at West Virginia, 7-1, beat West Virginia 8-7, 9-1).
This week: vs. Oklahoma State in Tulsa, 7 p.m. Tuesday; vs. Texas Tech, 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
OSU
So far this season: 27-15-1, 10-11 Big 12
Last week: 2-1 (beat Kansas 13-4, 19-0, lost at Kansas 8-7)
This week: vs. OU in Tulsa, 7 p.m. Tuesday; vs. Baylor, 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday
Jacob Unruh and Ryan Aber cover college sports for The Oklahoman. Support their work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.