Competitive baseball is what Friday nights are about during Big 12 conference baseball play. Friday’s conference opener was a classic and could be described in two words: pitchers' duel.
It was nothing but that for the first game of a three-game set between the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners and the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies. OU won, 1-0.
The Sooners returned to L. Dale Mitchell Park riding a three-game looking streak after beginning the season with the program's best start. The squad dropped the last game of the series against Arkansas-Little Rock at home and was swept by Arizona State in two games in Tempe, Ariz.
Oklahoma needed a big win to open conference play and snap the losing skid.
Senior starting pitcher Michael Rocha was nothing short of spectacular. Rocha had pitched at least seven innings in each of his previous four starts and was looking to extend his streak in the conference opener.
Rocha did that and more.
He pitched 8.2 innings while striking out thirteen Aggies, allowing just three hits and pitching no walks. The first hit he allowed was to the third batter of the game, he did not allow another hit until the leadoff hitter in the eighth.
Rocha’s slider was effective, making him virtually unhittable, and was the pitch responsible for the majority of his strikeouts.
“Pretty much everything was working today. Fastball command, mixing my slider in there,” Rocha said. “They were being pretty aggressive, so I used that to my advantage. I am glad we came away with the win.”
Rocha allowed his third hit — a double — with two outs in the ninth. With the tying man in scoring position, OU coach Sunny Golloway made his way to the mound and motioned for his closer, senior Ryan Duke. Not a word was said between Rocha and Golloway, according to Rocha.
“Michael Rocha was special. He was the difference tonight,” Golloway said. “Their guy was special, but Michael was a little bit better.”
When Duke got to the mound, Rocha — not Golloway — handed him the ball. On his first pitch to his first batter, Duke got a groundout to third to clinch the win for Rocha and put Duke atop OU’s career saves list with 29.
“It was good to come into a tight spot like that and just get out of there and throw one pitch, that’s great,” Duke said. “Rocha was throwing the heck out of the ball. He was the first one I went up to after the game and said, ‘Great job.’”
Mirroring Rocha’s stellar performance was Texas A&M’s junior starter John Stilson. He was just as dominant as Rocha as both exchanged what seemed like identical innings.
“Stilson for them was outstanding,” Golloway said.
Stilson struck out nine Sooners through seven innings, but things unraveled for him in the seventh.
With two outs, sophomore left fielder Max White worked a walk and moved to third on junior designated hitter Evan Mistich’s single.
That brought senior third baseman, team captain and All-American Garrett Buechele to the plate, who came up clutch and drove a single up the middle to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh.
“We love being out here and playing tight games like this, and we came out on top tonight,” Buechele said.
Friday’s game had a little bit of everything: great pitching, clutch hitting and a new record holder in career saves for the program.
“Outstanding college baseball game,” Golloway said. “It let’s us relax a little bit. I think that when you stumble, you have to work hard and that’s how you get your confidence back.”
Golloway said if the opening conference victory got away from the club, the team’s confidence would have been shaken.
“The 1-0 victory is really good for us. Hopefully when we come out tomorrow, we’ll play looser,” he said.
Freshman starter Dillon Overton will be on the mound Saturday to try to follow Rocha’s masterful performance. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
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whowland 1 year, 2 months ago
We were Michael Rocha's houseparents when he was in the Cape League and have followed him ever since. Way to go, kid! We knew you were the real thing. Remember: sign w/American League so we can see you when you come through playing the Red Sox system! Drop a line sometime! Warmly, Howie & Wendie