Oregon vs. Texas Tech Baseball Will Be Epic On Sunday | Showdown Takeaways
Oregon vs. Texas Tech Baseball Will Be Epic On Sunday | Showdown Takeaways
No. 9 Tennessee Baseball was upset by Oklahoma, Oregon rallied with 7 unanswered runs and Texas Tech bounced back. Day 2 Showdown Takeaways
The second day of the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field In Arlington, Texas didn’t want to end.
A day after Oklahoma allowed Oregon to score a pair of runs late, the Sooners faced Tennessee as underdogs in the night cap. The Vols, meanwhile, looked to continue to make their case as one of the best teams in the nation after a 17-strikeout day against Texas Tech the night before and this time they were starting one of the top pitchers in baseball, Drew Beam.
After each team scored a single run in the fourth inning, the pitching dual continued. And a triple play even happened.
Tennessee’s bullpen allowed no hits and walked three over 3.1 innings. Meanwhile, Oklahoma reliever Kyson Witherspoon, who’s brother pitched for OU the night before, made his Sooner debut with a sensational outing throwing 77 pitches over 4.1 innings.
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In the top of the 10th, OU’s John Spikerman laced a double to left center field to score Jackson Nicklaus for a 2-1 lead. The Sooners added three more runs and Lambert pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the 10th inning for the 5-1 win.
It was the perfect night-cap for a thrilling day at Globe Life. Texas Tech rebounded to beat a tough Nebraska team in a 6-3 game, while Oregon rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win 7-4.
Here are four takeaways from Day 2 of the College Baseball Showdown.
Oregon Baseball Will Be Ranked Next Week
The Ducks’ bullpen has yet to allow any runs and their All-Pac-12 pitchers who were key starters for them in 2023 are pitching out of the bullpen to start the season. Logan Mercado started 10 games for Oregon in 2023, but he was used for a six-out save on Saturday.
If Oregon is that deep on the pitching front, and a lot of that will depend of Friday’s starter RJ Gordon and Saturday's starter Kevin Seitter continuing to improve, then Oregon, picked to finish fourth, will have a real chance to win the Pac-12 in their final season.
On Saturday, we saw Seitter struggle at times in four innings. But the other five innings, Baylor didn’t have a hit.
Oregon was just outside the top 25 in most preseason polls and the reigning Pac-12 Tournament champions who reached the Super Regionals last season should be in the rankings next week.
Oklahoma Reliever Kyson Witherspoon Was The Star Of The Night
OU reliever Kyson Witherspoon is the reason Oklahoma knocked off No. 9 Tennessee on Saturday. The sophomore who had a 3.19 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 17 games at Northwest Florida State College in 2023 didn’t look intimidated against the Vols lineup that featured multiple top-100 MLB Draft Prospects.
He pitched 4.1 innings and allowed no runs with four strikeouts and gutted through 77 pitches. He worked around three walks and was effective all the way until the ninth.
Overall, the Sooners pitching was strong. Starter Brendan Girton had nine strikeouts and made just one mistake to one of the best hitters in college baseball in Dylan Dreiling.
Prospect Watch: Drew Beam Of Tennessee Baseball
Beam made his 2024 debut after being ranked as one of the 25-best prospects in the 2024 MLB Draft.
He certainly didn’t have a bad outing, going 5.2 innings with no walks, displaying the control that scouts are liking. He had a walk rate of 6.7% entering the season and he was working all five pitches.
But he did allow seven hits in five innings and had only two strikeouts.
Game Of The Day On Sunday: Texas Tech vs. Oregon at 3:30 p.m.
As good as the Nebraska-OU game could be as one of college sport’s greatest rivalries kick off the third day of the college baseball season, Oregon has been the most impressive teams of the first two days of college baseball.
And Texas Tech has played in two of the toughest games so far.
Oregon hasn’t announced their starter yet but has a deep staff to choose from. The Ducks could turn to Turner Spoljaric who made four starts last season, or could choose one of three true freshmen, including Cole Stokes, the No. 67-ranked recruit at Perfect Game. They could also choose Jackson Pace, who has started games before, though Oregon considers him a bullpen piece.
Tech is starting Jack Washburn who missed 2023 with an injury but was 5-2 with a 3.35 ERA in 2023 while making nine starts.
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What Teams Are Playing In the 2024 College Baseball Showdown?
Here are the teams:
- University of Oklahoma
- Texas Tech University
- Baylor University
- University of Tennessee
- University of Nebraska
- University of Oregon
- University of Arkansas
- Oklahoma State University
- University of Michigan
- Oregon State University
- TCU
- Texas A&M
- University of Southern California
- Arizona State University
2024 Shriners Children's College Showdown Schedule
All times Eastern
Friday, Feb. 16
- 12 p.m. – Nebraska 4, Baylor 1
- 4 p.m. – Oregon 4, Oklahoma 2
- 8 p.m. – Tennessee 6, Texas Tech 2
Saturday, Feb. 17
- 12 p.m. – Baylor 4, Oregon 7
- 4 p.m. – Texas Tech 6, Nebraska 3
- 8 p.m. – Oklahoma vs. Tennessee
Sunday, Feb. 18
- 11:30 a.m. – Nebraska vs. Oklahoma
- 3:30 p.m. – Oregon vs. Texas Tech
- 7:30 p.m. – Tennessee vs. Baylor
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