ARLINGTON, Texas – Cade Horton registered career highs of nine strikeouts and 5.1 innings, and Oklahoma produced an eight-run third inning to win the 2022 Big 12 Championship 8-1 over Texas Sunday evening at Globe Life Field.
The Sooners (37-20) sent 11 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring all eight runs before an out was recorded. Tanner Tredaway hit a two-run single, and Jimmy Crooks hit a three-run home run to break open the game.
Peyton Graham was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after batting .375 with seven RBIs and two home runs. Tredaway, Crooks and Jake Bennett were selected to the all-tournament team.
Horton (3-2) provided Oklahoma its fourth straight tremendous effort in the Big 12 Championship. He allowed a first-inning home run, then shut down the Longhorns (42-19), allowing only one hit – a one-out single in the third inning – for the rest of his outing.
Horton’s biggest inning was the fourth, when he stranded two runners in scoring position to put a zero on the scoreboard after OU’s eight-run frame. He allowed two one-out walks, then struck out consecutive batters to end the threat.
Chazz Martinez replaced Horton with a runner on first in the sixth inning and rolled an inning-ending double play. He was perfect over 2.2 frames, striking out five batters. Trevin Michael closed it with two strikeouts in the ninth inning. In total, OU pitchers struck out 16 Longhorns.
After going down in order in the first two frames, the Sooners exploded in the third. Jackson Nicklaus and Brett Squires drew walks to begin the inning. Kendall Pettis executed a perfect hit-and-run, singling home Nicklaus, and Squires scored on a balk to give OU a 2-1 lead. John Spikerman legged out an RBI double, scoring Pettis to make it 3-1.
Graham bunted for a single and Blake Robertson drew a walk to load the bases. Tredaway then delivered a two-run single to make the score 5-1. Crooks then launched his fifth home run of the season into the right field seats to make it 8-1.
The pitching staff, which was excellent all week, carried the Sooners the rest of the way to the title. In four games, OU allowed a combined 11 runs on 25 hits and seven walks, and totaled 51 strikeouts over 36.0 innings.
This is Oklahoma’s third Big 12 Championship and first since 2013. The Sooners also won league’s the initial tournament title in 1997.
Oklahoma, which tied for second place in the league standings one game behind TCU, completed a perfect 4-0 run through the Big 12 tournament. Combined with a 15-9 regular season conference record and two midweek non-conference victories, the Sooners posted a combined 21-9 ledger against Big 12 opponents this season.
OU will learn its NCAA Regional destination today. The selection show will be televised at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.