Photo Courtesy of Big 12
Arlington, Texas – In the second game of day two at Globe Life Field of the 2024 Big 12 Conference Tournament, the No. 1 seed University of Oklahoma Sooners shut out the No. 9 seed Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 4-0 thanks to a complete game from junior left-handed starting pitcher Braden Davis.
Davis gemmed the whole nine, allowing four hits, no walks, nine strikeouts, 12 flyouts, seven ground outs, and three extra-base hits.
Davis faced 32 batters and threw 120 pitches with 89 strikes.
His slider was effective between 80-82 mph and his fastball between 90-92 mph, and he did not dip down after reaching the 100-pitch mark.
“Everything didn’t rely on breaking pitches; it was getting ahead and having the mentality to be better than the hitter and just having a lot of confidence and conviction”, Davis told World Baseball Network about how he felt on the mound after his start on Wednesday.
Davis joined former Sooner Jon Gray as the only two pitchers in program history to throw a complete game shutout in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Seven complete games have been thrown in the history of the Big 12 Conference tournament.
TCU left five men on base during their Wednesday loss.
Oklahoma is ranked No. 8 in the country in the Top 25 in the final week of the 2024 regular season.
In the top of the first inning, Oklahoma got a huge defensive spark from left fielder Kendall Petis making a diving play across his body against TCU catcher Kurtis Byrne to save a run with center fielder Sam Myers on second from his first at-bat double.
Oklahoma‘s offense did not get the first hit of the game until the bottom of the fourth inning when senior third baseman Anthony Mackenzie rocked a single into center field.
The next batter, Oklahoma junior second baseman Jackson Nicklaus launched a double off the center field wall, scoring first baseman Michael Snyder for the game’s first run.
A few batters later, Pettis ripped an RBI single into center field as Nicklaus came in to score to make it 2-0.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Sooners offense tallied a few insurance runs as Mackenzie launched a solo home run into the left-center field bullpen to extend the lead to 3-0.
Nicklaus came up to the plate looking to damage once again as he drove a solo home run over the right-center field wall for the game’s fourth run.
Mack and Jack goin’ back-to-back 💣@AnthonyMacken11 x @j_nicklaus15 pic.twitter.com/Cp4nGV4zVB
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) May 22, 2024
Davis commanded the whole way with the team behind his back under junior catcher Scott Mudler. He allowed just two hits in the last two innings to sophomore first baseman Karson Bowen in the top of the eighth with a lead-off double. During his phenomenal start, he gave up a single to senior catcher Kurtis Byrne as the second batter in the top of the ninth.
Davis completed his masterful outing by striking out TCU right fielder Luke Boyers to end the game in their 4-0 shutout win on Wednesday afternoon.
“We didn’t switch our approach up quick enough or at all the whole game. I think we need to adjust faster and start quicker. We didn’t start fast. We didn’t end strong, ” Bowen told World Baseball Network during Wednesday’s post-game press conference.
TCU is 16-6 at Globe Life Field and is on the brink of elimination at the 2024 Big 12 Conference tournament after winning the regular season title and conference tournament last season in Arlington.
TCU has four Big 12 Conference titles and is tied with former member Nebraska.
Oklahoma is aiming for its fourth Big 12 Conference tournament championship title in its program history, having joined in 1997 and won its first regular season title in 2024.
TCU will play the No. 6 seed Kansas State University in the elimination game on May 23 at Globe Life Field at 10 a.m. EST on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Oklahoma will play the No. 7 seed Kansas on May 23 at Globe Life Field at 1:30 p.m. EST on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
