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Oklahoma baseball completes upset of No. 2 Virginia with extra innings walk-off
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Oklahoma baseball is off to a high-flying start to the 2025 season, capping off a 6-0 start with an upset of No. 2 Virginia over the weekend.
Taking part in the Round Rock Classic in Texas this weekend, the Sooners rattled off 3 straight wins over power conference competitions. Included in that clean sweep are 2 top-10 upsets.
On Saturday, Oklahoma rolled to an 8-4 win over No. 7 Oregon State after sneaking past Minnesota in a Friday opener. That brought the Sooners into a Sunday showdown with the Cavaliers who entered the season with big-time expectations.
Virginia opened the scoring against the Sooners in the top of the 2nd and built a 3-0 lead quickly. However, Cameron Johnson was able to put out the fire for Oklahoma, and the rest of the game would be dominated by clutch hitting and key pitching from the Sooners.
Across the final 9 innings, Oklahoma used 6 relievers who combined to limit Virginia to just 1 earned run with 7 strikeouts. Dylan Crooks was especially significant, covering the 9th, 10th and 11th innings of a tied game without allowing a run with 2 strikeouts and just 2 base runners allowed.
Offensively, Jaxon Willits opened Oklahoma’s scoring with a solo blast in the 4th inning. The Sooners also received RBI hits from Scott Mudler, Jason Walk and Dayton Tockey.
The signature moment was finally delivered in the 12th inning with the Sooners getting the first 2 batters of the inning on base. Dawson Willis came to the plate next, and he was ready for the moment.
He dropped down what should have been a clean sacrifice bunt to 3rd base, but it was anything but clean for the Cavaliers. Luke Hanson’s throw was too much to handle for first baseman Chris Arroyo, and the miscue provided enough time for Brayden Horton to race around for the walk-off win via the error.
The win gives Oklahoma a clean 3-game sweep at the Round Rock Classic and a 6-0 start to the season after a series sweep over Lehigh to open the 2025 season. The Sooners next face Texas Southern in a 2-game midweek series across Tuesday and Wednesday. Oklahoma has not been back to the College World Series in Omaha since a runner-up finish in 2022.
As for Virginia, the Cavaliers have been through the grinder across the first 6 games. They were walked off by Michigan in the season opener in Puerto Rico and also lost to Oregon State, giving Virginia a 3-3 start to the year as the No. 2 team in the country. So far, a win over Minnesota is Virginia’s only power-conference victory to start the season.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
