Sandlin’s Career-High 12 Strikeouts Boosts OU To MCWS Final

Oklahoma pitcher David Sandlin put the bad memory of his first appearance in the Men’s College World Series in the rearview mirror.

As a reliever in the Sooners’ MCWS opening win over the Aggies last Friday, Sandlin gave up four runs in just 0.1 innings of work. As a starting pitcher Wednesday afternoon, he was nearly unhittable.

Sandlin churned out seven innings of one-run baseball and struck out a career-high 12 batters in OU’s 5-1 win over Texas A&M.

The win vaults the Sooners (45-22) into the championship final series and ends the Aggies’ season at 44-20.

For the second time in as many games against A&M, a three-run home run by catcher Jimmy Crooks put the Sooners in the driver's seat. Crooks' Wednesday blast put OU up 3-0 in the first inning.

Shortstop Peyton Graham and centerfielder Tanner Tredaway entered Wednesday with extended hitting streaks that will continue this weekend.

Graham doubled and later came around to score on an error at first base to make it 4-0 Sooners in the fourth. Tredaway's run-scoring single in the fifth inning gave OU a 5-0 lead. Graham and Tredaway now have 17-game hitting streaks.

Oklahoma will face either Ole Miss or Arkansas at 6 p.m. Saturday in Game 1 in the best-of-three championship series.