SOONERS

OU baseball makes 'some magic happen' vs. Virginia Tech to reach College World Series

Tanner Tredaway isn’t done yet.

After being picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll, the OU baseball team has proved its doubters wrong this postseason thanks in part to a rallying cry: Keep Tredaway’s college career alive.

“I want to go to Omaha with him,” redshirt sophomore Kendall Pettis said of Tredaway after OU’s Gainesville Regional win. “He’s just a good kid, no problems on or off the field. He does the right thing and works hard.”

It isn’t hard to see why the Sooners are willing to go to battle for Tredaway. The redshirt senior struggled to get recruited out of high school, spent one season at the junior college level and overcame a broken hand injury along the way before arriving at OU in 2019.

Tredaway has since become a crucial piece to the Sooners’ late surge, and he kept his final season going on Sunday.

OU earned an 11-2 win over No. 4 Virginia Tech in the Blacksburg Super Regional to advance to its first College World Series since 2010. Tredaway led the way with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs on 4-for-5 hitting.

"I never feel like it's going to be one of those days," Tredaway said. "I just told myself, 'It's my senior year and this could be our last game.' I just wanted to leave it all out on the field. That's what I did, and I made some magic happen."

More: Why Tanner Tredaway’s run with OU baseball has been a ‘dream come true’

OU's Brett Squires (12) and Peyton Graham (20) hoist a sign after the Sooners clinched their trip to the College World Series.

OU came out swinging in the elimination game. Peyton Graham landed the first blow with a solo home run on the second at-bat of the day, and Tredaway stepped up to the plate two at-bats later.

He swung on a full count and sent a deep bomb into left field that narrowly stayed fair for a solo homer of his own.

Virginia Tech responded in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run home run by Carson DeMartini, but Tredaway struck again in the fourth.

The leadoff hitter battled to a full count before crushing a fastball up the middle and sending it into center field. Virginia Tech’s Gavin Cross tried to chase the ball down, but he placed his hands on his knees in defeat as it cleared the wall for Tredaway’s second home run of the day.

The solo shot sparked a three-run inning by the Sooners, and their defense preserved the 5-2 lead in the bottom of the frame.

Virginia Tech’s Jack Hurley launched a ball into left field that appeared to be going foul, but Pettis lept over the fence and made the catch while falling into the Hokies’ bullpen. Even Graham Firoved, who was warming up, gave Pettis a respectful nod for the snag.

"In a do-or-die game, I was like, 'Screw it, I'll just jump. I don't care,'" Pettis said. "I really thought I was going to break my back, but I got up just fine... I was just trying to do whatever I could to help."

'It makes up for it':Why the heart of OU baseball's Peyton Graham outweighs his thin frame

Now up 6-2 in the top of the fifth inning following an RBI double by Blake Robertson, Tredaway continued his hot streak.

The veteran Sooner nearly hit his third home run of the contest, but he settled for a shot that bounced off the wall in center field for an RBI double.

The 7-2 lead was more than enough insurance for redshirt freshman pitcher Cade Horton.

After watching Horton walk a batter in the bottom of the sixth with one out, OU head coach Skip Johnson held a conference on the mound and opted to keep him in the game. That proved to be the right decision.

Horton got Cross, a future top pick in the upcoming MLB Draft, to go down swinging on a slider. He then got Tanner Schobel, the Hokies’ home run leader, to fly out and end the inning.

Horton finished with eight strikeouts and only two allowed hits in six innings on the mound.

"My plan going in was to just attack, get ahead and hit the target," Horton said. "That's all you can control when you're pitching is hit the target, so that's what I did."

More:Can OU baseball reach the CWS? First Sooners will have to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies

Shortstop Peyton Graham (20) watches his OU teammates celebrate after getting the final out of an 11-2 win at Virginia Tech in Game 3 of the Blacksburg Super Regional on Sunday.

Tredaway then continued his stellar performance at the plate with a double in the top of the seventh inning, and Jimmy Crooks brought him home on the next at-bat with an RBI single.

After a one-inning appearance by Chazz Martinez on the mound, graduate closer Trevin Michael sealed the Sooners’ win and punched their ticket to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

OU begins the double-elimination tournament against No. 5-seeded Texas A&M on Friday at an undetermined time.

"It's a dream come true," Tredaway said. "We've all just worked our tails off... I just couldn't be more proud of these guys and all the work that we put into it that's led to this moment."

More:Can OU baseball reach the CWS? First Sooners will have to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies

NCAA Blacksburg Super Regional

OU vs. Virginia Tech (best-of-3 series):

Game 1: OU 5, Virginia Tech 4

Game 2: Virginia Tech 14, OU 8

Game 3: OU 11, Virginia Tech 2

2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament:Schedule, results, game times, TV info, matchups

OU vs. Virginia Tech live updates