'A bunch of Davids': How OU baseball embraced underdog role to make College World Series

NORMAN — No task is too tall for the Sooners.

After being picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll, the unseeded OU baseball team is on an unthinkable postseason run. The Sooners will compete in their first College World Series since 2010, which begins Friday with a 1 p.m. game against No. 5-seeded Texas A&M at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

OU has exceeded expectations, and its success wouldn't be possible without a defining moment in Gainesville, Florida.

The Sooners were in the middle of what proved to be a nearly six-hour weather delay that halted a Gainesville Regional finals game against No. 13-seeded Florida on June 6.

OU head coach Skip Johnson needed to rally his troops, who trailed 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning at the time of the delay, and he knew exactly what to tell them.

Johnson received a text during the break in the action from Gene Willits, the father of OU volunteer assistant Reggie Willits. It was about the story of David and Goliath.

Tramel: OU baseball's stealth rise to College World Series gives hope for future in SEC

In a battle between the Israelites and the Philistines, the average-sized David defeated a giant soldier named Goliath with only a slingshot and five smooth stones.

The story resonated with Johnson, who sees that same underdog mentality in his team. 

"We have a bunch of Davids," Johnson said. "We've got guys who try to overcome adversity and go out there and play. That's what has been really fun, to see those guys get better every week and have that intensity."

Johnson shared Gene’s message with Ryan Gaines, OU baseball's director of operations.

Gaines then put the message on Teamwork, an app the Sooners use to communicate with each other.

"I saw it on my Teamworks, and I agreed," OU outfielder Kendall Pettis said. "We've been doubted the whole season. We've always had that chip on our shoulders."

Pettis fits that David mold as well as anyone on the team.

The redshirt sophomore has emerged as one of OU's hottest hitters despite batting ninth in the order. He has 16 RBIs and 20 runs scored with a .393 batting average in the Sooners' last 18 games.

Pettis showed out in the Gainesville Regional. He helped OU earn a 5-4 win over Florida that stormy night in Gainesville by recording his fourth home run of the season. He was ultimately named the regional's Most Outstanding Player.

Another David on the team is Peyton Graham.

A 6-foot-4, 171-pound redshirt sophomore, Graham's thin appearance has long been the biggest negative in his game. But that hasn't stopped him.

Graham ranks 31st in the nation in home runs (20) on .335 hitting this season, which helped him earn All-Big 12 first-team honors.

More: Why the heart of OU baseball's Peyton Graham outweighs his thin frame

"I've always been on the slim side," Graham said. "Especially being tall, too, so that doesn't really help. But I've always been able to hit the ball pretty well, so it makes up for it."

Pettis and Graham both joined the team as freshmen in 2020, but some OU players had to take a different route to Norman.

Tanner Tredaway is a David who spent time at the junior college level. After struggling to get recruited out of high school, he attended Seminole State College for one season before arriving at OU in 2019.

Tredaway has 61 RBIs and 59 runs scored with a team-high .373 batting average, and he delivered in the Blacksburg Super Regional. He erupted for two home runs and three RBIs in an 11-2 win over Virginia Tech on Sunday that sent OU to the College World Series.

"To people on the outside looking at me as a player, they probably didn't think that I had a big future," Tredaway said of his high school days. "But at the time, I did. That was really all that mattered."

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

OU will have to slay numerous giants in the College World Series, and that begins with a game against Texas A&M.

The Aggies have looked dominant this postseason. They swept both the College Station Regional and the College Station Super Region by an average win margin of 3.4 runs.

It's a tall order for the Sooners, but it's one they've embraced attacking head-on.

"Only we believed it," Pettis said. "A lot of people outside of OU didn't think that we could do this. We always knew that we had a chance."

Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.

College World Series

At Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.

Friday's games

Texas A&M vs. OU, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Notre Dame vs. Texas, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday's games

Stanford vs. Arkansas, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Ole Miss vs. Auburn, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)