OU baseball: Garrett Carey the surprise hero in Bedlam at the Brick

Yet when rolling through the list of potential candidates in a chat with pitching coach Jack Giese, Oklahoma nine-hole hitter Garrett Carey wasn't on the tip of his tongue.

“I told coach Giese,” Golloway said, “‘This will be a game where someone is gonna run into a pitch. Whatever you guys call, have courage. I trust you, but it really is going to come down to (OSU's Mark) Ginther or Cody Reine running into a pitch.

“I didn't mention Garrett Carey.”

Carey inserted himself into Bedlam lore, ending a dominant pitching run by Oklahoma State's Andrew Heaney, driving a ninth-inning home run into the left field seats for a walk-off 1-0 win at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Sooners, getting superb pitching from Dillon Overton and Steven Okert, improved to 36-21 overall, likely ensuring themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They'll face Wednesday's Baylor-Kansas State winner Thursday at 4 p.m.

Heaney, the Big 12's Pitcher of the Year, had cruised into the ninth, striking out eight while allowing just two singles and a walk while needing but 86 pitches. The performance was a continuation of mastery over the Sooners that featured 17 scoreless innings, beginning with a shutout in the Bedlam series opener in Tulsa back on May 4.

And Wednesday's ninth inning offered little resistance, with the .210-hitting Carey due up first, followed by left-handed batters Erik Ross and Cody Reine, who were a combined 2-for-13 with six strikeouts in the two games against Heaney.

Carey, however, dramatically altered Heaney's happy homecoming, turning on the Putnam City product's third pitch for the game-winner.