Bedlam baseball: Kyle Ottoson returns, leads OSU past OU

Instead, the senior pitcher spent the days between his DUI arrest in the early hours of last Tuesday and the Cowboys' nonconference Bedlam clash with Oklahoma this Tuesday performing various community service acts in an effort to get back in good graces with the team.

“I didn't seem him until about an hour before the game,” said OSU coach Frank Anderson.

Back on the mound against the Sooners, Ottoson was a welcome sight for the Cowboys, handling the Sooners in a 6-1 win before a crowd of 2,438 at Reynolds Stadium.

In a major contrast of styles opposite OU's power-armed Damien Magnifico, Ottoson frustrated the Sooners with an array of off-speed pitches and breaking balls. While Magnifico fired fastballs in the mid- and upper-90s and touched 100 at times, OSU's soft-tossing lefty worked some 30 miles per hour slower, with the stadium radar reading flickering 70s on most of his pitches, even slipping into the 60s at times.

“Barely over the speed limit,” Anderson said.

Yet while Magnifico struggled to command his power pitches, Ottoson thrived without any power whatsoever.

“That's just his game,” said Cowboys right fielder Trey Whaley, whose run-scoring double capped a three-run rally in the sixth inning that broke a 1-1 tie. “He throws strikes. He throws three good pitches the whole game. He gets the job done.”

The Cowboys improved to 23-17, snapping OU's eight-game winning streak in the process and dropping the Sooners to 26-15. The two teams meet in their Big 12 series May 4-6, with one game in Tulsa and two in Oklahoma City — games that count in the league standings — although this first meeting carried postseason ramifications for two teams scrambling for NCAA relevance.

“We did damage to our RPI tonight,” said Sooners coach Sunny Golloway.

Ottoson nearly went the distance, allowing five hits — all singles — over 8 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and one walk. He retired 12 straight batters at one point and didn't allow a runner past second base after the first inning.