There are many sayings about being knocked down and getting back up. My favorite is the old proverb “fall down seven times and stand up eight.” That sounds like the appropriate way to describe what Oklahoma baseball has done over the past two months.
The Sooners got knocked down a lot to end the season and looked dead in the water when they stumbled into the Atlanta regional. But Oklahoma got up and fought back. The run to escape the Atlanta region, dominate Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional and sweep through its half of the College World Series bracket to reach the championship finals against North Carolina might seem like a dream on the surface, but as outfielder Trey Gambill points out, it’s a product of a team that refused to quit when they had every reason to.
“I think the talent has always been there. And obviously, you look at the year and there’ve been ups and downs, but our preparation and hard work has never changed throughout the entire year,” Gambill said on SEC Network during a post-game interview after the Sooners’ 11-4 win over Georgia. ”In the SEC it’s a dogfight. You’re going to get punched in the face, you’re going to bleed from the mouth. The question is, do you like the taste of blood? Are you going to be OK with it? For us, we just keep fighting and keep going.”…