Notre Dame falls to Oklahoma in their second game of the College World Series

OMAHA, Neb -- After a huge win on Friday, the Irish lose to the Oklahoma Sooners 6-2, in a game where their bullpen didn't get the job done.

Luckily for the Irish, it’s a double elimination tournament and they will play Texas A&M on Tuesday in a win or go home game.

Things got off to a slow start for both teams.

The Irish escaped damage early on, until coach Link Jarrett decided to pull starting pitcher Austin Temple and bring in reliever Aiden Tyrell, who eventually gave up the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning.

“You're managing the game and you're wanting to keep it in striking distance. And it didn't feel, it just didn't feel good. Like, Temple didn't have it,” Jarrett said. "Aidan just wasn't quite sharp. He got the pop-up and the comebacker, and you're like, all right, here we go. Now we can settle in. And this should settle the game for us. And it wasn't. And they battled. They had some tough two-strike hits."

Oklahoma would go on to score three additional runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

On one of those coming at the hands of a defensive error, which is uncharacteristic for one of the best defenses in the country.

“The bunt, again, we had planned for it a little bit. They executed it. And clearly, they played a really complete game,” Jarrett said.

What the Irish didn’t plan for was a rough outing at the plate.

Aside from a 2-run homer from catcher David LaManna, Notre Dame earned seven hits, but struggled through six innings against freshman Cade Horton.

He threw 100 pitches for a career high 11 strikeouts.

“For me, he had a good fastball and he didn't seem to be throwing it a lot. He was living with his off-speed stuff. His slider was tough to pick up. And I mean he did a good job,” said LaManna.

“Trying to pick up the different pitches was a little challenging for us today. Tip the cap to him,” said Infielder Carter Putz.

"I thought Horton was outstanding. When you have mid-90s, you have a good slider, you have a curveball, any flashes change periodically. I mean, that was a lot,” Jarrett said.

After a tough outing, the team will have to go back to the drawing board with their pitching rotation against Texas A&M

“So we're a pretty mature group. And I know the off day tomorrow will give us time to get over it and then focus on the next task at hand, which is Texas A&M,” Putz said.

“We definitely have options. And the way this is formatted it gives guys really a chance to freshen up out of the pen. So, we're okay down there. And some of the guys that threw today would probably be able to help us, including temple,” Jarrett said.