Oklahoma baseball finished up their three-game weekend series with Kansas on Sunday with one of the most pivotal games of the year. After winning big on Friday and falling in extras Saturday, finding a way to take the home series felt imperative.
After the second game of the series, head coach Skip Johnson said they would learn what their team was made of in the series finale, well he must be pretty pleased with that answer as Oklahoma dominated their way to a 14-3 run-rule win.
Getting the start for the Sooners was left-hander Braden Carmichael (5-1) who was quite solid working 5 2/3 innings allowing just three runs and striking out six. He has emerged as Oklahoma’s most reliable starting pitcher over the last month.
The game wouldn’t see any runs until the third inning, and that’s where the Sooners bats would begin their onslaught. Centerfielder Tanner Tredaway picked up an RBI double to get Oklahoma on the board first, he would then later come across on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jimmy Crooks. Third baseman Peyton Graham would then add a two-run single before shortstop Brandon Zaragoza added a run-scoring knock of his own to make it a five-run inning.
The Sooners would keep things rolling in the fourth scoring three more on a Crooks RBI double and a two-run home run blast from first baseman Tyler Hardman. Oklahoma took an 8-0 lead into the fifth inning.
After the Jayhawks got on the board in the top half of the inning, the Sooners would pile on yet another six runs in the bottom half. Crooks, Hardman, and right fielder Brett Squires all knocked in runs before Graham went yard to left center for a two-run shot. The Sooners held a commanding 14-1 lead after five frames.
Kansas second baseman James Cosentino would end Carmichael’s day with a two-out, two-run triple to make it a 14-3 game before Luke Taggart entered out of the pen to finish off the inning. Oklahoma would come up empty in the bottom half of the frame to send it to the seventh with them up 11 runs.
Thanks to the Big 12’s Sunday run-rule, the Sooners needed just to hold the Jayhawks to one run or less to to end the game there and that is exactly what they did as Taggart shut the door on the big win retiring Kansas in order.
Simply put, this was one of the best all-around performances of the season by Oklahoma. They got a good start out of Carmichael and essentially everyone contributed offensively. There is very, very little to complain about with this game as the Sooners simply dominated from start to finish.
At 16-15 and 3-6 in conference play, Oklahoma will have the day off tomorrow before starting a two-game midweek series with Texas Southern on Tuesday in Norman.