It was the first time the Oklahoma Sooners hosted postseason baseball at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman since 2010, and the boys in Crimson and Cream were ready to rock and roll from the opening pitch.
Oklahoma entered the NCAA Tournament fresh off a loss to their in-state rivals, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game. However, with how the Sooners have played since conference play began, bouncing back was easy for them.
Their first opponent was an Oral Roberts team that the Sooners had already faced this season, splitting a pair of midweek games.
Kyson Witherspoon got the start. Oklahoma opted to save Braden Davis in case the Sooners were in the loser’s bracket or had to face Duke.
Witherspoon escaped early danger, stranding the bases loaded to end the first. Oklahoma immediately opened things up with a triple from centerfielder John Spikerman and a Bryce Madron sac fly. Madron returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the Big 12 tournament to rest an injury from the end of the regular season.
THAT'S ONE #COMPETE // #CHAOUS pic.twitter.com/pdn82v6SE3
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With the Sooners up 1-0, they never looked back. Witherspoon worked around two runners in the second and third innings to hold the Golden Eagles scoreless.
In the bottom of the third, Madron let the rest of the home crowd know he was healthy as he blasted a two-run home run to right field, giving OU a 3-0 lead.
After some clean innings from Witherspoon, Oklahoma opened the game up on an Easton Carmichael three-run home run to make it a 6-0 game.
Witherspoon finished his day tossing six innings of shutout ball. He struck out nine batters and sat down the last ten batters he faced. Simply, it was a dazzling performance in his NCAA Tournament debut.
Oklahoma continued to pile on runs the rest of the way. Scott Mudler hit a solo home run and had a two-run single. Spikerman had a two-run single. And Jackson Nicklaus added an RBI single himself.
Carter Campbell finished the pitching from the seventh inning onward and kept things spotless, giving up no runs to complete a dominant performance from the Sooners.
It’s hard to imagine Skip Johnson drawing up a more perfect opening game. Minimal pitchers were used, and the team showed tremendous discipline at the plate, which made Oral Roberts pay for mistakes in the form of 17 hits.
Oklahoma will advance to the winner’s bracket and will face UConn tomorrow at 8 p.m. local time under the lights. The winner of that game will be just one win away from clinching a spot in the Super Regionals.
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