Oklahoma Baseball Wins Season-Opening Series
By Chip Rouse
Forget the fact that this series might have been much different had it been played where it was originally scheduled, but it wasn’t and the result was a season-opening series win for Oklahoma baseball over the visiting Long Beach State Dirtbags.
After spotting the 17th-ranked Dirtbags two fourth-inning runs in the series finale on Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park, the Sooners got back one of the runs in the fifth and then struck for three more in the home half of the sixth. That accounted for all the scoring in the game, as the Sooners took the final game in the series by a score of 4-2.
The two teams split the first two games in the series, Oklahoma winning the season opener on Friday 6-2 and Long Beach prevailing in game two, 8-3.
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The Sooners outhit the Dirtbags 10-8 on Saturday, but managed just three runs. Seven of Oklahoma’s 10 hits in the game came in the first three innings, but just one run crossed the plate for the Sooners.
Sophomore outfielder Steele Walker and senior first baseman Austin O’Brien led the way for the Sooners on Saturday with two hits apiece. Every hitter but one in the OU starting lineup recorded a hit in Saturday’s series-evening defeat.
Walker also played a key role in the series finale on Sunday, triggering the Sooners three-run sixth-inning rally by opening the inning with a triple and scoring on O’Brien’s sacrifice fly. OU plated two more runs in the inning, which proved to be the winning margin.
Sophomore Kyle Tyler went 5.2 innings on Sunday, giving up two runs and four hits, and got the win. Sophomore teammate Jake Irwin was the winning pitcher in Oklahoma’s season-opening win on Friday, going seven-plus innings and giving up no runs on one hit.