Oklahoma baseball: Sooners sweep Mountaineers to begin Big 12 play
By Chip Rouse
Not to be outdone by the OU girls on the softball diamond, the Oklahoma baseball team had a perfect weekend of its own, sweeping the West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Sooners won 19-6 in a blowout in the opening game of the series on Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park, and followed that by sweeping a doubleheader from West Virginia, 10-2 and 2-1, on Saturday.
Every OU player who went to the plate on Friday had at least one hit as the Sooners erupted for 22 hits supporting starter Jake Irvin, who went seven innings and gave up four runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and improved his season record to 4-0.
Devin Perez and Nathan Wiles also turned in strong pitching performances in Saturday’s doubleheader, combining to allow just three runs on seven hits and with strikeouts. Perez posted his third win of the season without a loss.
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Brylie Ware was the offensive star for the Sooners in the three wins over West Virginia. The junior third baseman batted .500 over the weekend (6 for 12) with nine runs batted in. He was three for four (a single, double and a triple) with a career-high six RBI in OU’s 19-6 win on Friday, and his base hit in the sixth inning on Sunday provided the winning margin in the 2-1 Sooner win.
Ware was three for four in a loss to Wichita State in a mid-week game last week, giving him a .562 batting average for the week. That earned the OU third baseman Big 12 Player of the Week honors. This is the second time this season he has received the award.
Oklahoma improved its season record to 17-9 and begins Big 12 play at 3-0.
The series win over West Virginia was the Sooners fourth series win in a row and their first series sweep over a Big 12 opponent since 2015.
Through 26 games, Oklahoma is third in the Big 12 with a .287 team batting average and fourth in pitching with a staff ERA of 3.43.
Oklahoma is home for four more games this week, starting with a nonconference Bedlam matchup with in-state rival Oklahoma State on Tuesday that won’t count in the Big 12 standings.. The Baylor Bears visit Norman over the weekend.