Oklahoma baseball: Sooners sweep doubleheader to take series from Virginia
By Chip Rouse
The Sooners bounced back from a two-hit shutout loss to Virginia on Friday with a doubleheader sweep of the Cavaliers on Saturday to take the season-opening Oklahoma baseball series two games to one.
The two teams opened the 2019 collegiate baseball season in the Wahoos Classic in Pensacola, Florida.
Freshman infielder Peyton Graham stroked a pair of doubles and had three hits overall and catcher Brady Lindsly also collected three hits as the Sooners logged their first win of the new season with a 7-2 victory in game one of a Saturday doubleheader. The Sooners had 13 hits overall.
Left-handed starter Levi Prater went the first 4.1 innings in the first game, allowing two runs and five hits and striking out five before yielding the mound to reliever Zack Matthews with a 6-2 Oklahoma lead. Mathew pitched 2.2 innings allowing two hits and no runs and picked up the win.
In game two, junior first baseman Tyler Hardman provided the offensive punch with a two-run home run and four runs batted in, and freshman Dane Acker yielded one run and one hit over five innings in his first collegiate start, leading the Sooners to a 5-1 victory.
Acker left the game after five innings with the score tied at 1-1. Wyatt Olds came in in relief, giving up two hits and striking out six in three scorless innings and was credited with the win. Closer Jason Ruffcorn. a preseason All-American, faced three batters in the ninth and earned his first save of the season.
Virginia shut the Sooners down on just two hits in a 6-0 shutout in the Friday opener. Junior left-hander Levi Prater started for Oklahoma and picked up the loss despite giving up just two runs on two hits and striking out eight in 4.1 innings. Hardman and catcher Justin Mitchell had the only two hits for the Sooners.
Oklahoma returns to action this coming week, at home for a pair of games with Texas Southern on Tuesday and Wednesday and a four-game weekend series against Illinois State.