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It was a big weekend for Oklahoma baseball

By Chip Rouse

FT. MYERS, FL - FEBRUARY 22: A members of Northeastern University warms up before a game against the Boston Red Sox on February 22, 2019 at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
FT. MYERS, FL - FEBRUARY 22: A members of Northeastern University warms up before a game against the Boston Red Sox on February 22, 2019 at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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When it comes time to look back on the 2020 season, this past weekend of Oklahoma baseball will surely rank among one of if not the best.

The Sooners (9-3) opened the weekend at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic in Houston with a 6-3 win over No. 6-ranked Arkansas, and on Sunday, OU junior Dane Acker pitched a complete-game no-hitter in a 1-0 victory against No. 14 LSU.

Sandwiched in between the wins over two of college baseball’s powerhouse programs, Oklahoma dropped an 8-7 extra-inning decision to former Big 12 foe Missouri.

Oklahoma’s performance over the weekend earned the Sooners a No. 16 ranking in this week’s USA Today College Baseball Top 25, one of four Big 12 teams currently ranked in the top 25. OU is ranked 11th by Baseball America and 15th by D1Baseball

Acker’s no-hitter in the Sunday win over LSU was the first individual, nine-inning no-no by an Oklahoma pitcher since 1989. It was the first no-hitter in Shriners College Classic history and the 12th in Big 12 history.

OU catcher Justin Mitchell was responsible for the only run in the game, slamming a home run into the Crawford boxes in left field at Minute Maid Park (home of MLB’s Houston Astros) on the first pitch in the eighth inning.

Three Sooner pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts in the 6-3 win over Arkansas. Junior right-hander Cade Cavalli started the game and went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out a career-high 11 batters. Wyatt Olds pitched three scoreless innings in relief, striking out five, and got the win, his third of the season without a loss. Three Sooners (Tanner Tredaway, Tyler Hardman and Mitchell) collected a pair of hits in the game, and designated-hitter Brady Lindsly provided a solo home run.

In Saturday’s 8-7 loss in 10 innings to Missouri, a pair of OU freshmen, Peyton Graham and Pettis Kendall, hit their first career home run. Graham’s was a solo shot, and Kendall’s was with a man aboard.

Tredaway, the Oklahoma center fielder, went four for nine in the first two games of the weekend, but was hitless in four plate appearances in the no-hitter against LSU. He continues to lead the Sooners in hitting with a .413 season average.

OU has a five-game slate scheduled for this week, all at home. The Sooners have midweek games against Dallas Baptist and Arkansas Pine-Bluff and a weekend series with San Diego State.

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