Oklahoma baseball rewind: Takeaways from OU series at West Virginia

The two losses by Oklahoma baseball over the weekend at 12th-ranked West Virgina were both by identical 9-3 scores and cost the Sooners their first series loss in the last three Big 12 series..

The Sooners had won their previous two Big 12 series — a sweep over then-Big 12 leader and Red River rival Texas and taking two of three at home against Kansas — and had a chance to make it three straight series wins but fell in the rubber game of the series at West Virginia.

As a result of winning two of the three over the Sooners, West Virginia was able to strengthen its hold on first place in the Big 12, which is now two full games over second-place Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma fell to 10-11 in the Big 12, which leaves the Sooners in sole possession of sixth place in the nine-team league. That’s certainly better than the bottom rung, where OU resided a couple of weeks ago. The Sooners are now four games clear of the cellar spot, having won seven of their last ten conference games.

The Sooners (26-22, 10-11) are out of conference next weekend, traveling to Spokane, Washington, for a three-game series against Gonzaga. OU will finish the regular season the weekend after next, hosting Bedlam rival Oklahoma State.

Key takeaways from the OU-West Virginia series

• OU junior right-fielder Bryce Madron has been the Sooners’ most consistent and productive performer all season, and he was so once again in the West Virginia series. The former junior-college star collected seven hits in 11 plate appearances over the weekend, including his team-high 11th home run, two doubles and a triple.
• Left-handed starter Braden Carmichael had the most success on the mound for the Sooners against West Virginia. The redshirt-senior went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out six and issuing just one base on balls. He earned his fifth win of the season without a loss.
• Despite being outscored 21-12 in the three games, the Sooners outhit the Mountaineers 28 to 27. Both teams stranded 21 base runners.
• West Virginia had exactly nine hits in all three games.
• OU center fielder John Spikerman took away a home run off the bat of West Virginia’s Caleb McNeely with a leaping catch above the wall in deep center field in the fifth inning on Sunday
• Junior left-hander Carter Campbell made his first start of the season in Sunday’s series finale. With rain expected on Sunday afternoon, the game was moved up a couple of hours to 11 a.m. The rain finally arrived in the bottom half of the third and forced a two-and-a-half-hour delay, but Campbell didn’t make it to the third inning, getting knocked out of the contest after 1.2 innings and having given up five runs on three hits. Campbell (5-4) was charged with the loss.