Oklahoma baseball: Takeaways from a Bedlam series-saving Game 2 shutout win
By Chip Rouse
![Braden Carmichael pitches as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) play the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) in Bedlam baseball on May 19, 2023 at L Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F1307c259971596deb3b4bc9cbc5f52b4bd32d5072743c93d729ab1cb3c64881f.jpg "Braden Carmichael pitches as the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) play the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) in Bedlam baseball on May 19, 2023 at L Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]")
It was the Carmichael brothers’ show at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Friday as Oklahoma baseball evened its Bedlam series against Oklahoma State with a 5-0 shutout over the 25th-ranked Cowboys.
Redshirt -senior Braden Carmichael came through with a complete-game, shutout win over the Sooners’ in-state rivals, and his battery mate, brother Easton, contributed to the cause with a two-run double in the fourth inning to get Oklahoma on the board with a 2-0 advantage.
Braden, who throws from the left side and has been the Sooners’ most effective starter down the stretch in the 2023 season, posted his seventh straight win with a sparkling four-hitter against a very good Oklahoma State offense that averages over eight runs a game.
The elder of the two Carmichaels had his best outing of the season against OSU — and he’s had a number of strong games already. Braden faced just 31 batters, four short of the minimum, allowing only four hits, striking out five and walking none. Only one of the four hits allowed was for extra bases.
The Sooners recorded eight hits off of three Oklahoma State pitchers with Kendall Pettis and John Spikerman collected a couple of hits each and half of the team’s hit total.
The rubber game in the series and the final game of the regular season is Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.
Takeaways from a Sooner takedown of Bedlam rival Oklahoma State
- Friday’s win gives the Sooners 30 for the season to go with 23 losses. It also improved their Big 12 record to 11-12 with a chance to finish the regular season with a .500 record in conference play.
- Braden Carmichael’s complete-game performance was the first by an Oklahoma pitcher since a no-hitter by Dane Acker in March 2020.
- Seventeen of the 27 Oklahoma State outs were fly balls, and Kendall Pettis, the OU left fielder, caught nine of them.
- Oklahoma is currently on the bubble for the NCAA postseason tournament. A win on Saturday would give them the series over an Oklahoma State team ranked 24th in the country but with an RPI of 12 and would greatly boost their tournament resume.