Five takeaways from Oklahoma's 14-0 blowout of Oral Roberts in NCAA Norman Regional

Three Sooner hitters collected three hits apiece and starter Kyson Witherspoon allowed just one hit in six innings as the No. 9-seeded Oklahoma baseball team overpowered Oral Roberts 14-0 in the NCAA Norman Regional on Friday night.

Oklahoma (39-18) collected 17 hits off of four Oral Roberts pitchers as the Sooners registered their first postseason win a L. Dale Mitchell Park since 2010. A record-setting crowd of 4,332 was in attendance to cheer the home team on. The attendance figure marked an OU postseason record at home.

Bryce Madron, returning to the OU starting lineup after missing most of the last six games with a hamstring injury, produced the Sooners' first three runs in the game, with a sacrifice fly in the first and and two-run blast over the right field fence in the third, his team-leading 12th of the season. In addition to Madron's long ball in the third, Easton Carmichael left the yard with a three-run blast in the fifth, and Scott Mudler hit a solo shot to right field in the sixth.

The first three hitters in the Oklahoma lineup (John Spikerman, Madron and Carmichael) combined for nine of the Sooners 17 hits and eight of the 14 runs. Eight of the nine players in the Sooner starting lineup had at least one hit in the game.

Witherspoon worked out of a bases-leaded jam in the first inning and left two runners aboard in both the second and third innings, but that was pretty much the extent of the ORU offensive attack. Witherspoon and Carter Campbell held the Golden Eagles to just three hits while striking out 11.

With the win, Oklahoma advances to play UConn, the No. 3 seed in the Norman Regional and a 4-1 winner over No, 2 Duke in the earlier game on Friday, at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday. The game can be viewed on ESPN+. Duke and ORU will meet in an elimination game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Five takeaways from the game

• Despite a strong performance by Kyson Witherspoon, who ordinarily is the OU Saturday starter, the one flaw in his six-inning, one-hit, nine strikeout performance was his difficulty early in setting into a comfortable rhythm. He issued five bases on balls, all coming in the first three innings.

• Oral Roberts left seven base runners stranded in the first three innings, but only two the remainder of the game.

• After walking five Oral Roberts batters and leaving seven runners stranded through the first three innings, Witherspoon set down nine consecutive ORU hitters in innings in the fourth through sixth innings.

The shutout was Oklahoma's sixth of the season and first in the postseason since 2018. It was also the first ever in the postseason at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

• The game was the fourth highest attended home game in Oklahoma baseball history. Three of the top four attendance records have occurred this season.