Oklahoma baseball captures outright possession of first Big 12 regular-season championship
By Chip Rouse
It's been a really long time in coming, but with a doubleheader sweep of Cincinnati on Thursday, the 12th-ranked Oklahoma baseball team earned its first regular-season Big 12 championship and first conference title since 1995.
The Sooners (34-17, 23-6) clinched no worse than a tie for the conference crown last weekend with a series sweep over Baylor. They needed just one more win to capture the title outright. That was achieved with another offensive display and a 14-6 win in Game 1 of the twin bill with Cincinnati.
Even with sole possession of the Big 12 title secured, there was little letup in the OU bats in the nightcap as the Sooners unloaded for seven runs in the first inning on the way to a 12-8 victory.
OU leadoff hitter John Spikerman has been on an absolute terror at the plate in the last week. The Sooner outfielder/designated hitter batted .643 (9 for 14) and collected 10 RBI in the series against Baylor and had five hits in ten plate appearances in OU's doubleheader sweep of Cincinnati. Catcher Easton Carmichael also recorded five hits in the two games and Michael Snyder had four, including a solo second-inning home run in the second game.
Braden Davis and Kyson Witherspoon have become the Sooners' two best pitchers down the stretch of the regular season. Davis worked 7.0 innings in the first game on Thursday, allowing three runs on two hits along with eight strikeouts. It was the left-handers sixth straight win in the same number of starts, and he improved to 8-3 for the season and 7-1 against Big 12 opponents.
Witherspoon picked up his seventh win of the season against three losses, working the first 5.0 innings and giving up five runs on seven hits and striking out six Bearcat hitters.
Oklahoma's 23 conference wins is the most in program history and breaks the previous record of 21 in 1995. The Sooners have been hotter than a branding iron in winning their last eight games and scoring in double figures in four of their last five.
The series with Cincinnati and 2024 regular season comes to an end for Oklahoma on Friday with the Sooners seeking a third consecutive Big 12 series sweep and their seventh of the season within the conference.