Big 12-leading Oklahoma baseball received another pitching gem from left-hander Braden Davis and home runs by Anthony Mackenzie and Jaxon Willits in a 9-4 home win over Red River rival Texas on Friday.
The 18th-ranked Sooners (26-14, 15-4) continue to surprise a lot of people with two games separating OU and the rest of the Big 12 nearing the final month of the 2024 regular season.
Oklahoma has now won nine consecutive games and has seven straight wins against Big 12 opponents. The win in Game 1 of the weekend series against the Longhorns is also the Sooners' fourth straight win over their archrival and sixth in the last eight. OU swept the series last season in Austin.
Four Sooners (Easton Carmichael, Mackenzie, Kendall Pettis and Willits) collected a couple hits each of the team's 10 total hits. Eight of OU's 10 hits were singles, the other two were fence-clearing solo blasts by Mackenzie and the freshman Willits.
Davis, the junior transfer from Sam Houston State and the Sooners' Friday starter, worked the first six innings, allowing just one run on eight hits, striking out nine Longhorns and walking three to earn his fifth win of the season to go with three losses.
Games 2 and 3 of the series have been moved to Sunday as part of a doubleheader because of the anticipation of inclement weather on Saturday.
Takeaways from the Game 1 series win by the Sooners
- OU starter Braden Davis struck out nine of the 26 batters he faced. and the four Sooner relievers who followed him over the final three innings tacked on four more for a total of 13 punch outs in the game. The Sooner pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 21 of Oklahoma's 40 games.
- Only five of Oklahoma's nine runs were earned as Texas committed five errors in the game.
- True freshman Jaxon Willits hit his sixth home run of the season leading off the sixth inning. All six have come in his last 12 games.
- A single-game record 4,812 fans were in attendance a L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman to witness the Oklahoma win.