Oklahoma baseball: Monday mound visit
By Chip Rouse
Editor's This article was written by contributor Cameron Black. It is part of his regular weekly Oklahoma baseball commentary taking a look back at the weekend performance of the Sooners' pitching staff.
The Oklahoma baseball team entered the weekend with a 13-7 record and was undefeated in the Big 12 with a 6-0 record in conference play, having swept UCF and TCU on consecutive weekends.
Unfortunately, the Sooners undefeated conference record came to an end at home at L. Dale Mitchell Park over the weekend at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers. The visitors fell victim to a no-hitter in the opening game of the series on Friday night, but rebounded to take both ends of a Saturday doubleheader.
Let's take a walk out to the mound and see what went right for the Sooners Friday evening and what went wrong on Saturday.
Game 1: Friday, March 22
Oklahoma 13, West Virginia 0
Junior left-hander Braden Davis got the starting call on Friday night and was absolutely dominant. The Sam Houston State transfer worked seven innings, his longest outing this season, and blanked the Mountaineers on no runs, no hits, walking only two and striking out 12, a career high.
Reid Hensley entered the game in the eighth in relief of Davis and picked up right where Davis left off. Hensley tossed two scoreless and hitless innings and fanning three. Davis and Hensley combined for the no-hitter, the ninth in Sooner baseball history and the second combined no-hitter. Davis earned the win and improved his record to 2-1.
The Sooner pair combined for 15 strikeouts, tying a season high for a single game.
The last no hitter by an Oklahoma pitcher was thrown by Dane Acker.
Game 2: Saturday, March 23 (Game 1 of a doubleheader)
West Virginia 9, Oklahoma 5
Brendan Girton took the mound for the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. It proved to be a rough outing for the junior right-hander. He surrendered three runs on three hits through 3.1 innings, walking three and striking out six on 77 pitches.
The Sooners turned to the bullpen with one out and two on, bringing in Carter Campbell in relief of Girton. The hard-throwing southpaw worked the next 2.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits. Jeff Lodes followed Girton to the mound to open the seventh but would only face two hitters, giving up two runs on a leadoff single followed by a two-run homer.
Brad Pruett relieved Lodes, going two innings, allowing one hit, no runs and striking out two, and Dylan Crooks worked the ninth, facing four batters and giving up on hit.
The sad pitching totals for the first game of the Saturday twin bill: Nine runs allowed (seven earned) on 14 hits. The five Oklahoma pitchers combined to strike out 13 and issue three bases on balls. The starter Girton was charged with the loss, his first of the season while still seeking his first win
Game 2: Saturday, March 23 (second game of doubleheader
West Virginia 8, Oklahoma 3
Texas Tech transfer James Hitt started game two of the Saturday doubleheader as the Sooners sought to win their third straight Big 12 series of the 2024 season. Unfortunately for OU, Hitt's outing was even shorter than OU's game one starter Girton. The redshirt-junior Hitt faced nine batters before retiring the side in the opening inning. But the damage was already done: Six earned runs on five hits along with one walk and one strikeout. Hitt's day was done after just one inning.
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Right-handed reliever Kyson Witherspoon entered the game in relief of Hitt to open the second inning and pitched brilliantly over the next 7.2 innings before giving way to brother Malachi to record the final out in the ninth inning. Kyson allowed just one run on one hit and struck out 11. Malachi yielded a home run with a man on to the first batter he faced, walked the next batter, but got the next man to ground out to retire the side.
The Oklahoma pitching totals for Game 2 of the doubleheader were not much better than the earlier game on Saturday: eight runs on seven hits, four walks and 12 strikeouts (11 by Kyson Witherspoon in relief of the starter Hitt). Hitt took the loss, evening his season record at 2-2.
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Here is what voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland had to say about the Oklahoma weekend baseball action:
Talk with T-Row
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Commentary by radio voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland
What a night for Braden Davis and Reid Hensley on Friday. Davis was electric in his seven innings of work, striking out 12 and allowing no hits. And Hensley slammed the door the rest of the way. It was a dominant performance by the Sooner ace with a little help from his bullpen.
The other outstanding pitching performance of the weekend was once again Kyson Witherspoon in the series finale. He went 7.2 innings out of the pen and allowed only one hit and one run while striking out 11. Unfortunately, the early deficit was too much to overcome and the Mountaineers won (both games of the Saturday doubleheader) and the series.
The question going forward has to be whether Sooner head coach Skip Johnson should move Kyson into the starting rotation. He has been extremely valuable in long relief out of the bullpen. But could he be more valuable in a weekend starting spot? It'll be very interesting to see how they use him going forward.
The question going forward has to be whether Sooner head coach Skip Johnson should move Kyson into the starting rotation. He has been extremely valuable in long relief out of the bullpen. But could he be more valuable in a weekend starting spot? It'll be very interesting to see how they use him going forward.
The Sooner will play host to Lamar for a nonconference three-game series beginning on Thursday. OU returns to Big 12 action the following weekend for the Bedlam series against Oklahoma State.
Boomer Sooner!
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