Oklahoma baseball: Monday mound visit

The Big 12-leading Oklahoma baseball team returned to conference play this weekend, with a three-game series against the Wildcats of Kansas State.

The Sooners entered this past weekend with an 18-14 record (8-4 in conference play) while K-State came in at 21-10 overall and 7-5 in Big 12 play.

The Sooners were tied for first place in the big 12 with West Virginia heading headed into the weekend matchup with Kansas State.

The Sooners would end up breaking out the brooms, for a series sweep of the Wildcats, Oklahoma's third series sweep against a Big 12 opponent this season (TCU, Kansas and Kansas State).

Let's take our weekly walk out to the mound, to see how the Sooners' pitching staff faired against the Kansas State bats.

Game 1: Friday, April 12

Oklahoma 12, Kansas State 5

Left-handed starter Braden Davis took the mound Friday evening for the Sooners. Davis worked the first 5.2 innings, allowing four hits and no earned runs, walking two and fanning seven with a rather high pitch count of 107. Jett Lodes and Dylan Crooks finished off the game for Oklahoma in relief, combining to face 15 Wildcat batters, giving up four runs on four hits and striking out three.

The Sooners combined pitching staff totals in Friday's game were five runs allowed (four earned) on eight hits, 10 strikeouts and two walks. Davis, a transfer from Sam Houston State. claimed the win, his third of the season to go with three losses, with another quality start.

Game 2: Saturday, April 13

Oklahoma 11, Kansas State 4

Kyson Witherspoon got the call as the starter on Saturday afternoon against the Wildcats. Witherspoon worked through 5.1 innings, allowing all four of the Cats' runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight with 101 pitches.

Carter Campbell worked two uneventful innings in relief. And then, just as a Witherspoon began the game, a Witherspoon finished the game for Oklahoma. Kyson's twin brother, Malachi, yielded only one hit, a walk and struck out two over the final 1.1 innings.

The Sooners' pitching stat line for Saturday: Four runs on six hits, 10 strikeouts, two walks and an opponents' batting average of .154. Kyson Witherspoon was awarded the win, giving him a 3-2 record on the season.

Game 3: Sunday, April 14

Oklahoma 8, Kansas State 7

Grant Stevens earned the start for the Sooners on Sunday afternoon, and Oklahoma awarded him a six-run cushion after the first three innings. The left-handed Stevens, a transfer from University of the Pacific went 4.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, striking out five and walking two while throwing 66 pitches.

Sooner head coach Skip Johnson made good use of his bullpen in the series finale, trotting out five relievers -- Brendan Girton, Carter Campbell, Carson Atwood, James Hitt and Ryan Lambert -- to follow the starter Stevens. Collectively, the Sooner bullpen surrendered five runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked just one.

After getting the vital final out in the top of the ninth inning, clearing the way for a dramatic walk-off victory by the Sooners, Lambert was awarded the win in relief, bringing his record to 3-0 on the season.

With good offensive output and run support, and solid outings as a whole by the Sooners' pitching staff, Oklahoma managed a series sweep of Kansas State.

Lets see what voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland, has to say about the OU weekend action on the diamond.

Talk with T-Row

Commentary by voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland.

Outstanding weekend across the board for Skip Johnson’s team, especially on the mound, in the Sooners three-game sweep of Kansas State. Starting pitchers Braden Davis, Kyson Witherspoon and Grant Stevens were all very good. The Wildcats got the Witherspoon sandwich on Saturday with Kyson picking up the win and twin brother Malachi getting the save. And the bullpen was very solid. Most notably Carter Campbell in two separate appearances.

The biggest positive was the reduction of free passes. Walks have been a big issue the last couple of weeks for Sooner pitchers. But they only issued six walks all weekend to K-State, two in each game. That’s tremendous! They made the Cats earn every run they got.

All in all, a very encouraging series sweep as the Sooners remain atop the Big 12 standings at the midway point in conference play.

Upcoming

Next, the Sooners will travel to Provo Utah, for their first big 12 matchup in baseball against the BYU Cougars.

Boomer Sooner!