What a weekend of Oklahoma Sooners baseball!!!
This past weekend, the No. 18 Sooners hosted their final home series of the regular season, and swept the Baylor Bears in spectacular fashion.
The Sooners entered their final home series with a 29-17 record (18-6 record in conference play) and sitting comfortably atop the Big 12 standings with a three-game lead and with only two weekends remaining in the regular season.
Combining great pitching and an offensive explosion, the Sooners claimed their sixth series sweep of the season over a Big 12 opponent. OU won both ends of a doubleheader on Senior Day at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Saturday and on a day in which the No. 24 jersey of legendary OU head coach Enos Semore was retired.
By sweeping the series with Baylor, Oklahoma improved to a program-tying 21 conference wins, the team's most since finishing with a 21-9 record in the Big Eight in 1994, the same year the Sooners won their second and most recent national championship.
Let's take a walk out to the mound to see how the Sooner pitching staff managed to hold down the Baylor offense all weekend. Sooner pitchers allowed 15 Baylor runs in the three games, while the Sooners unloaded for 47 runs, an average of 15.7 per game.
Game 1: Friday, May 10
Sooners 19, Bears 7
Sam Houston transfer and southpaw Braden Davis took the mound Friday evening against the Bears. While Davis has had some spectacular outings this season for the Sooners (and he would still earn the win in this game), he struggled a bit. He worked 5.2 innings, allowing six of the seven Baylor runs on eight hits, walking two and fanning six, but he also hit two batters and posted a very high pitch count of 103.
Dylan Crooks, Will Carston and Reid Hensley were summoned from the bullpen in relief of Davis, The three relivers did not give up a run and allowed only two hits, no walks and struck out five.
Despite his struggles, Davis was awarded the win in Friday night's game. It was his sixth win in a row and seventh overall to improve to 7-3 on the season.
Game 2: Saturday, May 11 (Game 1 of a doubleheader
Sooners 9, Baylor 1
Kyson Witherspoon got the call for the Sooners in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The junior right-handed starter was absolutely brilliant. He worked seven innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits, walking four and striking out three through 101 pitches.
Carter Campbell came on in relief, working the last two innings to perfection, allowing no runs and only one hit in facing six batters.
Witherspoon recorded the win for the Sooners, bringing his record to 6-3 on the season (just one win behind Sooners' ace Braden Davis).
Game 3: Saturday, May 11 (Game 2 of a doubleheader)
Sooners 19, Baylor 7
Redshirt-junior left-hander James Hitt took the bump for game two of the Saturday doubleheader. Hitt got through only one inning, allowing three runs on three hits and walking one with no strikeouts and hitting one batter. He threw just 18 pitches before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
Grant Stevens, who has seven starts this season, Carson Atwood and Dylan Crooks followed Hitt to the mound to finish out the game. Collectively, the OU relievers allowed four more run on seven hits, walking one and striking out four. For the second time in the series, the Sooner lineup produced 19 runs, which takes the heat off of every pitching staff. Atwood picked up the win in relief, his first of the season.
Talk with T-Row
Commentary from the Voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland
It was a weekend to remember for Oklahoma baseball, capturing their first-ever regular season Big 12 title. And they did it in impressive fashion with a dominant three-game sweep over Baylor in Norman. The bats were the story of the series, pounding out 47 runs. But the pitchers deserve a tip of the cap as well.
Braden Davis and Kyson Witherspoon did not have their best stuff, but gutted it out for winning starts nevertheless. Davis gave up six runs in the first two innings on Friday night thanks to mostly dribblers that found their way through the infield and some dinks and dunks to the outfield. But he got better as the game went along and pitched into the 6th inning to pick up his 5th-consecutive Big 12 victory. Witherspoon didn’t have his normal overpowering pitches, but continuously got himself out of sticky situations, going seven innings and giving up only one run.
The Sooners were able to win all three games without throwing Malachi Witherspoon, Brendan Girton and Ryan Lambert, leaving the pitching staff well rested going into four road games this week in Cincinnati.
Upcoming
The Sooners hit the road and head to the state of Ohio for a mid-week single game against Xavier, before a big 12 matchup with conference newcomer, the Cincinnati Bearcats, in a three-game series beginning on Thursday.
Boomer Sooner!