Oklahoma baseball: Sooner pitching pair combine for no-hitter vs. West Virginia
By Chip Rouse
Pitchers Braden Davis and Reid Hensley combined for a no-hitter in a 13-0 Oklahoma baseball victory over West Virginia on Friday.
Davis, a left-handed transfer from Sam Houston State, started the game for the Sooners and worked 7.0 innings, striking out a career-high 12 Mountaineer batters. Hensley finished out the game, striking out three of the six hitters he faced to close out the no-no and Oklahoma's seventh conference win to remain unbeaten in Big 12 play.
As sensational as the pitching performance was, this is a game the Sooners probably could have won with offense alone. Oklahoma scored a single run in the first on a double by Michael Snyder, one of a pair of hits in the game by the Sooner first baseman. OU blew out the game with five runs in the third inning, three more in the fourth and a four-spot in the fifth to open up a 13-0 advantage, which proved to be the winning count.
Second baseman Jackson Nicklaus, shortstop Anthony Mackenzie and Snyder each had a pair of hits for Oklahoma. Snyder drove in three of the Sooner runs, and Kendall Pettis stroked a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning, driving in three of his four runs in the game.
A crowd of a little over 2,000 was on hand at L. Dale Mitchell Park on a mild but overcast Friday afternoon to witness the ninth no-hitter in OU baseball history and the second by combined effort. The last no-hitter by the Sooners was by Dane Acker against LSU in 2020.
With the win, Oklahoma (14-6, 7-0) opened up a two-and-a-half-game lead at the top of the Big 12 standings over 3-1 Kansas State.
Friday's game was the first in a three-game series with West Virginia. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday. Sunday's scheduled series finale was moved to Saturday because of expected inclement weather.