Oklahoma baseball: Sooners sweep Kansas State, remain atop Big 12 standings

Scott Mulder's walk-off RBI single with two out in the bottom of the ninth drove in Anthony Mackenzie from second base with the winning run and an 8-7 win on Sunday and a series sweep over Kansas State,

The Sooners (21-14, 11-4) scored twice in the second inning on a home run to right field by Jaxson Willits and tallied four more times in the third when Willits left the yard a second time on a three-run blast over the right-field fence. That made it 6-0 in favor of OU after three innings.

Kansas State (21-13, 7-8) got back in the game with a four-spot in the fifth and tied the contest at six-all with a couple of runs in the seventh. Oklahoma regained the lead, 8-7, in the bottom of the eighth with John Spikerman scoring from second base on a fielding error by the K-State second baseman. Spikerman entered the game as a pinch runner for Isaiah Lane, who had walked with one out. It was Spikerman's first game back after injuring his hand in mid-March. He immediately stolen second, putting himself in scoring position.

The Sooners' one-run advantage entering the ninth inning was short-lived, however. K-State leadoff hitter Chuck Ingram blasted a one-out solo home run to tie the game at 7-7. The Sooners used three pitchers in the ninth to shut down the Wildcat rally and prevent any further scoring, setting up the OU walk-off win in the home half of the inning.

The Oklahoma offense was productive all weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park, averaging 10.3 runs a game and outhitting K-State 26-16. The Sooners won the first two games, each by seven-run cushions (12-5, 11-4). The series finale on Sunday was much closer, but the Oklahoma hitters came through when they needed to hold off a Wildcat comeback bid late in the contest.

The Sooners put away the series opener on Friday early, scoring nine times in the second inning with seven of the runs coming with two outs. OU scored three times in the fourth to open up a 12-0 advantage. The Kansas State offense did manage five runs, but the game was virtually over after just two innings. Braden Davis started the game for Oklahoma and worked 5.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits and fanning seven Wildcat hitters, to pick up his third win of the season (3-3).

The Oklahoma bats stayed hot on Saturday, scoring 11 runs on 16 hits, including six of the extra-base variety. Kyson Witherspoon started the middle game of the series for OU, going 5.1 innings and giving up all four of Kansas State's runs on five hits. He struck out eight and was awarded his third win (3-2). Carter Campbell and Kyson's brother Malachi closed out the final 3.1 innings, allowing no runs and just one hit.

Junior catcher Scott Mulder and sophomore designated-hitter Easton Carmichael had big weekend performances at the plate for the Sooners. Mulder was 7 out of 12 with five RBI and four runs scored, while Carmichael had seven base knocks in 14 plate appearances (four of the seven hits were for extra bases), drove in three runs and scored three times.

The Sooners are off until Thursday, when they open a three-game series withBig 12 newcomer BYU (14-18, 6-12) in Provo, Utah.