Oklahoma baseball widens Big 12 lead with 12-6, series clinching win over BYU
By Chip Rouse
With the top-half of the Oklahoma baseball lineup providing the power and Kyson Witherspoon producing a second straight strong start on the mound, the Sooners overpowered BYU 12-6 on Friday and clinched their second straight and fourth Big 12 series overall this season.
Oklahoma (23-14, 13-4) opened its weekend series at BYU tied for first place in the Big 12 standings, but the surprising Sooners now have sole possession of the top spot and a one and a half-game lead in the conference standings thanks to a 15-2 road loss by No. 22 West Virginia to Texas Tech on Friday.
The top five hitters in the OU lineup accounted for nine of the Sooner runs and 11 of their 14 hits. Four of the top five had two hits apiece, and right-fielder Bryce Madron went three-for-five at the plate, including a home run and a pair of doubles
The Sooners have won six consecutive games since suffering a 9-7 loss at Oklahoma State on April 7.
BYU took an early 1-0 lead on Friday on a solo home run in the bottom of the first, but Oklahoma wasted little time in responding with Michael Snyder leading off the second inning with a matching solo four-bagger.
A major turning point in the game came in the bottom half of the second inning when BYU (15-20, 6-14) loaded the bases with no outs off of Witherspoon. The OU right-hander was able to work out of a potential big inning, however, with a pop up, a strikeout and a ground out, leaving the bases loaded.
The Sooners broke the game wide open in the fourth inning, scoring seven runs on six hits, capped off by a two-run home run by Easton Carmichael, who had two hits and drove in three runs in the game. Oklahoma led 8-3 after four innings and never was in trouble after that.
Oklahoma goes for the series sweep on Saturday, which would be its fourth of the season against Big 12 opponents.