Sooners baseball evens Bedlam series with 19-10 win

STILLWATER — It was exactly what Sooners baseball needed. You can breathe a little bit. Oklahoma struck back Saturday afternoon at O’Brate Stadium to even the Bedlam series at Oklahoma State with a 19-10 victory.

OU hit a whopping six home runs. Anthony Mackenzie and Michael Snyder started the scoring fiesta in the top of the second with back-to-back jacks. Kendall Pettis added an RBI groundout to give Oklahoma a 3-0 lead. 

Oklahoma State rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second. But just as the Cowboys did on Friday night, Oklahoma had an answer. Bryce Madron blasted a solo home run to tie the game in the third, and Oklahoma would never look back, plating five runs in the third and five more in the fourth. 

“Yeah I thought they fought. Kyson (Witherspoon) was good early got a few balls up. And they took some good approaches off of him. He was out of character a little bit and then came back and settled in,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson.

Then the Sooners offense did the rest.

Catcher Scott Mudler’s three-run blast in the third was a statement of sorts and a turning point in the game. It not only extended the Sooners lead to 8-4, but it did so at a time when Oklahoma State was creeping back into the game.

Following Avery Ortiz’s second two-run home run that cut the Sooner lead in half, Oklahoma responded again in the fourth. Mudler came through yet again, plating three runs with a two out-single. He finished the day 2-for-3 with 6 RBIs. 

Oklahoma scored 10 runs with two outs on Saturday in a game that can serve as a turning point not only in the Bedlam series but the season.

ROUGH DAY ON THE MOUND 

Saturday afternoon wasn’t a day for pitchers. All you had to do was step outside and realize the person tasked with recording outs on the bump was going to be in for a long afternoon. It was one of those kinda winds. You know the type. 

Oklahoma took advantage early and often chasing Oklahoma State standout pitcher Brian Holiday from the game, scoring eight runs through the first three innings. But it was the quality at bats that impressed the Sooner skipper the most. 

“It’s a good feeling. Just having good quality at-bats. Paying attention to what is going on and not giving in. Trying to put a ball in play and get on base,” said Johnson. 

Sooners starter Kyson Witherspoon threw 3.2 innings before giving way to veteran lefty Carter Campbell who did two things: ate up innings and recorded outs. There was nothing spectacular about Campbell’s performance, but it was enough to save some Sooners arms for Sunday’s rubber match. 

“I thought last night Braden Davis going as far as he did helped a little bit today, so hopefully that’ll happen tomorrow,” said Johnson. “Jamie Hitt, Brendan Girton, Grant Stevens and Malachi Witherspoon — you got four guys with good arms right there that have thrown a lot for us all season long.”

Campbell finished the day throwing four innings, allowing three hits, three runs and striking out five. 

SOONERS FINDING POWER AT THE PLATE

Oklahoma has hit 10 (!) home runs through the first two games of this weekend’s Bedlam series. An unexpected offensive outburst, particularly for freshman shortstop Jaxon Willits, who tagged his third home run of the weekend with a three-run shot to right field. Jackson Nicklaus added a two-run blast in the seventh.

“Having good at bats moreso than anything. Not trying to go up there and hit home runs just having good at-bats,” Johnson said. “That’s what Coach Raley and Coach Willits talk about all the time is having quality at-bats.

“Nine times out of 10 you look at the failures of an offense not having good at-bats. A quality at bat is not a failure; putting a ball in play with two strikes is not a failure. That’s what they’ve been taught, and it came to fruition today.” 

Entering the weekend, Oklahoma had hit eight home runs in conference play and head into Sunday’s Bedlam finale with 10 through the first two games.

Oklahoma went 7-for-14 (.500) on Saturday with runners in scoring position and 6-for-13 (.462) with two outs. 

Basically the exact opposite of Friday night’s opener. 

“We got some big runs. Put some balls in play and got some big hits in big moments of the game, kind of like they did last night,” said Johnson. “We walk a few and they get a big hit. Just have to keep battling and keep grinding at it.”

SOONERS IN GOOD POSITION HEADING INTO SUNDAY

Oklahoma (17-13, 8-3) heads into Sunday’s rubber game in first place in the conference with an opportunity to win another conference series. Good news for the Sooners is they have plenty of options to choose from on the mound. 

Grant Stevens, Brendan Girton, Jaimie Hitt and Malachi Witherspoon are all available heading into getaway day, with Ryan Lambert and Jason Bollman on the back end.