Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Run Rule West Virginia For Fourth Straight Series Win
NORMAN – Make it four straight series wins.
After dropping the middle game of the weekend set yesterday, No. 24 Oklahoma battled West Virginia on Sunday afternoon in the rubber matchup of their three-game series.
Once again, for the fourth straight week, it was the Sooners coming out victorious and locking up a series win run-ruling the Mountaineers 17-7 in seven innings at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
"The offense just kind of took over," head coach Skip Johnson said postgame. "It was really awesome to watch."
Down 1-0 in the second, Oklahoma began their run-palooza.
Tanner Tredaway got things started with a powerful, 444-foot home run over the left field wall to tie the game.
"Pretty cool to go out with a bang like that," Tredaway said following his senior day and potential final home game in Norman. "Put it on them and win the series. Just so proud of our guys. Especially on a hot day like today."
Brett Squires joined the party later in the inning, ripping a two-run opposite field homer to put the Sooners in front 3-1.
"It takes real power to go to the opposite gap," Squires said postgame with a smile. "I like staying on baseballs. It's fun."
After the Mountaineers got one run back in the third, they struck for a crooked number in the fourth to retake the lead.
WVU scored four runs on an RBI single by Tevin Tucker, a two-run double from J.J. Wetherholt and another RBI single from McGwire Holbrook to take a 6-3 lead.
But, that advantage didn’t last for long as the Sooners responded to the Mountaineers’ four-run inning with a five-run frame of their own, with some defensive miscues helping out.
West Virginia got one of the runs back in the fifth to trim the deficit to 8-7, but Oklahoma came back with another five-run inning in the bottom half.
Wallace Clark got it started taking home on a steal after a pickoff at first base, followed by an RBI bunt from Kendall Pettis, a run-scoring groundout for Peyton Graham, an RBI double for Blake Robertson and a run-scoring knock from Tredaway.
The Sooners took a 13-7 lead into the sixth.
There, Oklahoma struck for two more runs on RBI hits by Diego Muniz and John Spikerman to give OU a 15-7 edge through six.
The Sooners finished the game off by run-rule in the seventh, with Squires putting the finishing touches on his 4-for-4 afternoon with a walk-off RBI single to make it 17-7.
"They say hits are contagious," Squires said. "Putting together great at-bats, making that pitcher work, then they're going to want to try and get ahead on the next guy, that's whenever you get cookies over the middle of the plate."
Finishing the game in seven innings certainly comes as a welcome sight for OU, given that they play again on Monday night at Wichita State.
"Well there ain't no doubt, that's a big deal," Johnson said of his team getting some extra rest with the shortened game.
The win moves Oklahoma to 31-18 on the year and 13-8 in Big 12 play with their fourth consecutive conference series win.
"If things go the right way, it's definitely a possibility," Tredaway said regarding the Sooners potentially hosting an NCAA regional. "We talk about it every day. It's almost like, making history here kind of. It hadn't happened in a long time. And, you know, the last few years have been tough. Then boom, all of a sudden we're hosting. That would be really special."
The Sooners will have a quick turnaround next, traveling north to take on Wichita State on Monday at 6 p.m. at Eck Stadium in Wichita, KS.