OU Baseball: No. 12 Oklahoma Mashes Past Louisiana Tech

On the verge of opening SEC play against South Carolina, Skip Johnson’s Sooners needed to avoid a midweek mishap against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The Sooners jumped out to an early lead, powered by a five-run second inning, and starting pitcher Cade Crossland cruised early to set the tone for the evening.

OU’s offense coasted to the finish, powering to a 9-5 victory over the Bulldogs at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Crossland made his second start of the season and he was hoping for a bounce back start after a tough performance eight days ago against Dallas Baptist. Crossland threw 41 pitches in two innings and only gave up one hit while striking out four.

Oklahoma got the scoring going in the top of the second inning when a leadoff single by Jaxon Willits was followed up by a wall scraper of a homer over the center field wall by Sam Christiansen gave the Sooners the early 2-0 lead.

Kyle Branch then reached base after he was hit by pitch and two consecutive passed balls by Louisiana Tech catcher Eli Berch allowed Branch to land at third base. In the next at bat, Dayton Tockey ripped a single into right field to give Oklahoma the early 3-0 lead.

Kade Parker made the start for the Bulldogs but it was a struggle for him on the mound as he pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on three hits. A couple of pitches came up costly for the Louisiana Tech starter.

An RBI groundout by Jason Walk and a single by Trey Gambill drove in two more runs to carry the 5-0 lead into the third inning.

Gavyn Jones entered for the Sooners in the third inning, and he immediately allowed back-to-back doubles by Thaxton Berch and Will Safford made it a 5-1 game. After allowing the run, Jones reset to get out of the inning and bring the OU bats back to the plate.

The Sooners loaded the bases and Scott Mudler drew a walk. Dawson Willis' sacrifice fly then gave the Sooners a 7-1 lead after three innings.

The bats would stay hot in the fourth after a pair of RBI singles by Willits and Branch extended the lead to 9-1.

Louisiana Tech cut into the Oklahoma lead with an RBI groundout by Reid Snider that drove in the Bulldogs' second run to make it a 9-2 game.

Brody Drost and Eli Burch each drove in runs with RBI singles of their own to make it a 9-4 contest in the eighth.

The Bulldogs went down fighting in the ninth inning. Michael Ballard ripped an RBI single to cut the deficit down to 9-5, but the Sooners were able to close out the victory.

Now OU can fully turn its attention to SEC play.

Oklahoma will head east to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia this weekend. The first game will start at 6 p.m. on Friday.