OU Baseball: Oklahoma Controls Wichita State for Midweek Win
NORMAN – Back on home soil and back in the win column.
After a 2-2 road swing that included a disappointing series loss to Baylor, Oklahoma returned to Norman for a midweek matchup with Wichita State on Tuesday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
Having already dropped two games to the Shockers (18-14) this season, the Sooners (18-16) avoided the season sweep putting together a complete effort to bring home a 8-1 win in from of the home faithful.
Following a rocky weekend in Waco, Oklahoma went into Tuesday night hoping for a bit of a season reset - with the strong victory potentially providing just that.
"We practiced a little more before the game on our fundamentals," head coach Skip Johnson said postgame. "We had to get back to square one. (We) didn't play very good catch this past weekend, just didn't play very good baseball."
Some aggressive baserunning got Oklahoma on the board early in the first inning, as Kendall Pettis popped out to second base with Bryce Madron on third.
However, despite the ball not being particularly deep, Madron alertly took off on the catch to tag up and score on the play - giving the Sooners a quick 1-0 edge.
After WSU evened the game on a solo shot from Payton Tolle in the top of the fourth, Oklahoma went for a crooked number in the bottom half.
The Sooners plated four runs in the frame on Pettis singling in a run and later scoring on a passed ball, followed up by a two-run triple by Wallace Clark.
OU used their speed to strike for another run in the fifth, as Pettis tripled to get to 90 feet from home.
John Spikerman then scored him, laying down a bunt with two outs - beating it out for a single and scoring Pettis.
"He's (Pettis) had a really good month," Johnson said. "He's really swung the bat really well. He's really had competitive at-bats. It kind of got started the night he had a postgame ejection (3/28 at Wichita State)."
After five innings, Oklahoma was in command leading 6-1.
That remained the score into the eighth, when Anthony Mackenzie and Madron would provide some further insurance.
The OU shortstop and right fielder each picked up RBI singles in the frame, extending the advantage to 8-1.
That went on to be the final score as Oklahoma's pitching staff completed an overall tremendous day on the mound.
Gray Harrison (2.2 innings), Carson Atwood (1.1), Carter Campbell (2), Kale Davis (1) and Jett Lodes (2) combined to hold the Shockers to just one run on the day, keeping WSU at bay on the scoreboard all evening long.
"It's always good (when pitching does well)," Johnson said. "I think we started early playing defense really well, made some quality plays. Last weekend, we didn't."
The win moves the Sooners back to two games above .500 and provides some revenge against Wichita State after having lost to them two times previously this season.
Despite having to battle through some key pieces missing, OU has managed to keep things within reason with still a lot of season in front of them.
"You can't control the rain, you can't control the weather, you can't control the injuries," Johnson said. "It's just like the next man up."
Looking to continue the momentum into the weekend, Oklahoma will return to conference play with the first of a three-game set against No. 19 Texas Tech on Friday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park.