OU Baseball: Oklahoma Run-Rules Lehigh Again for Season-Opening Sweep

Three games, three quality starts, three comfortable victories for Oklahoma.

The Sooners pounded Lehigh 12-1 on a blustery Saturday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, sweeping the three-game season-opening series with more good starting pitching and more dynamic production at the plate.

No. 25-ranked OU swept Friday’s season-opening doubleheader 11-3 and 13-3. Saturday’s finale ended with a 7-inning run rule.

This time it was Malachi Witherspoon who started on the mound and went five strong innings to pick up his first win of the season. On Friday, twin brother Kyson Witherspoon and LSU transfer Cameron Johnson each went five good innings in their start.

Witherspoon showed good control and power as he retired 14 of the 19 batters he faced with 76 pitches (50) strikes. His fastball velocity stayed in the upper 90s, and he ended with six strikeouts and two walks while scattering three hits and one run.

At the plate, OU’s 1-2-3 hitters combined to start 7-for-7 with six runs, four RBIs, two doubles, a triple and a home run. Jason Walk finished 3-for-3 with a walk, Jaxon Willits was 2-for-3 with a double, and Easton Carmichael was 2-for-2 with a homer, a triple and two RBIs.

OU was 15-of-15 on stolen bases on Friday, but went 1-for-3 Saturday.

Unlike at any time Friday, Lehigh jumped to an early lead when Witherspoon walked Dom Patrizi and then gave up an RBI single to Aidan Quinn for a 1-0 Mountain Hawks lead.

The Sooners immediately got that back and more, however, off Lehigh starter David Andolina in the bottom of the first.

Walk led off with a double, took third on a wild pitch and came home on Willits’ sacrifice fly to left field to tie it at 1-1.

Carmichael then hammered a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right field field to make it 2-1. Sam Christiansen walked, took second on a passed ball and moved to third on a groundout. He scored easily on Dayton Willis’ double to left-center field to put OU up 3-1.

In the second, Walk knocked a one-out single to right and Willits doubled to right. Carmichael then drew a walk to load the bases, and Christiansen drew a full-count walk to bring home Walk for a 4-1 lead. Trey Gambill brought home Willits from third with a sac fly to deep center give the Sooners a 5-1 lead.

Witherspoon got a double-boost from his defense in the third inning. Branch ranged behind the bag from second base and threw out Jake Whitlinger on a play that needed an extensive replay review, and following a walk to Patrizi, Witherspoon induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame.

Branch doubled to right field with two out, then raced home on an error at first after the speedy Walk beat out a bunt single and cruised into second base.

Willits followed that up with a sharp single to left that plated Walk for a 7-1 OU lead, and Carmichael made it 8-1 with his RBI triple into the right field corner to score Willits.

Gavyn Jones relieved Witherspoon in the sixth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning with two ground balls and a strikeout.

Jones then delivered at the plate in the bottom of the sixth — along with his teammates.

After Willis’ RBI single scored Carmichael to make it 9-1, Jones hit in the 8-hole and ripped a two-run single to right field to score Willis and Christiansen for an 11-1 OU lead. Branch then added an RBI single to left to bring home Brandon Cain for a 12-1 lead.

With OU in run-rule territory, Texas A&M transfer Jason Bodin came in to get the final three outs.