OU Baseball: Oklahoma Stays Hot Offensively in Win Over UNLV

NORMAN – Back at home and back in the win column.

After having their four-game winning streak snapped in the weekend finale in Frisco on Sunday, Oklahoma returned to the friendly confines of L. Dale Mitchell Park on Tuesday for the first of a two-game midweek set against UNLV.

On a cold and windy day in Norman, the Sooners' (7-5) bats came alive huge fashion in the late innings and their pitching was superb through eight innings in an 11-6 win over the Rebels (5-7).

In the midweek bout, with a game tomorrow, head coach Skip Johnson turned to right-hander Gray Harrison to start the game on the hill and he answered the call and then some.

The junior worked four dominant innings, allowing no hits or runs and striking out five UNLV batters.

"I thought he (Harrison) was a little bit better today," Johnson said postgame. "He navigated the pitch clock better. He was himself a little bit more versus before."

Matching him was Rebels’ starter Sam Simon, who also tossed four scoreless innings as well to take the game into the fifth at 0-0.

After left-hander James Hitt (1-0) worked two shutout frames in relief of Harrison, the Oklahoma offense would come to life in the bottom of the sixth.

After Jackson Nicklaus singled to make it runners on first and third base and two outs, Easton Carmichael entered the game as a pinch-hitter and would promptly cash in.

The OU freshman continued his torrid stretch, ripping an RBI single to put the Sooners in the lead. Fellow freshman Rocco Garza-Gongora then followed him up with a two-run knock of his own.

The freshmen got the job done in the sixth!#COMPETE | #CHAOUS pic.twitter.com/RBQ3jwvd5j
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 7, 2023

"He (Carmichael) sits over here and has the day off," Johnson said. "(But) he's been paying attention the whole game. He's not just taking the day off eating a sandwich in the dugout. Then he gets in there and gets a big hit. And that's what you want baseball players to do."

Nicklaus would go on to finish his day 4-for-4, raising his batting average up to .333 on the season after what had been a slow start to his campaign.

"The biggest thing is he's (Nicklaus) hitting strikes," Johnson said. "I think Ted Williams said it best: get a good pitch to hit. He's getting good pitches to hit. He's not chasing pitches."

Oklahoma then added to their advantage one inning later with Bryce Madron pounding a two-run double into the right field corner to make it 5-0.

𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞

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— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 7, 2023

Things then got really out of hand in the eighth, with the Sooners exploding for six runs on a two-run hit from Madron, Anthony Mackenzie scoring on a wild pitch, Carmichael picking up another two-run knock and Garza-Gongora adding a sacrifice fly.

Carmichael brings home two more runs!

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— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) March 7, 2023

Madron finished his day with four RBIs with Carmichael adding three despite not even entering the game until the sixth as a pinch hitter.

"He (Madron) hit two balls on the button today to left center and center," Johnson said. "That's a step forward for him because he's been hitting them not that hard.

"You just want to hit the ball hard. That's what the game is really about, hitting the ball hard."

In a game that was scoreless through five, OU now led 11-0 heading to the final inning.

To their credit, UNLV would battle back in their final hacks at the plate - striking for six runs in a big inning to at the very least try and carry some momentum into the next day.

The Sooners would eventually record the final out the lock up the 11-6 victory.

The win is Oklahoma’s fifth in their last six games, with the team continuing to score runs at a high clip - albeit after a bit of a slow start on Tuesday.

The Sooners return back to action on Wednesday to wrap up the short series with UNLV at 1 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park.