ARLINGTON, Texas – Oklahoma cruised to a crucial victory over No. 18 Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington by a 9-5 final tally. The Cowboys embarrassed the Sooners in Norman three days ago to take the Bedlam Series trophy.
Oklahoma (31-24) kicked off the offensive festivities with a three-spot in the first inning. John Spikerman and Kendall Pettis drew consecutive walks to start the game. After Bryce Madron flew out to right to move both runners up 90 feet — Dakota Harris singled up the middle to score Spikerman and Pettis. Easton Carmichael laced a two-out single to right field to score Harris from second and give the Sooners an early 3-0 lead.
Jackson Nicklaus went 1-1 with two walks and a double in the second inning. Nicklaus scored from third on a sacrifice fly from Pettis to give the Sooners an early four-run lead. However, the Sooners stranded two runners in what could have been an even bigger inning.
Oklahoma scored three more runs in the third inning to take an early 7-0 lead over their bitter in-state rivals. Nicklaus hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Carmichael from third and Spikerman singled up the middle to score another. The Sooners scored again on a dropped third strike that rolled to the backstop.
RHP Carson Atwood got the start for the Sooners and pitched 2.1 innings before running into a jam. Atwood surrendered three earned runs in his third start of the season as the Pokes trimmed the deficit to 7-3 in the third frame.
LHP Jamie Hitt (6-1) made a rare appearance out of the bullpen and earned the win. The Texas Tech transfer struggled to find command against the Cowboy hitters last Sunday in Norman but was locked in on Wednesday. Hitt allowed two hits and one earned run in 2.2 innings of relief.
LHP Carter Campbell pitched 4.0 innings of shutdown relief to earn his second save of the season. The Western Oklahoma State College transfer entered the game looking to protect a 7-4 lead and did just that. Campbell allowed three hits and fanned two hitters. Roc Riggio laced an RBI double to right field with two outs as one of few blemishes on Campbell’s relief outing.
Oklahoma stole the momentum from Oklahoma State (37-17) with a crucial two-spot in the seventh inning. Wallace Clark doubled down the right field line to lead off the inning before an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt allowed the Tulsa native to come around to score. Anthony MacKenzie later drew a crucial two-out walk in a 3-2 count with the bases loaded to give the Sooners a 9-4 lead in the late innings.
Oklahoma will now await the winner of No. 3 seed West Virginia and No. 6 seed Texas Tech in the winner’s bracket. The Sooners will face either the Mountaineers or Red Raiders on Thursday at 7:30 PM on ESPNU.
