Sooners handle Longhorns, take first game of Red River Rivalry
It doesn't seem like too long ago since the Sooners lost the Bedlam series against Oklahoma State. Since that day, OU has gone blistering hot and won eight straight games going into their Red River Rivalry series with Texas. This series would mark the final time these two play as Big 12 foes in the regular season.
On the mound for Oklahoma was Braden Davis, who was impressive in his last start against BYU to the tune of 11 strikeouts. Davis was able to keep Texas off the board in the first two frames. The Oklahoma bats came alive in the second, with Kendall Pettis slicing an RBI single into left. With help from a UT fielding error, OU quickly put up another run. John Spikerman would close the inning out with yet another RBI, pushing the Sooners lead to 3-0 after two.
As Davis continued to keep the Longhorns at bay, Oklahoma was gifted two third-inning baserunners due to UT errors. Pettis capitalized, shooting an RBI single into center, and Oklahoma led 4-0 after three.
The fourth and fifth would be a defensive battle from both sides. Despite one UT run in the fourth, neither team would grab any true momentum at the plate. The Sooners led 4-1 after five.
In the sixth, Davis stayed sharp, sitting three straight batters after allowing the leadoff runner on base — and running his tally to nine K's on the night. In the bottom of the sixth, the Sooners added a run, Jaxon Willits sent a solo homer into center. Oklahoma pushed their lead back to four and led 5-1 after six.
Carter Campbell took over for Davis to start the seventh, but after allowing a run and loading the bases, Campbell got the hook from Skip Johnson. Carson Atwood entered the game with two outs. Atwood would deliver, getting the third out and halting any momentum from Texas. Despite Texas cutting into the lead, Oklahoma would answer once again. Anthony Mackenzie would quickly launch a solo homer, pushing the lead back to four. Soon after, Jaxon Willits would come up huge again as he knocked an RBI single into center. To cap off the inning, Spikerman chased home Mudler for yet another Sooner run. OU had their biggest lead of the night at 8-2 going into the eighth.
Texas pushed two runs across, but the Sooners answered with a run of their own off an Anthony Mackenzie steal that resulted in a delayed steal run from Michael Snyder. The Sooners led 9-4 with three outs to go, and Malachi Witherspoon would get the nod to close this one out. He finished the ninth frame without incident. Oklahoma pushed their winning streak to nine in the 9-4 victory over Texas. Also in this win, OU set an all-time program attendance record at 4,812.
OU will face Texas again tomorrow in Game 2 at 4 p.m. CST.
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