Baseball Sweeps Leathernecks

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
WIU	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	10	1
OU	0	0	2	2	0	2	1	0	X	7	7	0

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Duke (3-1)	4.1	4	0	0	2	5
L - Percival (0-1)	5.0	5	6	5	3	3
S - McCarter (4)	2.0	0	0	0	1	0

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	2B
WIU - Laidig	4	1	2	1	0	1
OU - Sperring	2	1	2	3	0	1

Sooner Baseball Central

2008 OU Baseball Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -The Sooners rattled off their ninth straight victory on Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park in completing a four-game sweep of Western Illinois. OU won 7-4 after a strong outing from the Sooner bullpen and a season-high three RBIs off the bat of junior Trey Sperring.

The Sooners improved to 12-2 overall and 9-0 at home while the Leathernecks dropped to 0-6.

Oklahoma trailed early in the game and overcame a 4-0 deficit after the Leathernecks at-bat in the third inning. Sperring tied the game at four runs apiece with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and gave OU the lead on a two-run single in the sixth inning.

"I thought we put forth a great effort out there today," said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. "Our bullpen had to take over early and did a solid job in keeping Western Illinois off the board."

For the first time in the series, the Leathernecks got on the board first with a RBI single off the bat of Drew Laidig in the first frame. After another Leatherneck RBI single in the second inning, Western Illinois took a 4-0 lead in the third inning, which chased OU starter Ryan Mottern out of the game.

The Sooners cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third inning on senior Aljay Davis' two-run single through the left side of the infield.

In the fourth inning, junior J.T. Wise led off the frame with a solo home run to left field, his second of the year. The Sooners then tied the ball game on Sperring's sac fly and that would eventually lead to the end of WIU starter Ben Percival's outing.Percival lasted one more inning after losing the lead and dropped to 0-1 after surrendering six runs, five unearned, on five hits and three walks.

With freshman Ryan Duke on the mound in relief of Mottern, the Sooners took their first lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the OU sixth, it was Sperring again providing the offensive boost, this time with a two-run single through the left side of the infield. Sperring finished the game with two hits in two official at-bats and drove in a game high three RBIs.

With a two-run cushion, Duke (3-1) cruised through his 4 1/3 innings of relief. Before giving way to senior Jake McCarter in the eighth, Duke had five strikeouts and kept WIU scoreless on four hits.

McCarter entered the game but not before the Sooners added some extra insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. In that frame, sophomore Aaron Baker provided a sacrifice fly to center field and plated senior Aljay Davis, who tripled in the previous at-bat. Davis, along with Wise, finished with two hits on the day.

McCarter was near perfect in his two innings of relief. Besides surrendering a walk in the ninth, McCarter did not allow a hit in recording his team-leading fourth save of the year.

Oklahoma returns to action on Tuesday to battle Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. in Frisco, Texas. The game will be played at the Dr Pepper Ballpark and will be the first of two during the week at the Class AA home of the Texas Rangers. The Sooners and Northern Illinois will take the field on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Following the two mid weeks games, OU returns home to host Washington State in the final non-conference series of the home schedule. The Sooners and Cougars will begin the four-game set on Friday, March 14 at 6:35 p.m.

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