Neal, Sooners Run Past Western Illinois

No. 17 OU 12, WIU 1 | Box Score

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
WIU	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	3
OU	1	1	3	0	1	1	0	5	X	12	15	2

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Neal (1-0)	5.2	5	1	1	1	8
L - Brough (0-1)	5.0	12	7	6	2	2
SV - none	-	-	-	-	-	-

Batting Leaders	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
OU - Black	2	1	2	0	1	0
WIU - Jordan	4	0	1	1	0	0

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March 5, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. -- Zach Neal had two no-decisions in his first two starts of 2010 but delivered his first win on Friday during No. 17 Oklahoma's 12-1 over Western Illinois in the Sooner Classic.

Winners of four straight, the Sooners (9-1) produced another double-digit hit and run performance with eight and four, respectively on the year, but also received a season-best 15 strikeouts from the pitching staff.

A highly recruited junior college transfer from Howard, Neal registered eight of those punch outs in the start and J.R. Robinson had five on the back end to close out the final 2 1/3 innings.

Neal held the Leathernecks hitless until the fourth inning and retired the first seven in a row to begin the game, including five strikeouts. He finished the outing with 5 2/3 innings under his belt and allowed one run off five hits and one walk.

"His control was the key today," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway. "He hasn't been bad in his first two starts with his no-decisions, he just hasn't been as sharp. That's (today) more of what we saw in the fall and that's more of what we recruited. He's not a guy that should walk people. He has really good control and today he showed that."

For the second straight day, Garrett Buechele put OU on top in the first inning with a RBI single through the right-side of the infield. Danny Black scored the run after he singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Max White, and stole third base.

Buechele (2-for-3, 2 RBI), now hitting .526 on the year, has produced multiple-hit performances on nine occasions and was joined on Friday by four other Sooners with two hits, including Danny Black (2-for-2), Caleb Bushyhead (2-for-3), Tyler Ogle (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Chris Ellison (2-for-2).

Ricky Eisenberg gave OU a 2-0 lead with a RBI single in the second and the Sooners opened things up in the third with three runs courtesy of a Western Illinois error, a sacrifice fly by Drew Harrison and a RBI single by Ogle in the third.

Neal took that 5-0 lead and cruised in to the sixth inning where the Leathernecks finally broke through. Bryan Jordan ended OU's shutout bid with a RBI single up the middle.

In the bottom of the eighth, OU extended its lead to 11 runs on Cameron Seitzer's grand slam. The homer was OU's 13th on the year and marked the third grand slam, equaling last year's total.

Despite windy conditions, Seitzer's shot was the only longball on the day. Oklahoma instead turned to the "small ball" approach and produced three bunt singles and four sacrifices. Austin Brough suffered the loss for Western Illinois after giving up seven runs on 12 hits.

"I think that was big for us early on to understand that we could manufacture runs," said Golloway. "I thought we showed a lot of maturity as a club in not swinging for the fence, and doing the little things you need to do to take control of a game."

Oklahoma continues action in the Sooner Classic on Saturday against South Florida (1-8, 1.64 ERA) at 3 p.m. OU's Bobby Shore (2-0) will get the start opposite Andrew Barbosa (0-1, 3.55 ERA).

Game one on Saturday will get underway at 11 a.m. between Western Illinois and Stephen F. Austin and the two will return for a 7 p.m. matchup.