NORMAN –
Tanner Tredaway and
Cade Horton each drove in two runs and Oklahoma registered 11 stolen bases as the Sooners defeated Wichita State 6-2 on a cold Tuesday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
Tredaway stole three bases in one half inning – including home.
Peyton Graham and
Kendall Pettis also notched three steals in the game while Horton and
Jimmy Crooks each had one steal. Prior to Tuesday, no single Sooner had stolen three bases in a game since Erik Ross against Hartford in 2012. Oklahoma (3-1) finished one steal shy of the school record of 12, set in 1937 against East Central (Okla.) University.
Braden Carmichael (1-0) struck out four batters and scattered six hits over 5.0 innings in the start.
Trevin Michael finished the game, striking out five over 4.0 frames, to earn the extended outing save.
"Our offense really set the tone by scoring three runs in the first," Oklahoma head coach
Skip Johnson said. "Then Carmichael went out and threw a shutout inning. We got a run, turned a double play, played good defense in the middle part of the game and separated the game late. Our offense was outstanding and kept putting pressure on their defense."
Tredaway put the Sooners on the board in the first inning with a two-run double into the left field corner. He scored two batters later on a single by Horton. It was the first career hit for Horton, a redshirt freshman from Norman.
In the top of the third with runners on the corners and no outs,
Sebastian Orduno chased a fly ball into foul territory and made the catch while sliding into the boundary wall. He then got up and fired a throw to Graham at second base to nab the tagging runner for an unconventional sacrifice fly double play. The runner scoring from third made it a 3-1 ballgame.
Horton drove another base hit up the middle in the bottom of the third to plate Crooks and extend the lead back to three runs. The Sooners tacked on two more runs late in the game.
Tredaway walked to lead off the seventh inning, then proceeded to steal second base, third base and home. He raced from third on a pickoff attempt on Horton at first base, diving in well ahead of the throw to the plate.
OU extended its lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by
Blake Robertson that scored Graham, who singled and stole second base.
The Shockers (0-4) added a run in the ninth inning on an RBI groundout by center fielder Seth Stroh. WSU starter Matt Boyer (0-1) took the loss.
