Freshmen Lead Sooners to Friday Win at Houston

Friday, March 10

Houston, Texas

6:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

9-5

Houston

5-8

Houston

Photo by: Joe Buvid

Freshmen Lead Sooners to Friday Win at Houston

March 10, 2023 | Baseball

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HOUSTON — Freshmen Easton Carmichael and Rocco Garza-Gongora accounted for 10 of Oklahoma's 13 runs Friday night in a 13-1 series-opening win over Houston at Schroeder Park. Carmichael went 4 for 5 with three RBIs and scored two runs and Garza-Gongora homered and tallied three RBIs and three runs in the ballgame.

Garza-Gongora drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first inning, then spun a 6-3-2 double play by throwing a strike to Carmichael at the plate in the bottom half of the frame. He broke the game open in OU's six-run fifth inning with his laser of a two-run home run out to right center. Carmichael singled in three-straight at bats, then extended the lead to 12-1 in the eighth inning with his bases-clearing triple.

Junior shortstop Dakota Harris went 3 for 5, scored three runs and put a bow on the Sooners' performance with his second home run of the season in the top of the ninth inning. Redshirt junior left fielder Kendall Pettis and junior third baseman Anthony Mackenzie also drove in two runs for OU (9-5).

Junior Kale Davis (2-0) turned in perhaps his best start of the season, tossing a season-high 6.0 innings and matching his season best with five strikeouts. He allowed only the one run on a solo homer by Zach Arnold in the third inning and scattered five hits. Junior Carson Atwood retired all six batters he faced in relief. Sophomore Peyton Olejnik made his first appearance of the season in the ninth inning. Cade Citelli (0-2) took the loss for the Cougars (5-8).

"The game started out kind of shaky, but we got into a rhythm," Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. "We just started making it about winning pitches. That was the separator for us. We just have to continue to think about winning pitches and not think about the result. I thought Kale was extremely competitive from the third inning on – he was better after the third inning. Our defense played outstanding."

Oklahoma took the lead again with two runs in the fourth inning when Garza-Gongora scored on a wild pitch and Carmichael came in on an RBI groundout by Pettis.

The Sooners broke open a 9-1 lead with six runs in the fifth. Sophomore second baseman Jackson Nicklaus laced an RBI single to score Harris and Garza-Gongora followed with his second homer of the season. Pettis brought home another run on a sacrifice fly and Mackenzie lined a two-run single to right central.

Davis worked around a walk and an error in the first inning by rolling two ground balls, one of which became the 6-3-2 double play, then stranded two leadoff singles in the second inning. He followed the home run by ending the frame with a fly out and a strikeout, then faced the minimum in the fourth by inducing a conventional 6-4-3 double play. He stranded runners on second in each of his final two frames.

Carmichael briefly took over the team RBI lead with his three-run triple in the eighth inning, running his season total to 20. Not to be outdone, Harris recorded his 20th RBI of the year on his two-out solo homer in the top of the ninth.

The Sooners and Cougars continue their series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised via ESPN+ and broadcast locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF and Sportstalk1400.com.