Upcoming Event: Baseball versus Texas A&M on March 13, 2026
Baseball
vs Texas A&M
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sunday, March 12
Houston, Texas
1 p.m.
University of Oklahoma
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Houston
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Houston
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Photo by: Joe Buvid
Sooners Hold On, Complete Sweep at Houston
March 12, 2023 | Baseball
HOUSTON — The Oklahoma baseball team scored six runs over the sixth and seventh innings to break open a 7-2 lead and held on to defeat Houston 7-6 Sunday, completing the weekend sweep at Schroeder Park.
Shortstop Dakota Harris put the Sooners (11-5) on the board with a solo home run in the second inning and added a second RBI on sacrifice fly in the seventh. The Cougars (5-10) took a 2-1 lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, before OU went ahead again with its six-run barrage. UH scored four runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 7-6, but Oklahoma held on thanks in part to some stellar defensive plays.
Center fielder John Spikerman, third baseman Anthony Mackenzie, designated hitter Easton Carmichael and catcher Diego Muniz all notched two hits in the game. Mackenzie and left fielder Sebastian Orduno each scored two runs.
Carson Pierce (2-0) pitched 2.0 innings in relief of starter James Hitt and earned the win. Hitt tossed 4.0 complete innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Aaron Weber pitched the ninth and picked up his second save. Josh Ekness (1-1) took the loss for Houston.
"The biggest takeaway for us is that we've played a little better every day," Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. "Today, there was one inning where the ball found holes, hit a bag and we had a catcher's interference. That's baseball. I thought Jamie was good and the bullpen was good. Weber came in and made some quality pitches in a high-pressure situation when he needed to. We played outstanding defense in the ninth. I think our defense is going to get better and better. The relays were really good. We practice that a lot, and it was big to get those outs."
The Oklahoma defense made multiple run-saving plays in the game. In the fourth inning, Spikerman ran down a ball in deep left center field with two runners in scoring position, holding the play to a sacrifice fly and preventing a second run from scoring. First baseman Rocco Garza-Gongora made a diving stop on a ball headed toward the right field corner with the bases loaded in the eighth, making the out at first and limiting the play to one run. With the bases loaded again in the same inning, Houston's Anthony Tulimero doubled to right field, scoring two runs, but right fielder Bryce Madron and Nicklaus relayed the ball to Muniz at home in time to prevent the tying run from touching the plate.
After Houston tied the game in the fourth and took the lead on a single in the fifth, Oklahoma went ahead 4-2 with a three-run sixth. Orduno hit a leadoff double and scored on a base hit by Mackenzie, who moved around to score on an errant back pickoff throw to first base with the bases loaded. Nicklaus then drew a bases-loaded walk.
In the seventh, Orduno reached on a walk and scored on a wild pitch, Harris plated Spikerman with a sacrifice fly and Carmichael singled home Mackenzie.
Oklahoma plays a midweek game at Wichita State at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Sooners then return home to host TCU in the Big 12 conference opener next weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game times for that series are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Shortstop Dakota Harris put the Sooners (11-5) on the board with a solo home run in the second inning and added a second RBI on sacrifice fly in the seventh. The Cougars (5-10) took a 2-1 lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, before OU went ahead again with its six-run barrage. UH scored four runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 7-6, but Oklahoma held on thanks in part to some stellar defensive plays.
Center fielder John Spikerman, third baseman Anthony Mackenzie, designated hitter Easton Carmichael and catcher Diego Muniz all notched two hits in the game. Mackenzie and left fielder Sebastian Orduno each scored two runs.
Carson Pierce (2-0) pitched 2.0 innings in relief of starter James Hitt and earned the win. Hitt tossed 4.0 complete innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Aaron Weber pitched the ninth and picked up his second save. Josh Ekness (1-1) took the loss for Houston.
"The biggest takeaway for us is that we've played a little better every day," Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. "Today, there was one inning where the ball found holes, hit a bag and we had a catcher's interference. That's baseball. I thought Jamie was good and the bullpen was good. Weber came in and made some quality pitches in a high-pressure situation when he needed to. We played outstanding defense in the ninth. I think our defense is going to get better and better. The relays were really good. We practice that a lot, and it was big to get those outs."
The Oklahoma defense made multiple run-saving plays in the game. In the fourth inning, Spikerman ran down a ball in deep left center field with two runners in scoring position, holding the play to a sacrifice fly and preventing a second run from scoring. First baseman Rocco Garza-Gongora made a diving stop on a ball headed toward the right field corner with the bases loaded in the eighth, making the out at first and limiting the play to one run. With the bases loaded again in the same inning, Houston's Anthony Tulimero doubled to right field, scoring two runs, but right fielder Bryce Madron and Nicklaus relayed the ball to Muniz at home in time to prevent the tying run from touching the plate.
After Houston tied the game in the fourth and took the lead on a single in the fifth, Oklahoma went ahead 4-2 with a three-run sixth. Orduno hit a leadoff double and scored on a base hit by Mackenzie, who moved around to score on an errant back pickoff throw to first base with the bases loaded. Nicklaus then drew a bases-loaded walk.
In the seventh, Orduno reached on a walk and scored on a wild pitch, Harris plated Spikerman with a sacrifice fly and Carmichael singled home Mackenzie.
Oklahoma plays a midweek game at Wichita State at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Sooners then return home to host TCU in the Big 12 conference opener next weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game times for that series are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pierce, Carson (2-0)
L: EKNESS, Josh (1-1)
S: Weber, Aaron (2)
Batting:
2B: Orduno, Sebastian 1
HR: Harris, Dakota 1
RBI: Mackenzie, Anthony 1 ; Harris, Dakota 2 ; Carmichael, Easton 1 ; Nicklaus, Jackson 1
SF: Harris, Dakota 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Spikerman, John 1 ; Mackenzie, Anthony 2 ; Madron, Bryce 1 ; Harris, Dakota 1 ; Orduno, Sebastian 2
SB: Spikerman, John 2 ; Mackenzie, Anthony 2
CS: Muniz, Diego 1
HBP: Spikerman, John 1 ; Harris, Dakota 1 ; Nicklaus, Jackson 1 ; Garza-Gongora, Rocco 1
PO: Spikerman, John 1 ; Carmichael, Easton 1
Batting:
2B: LOPEZ, Alex 1 ; TULIMERO, Anthony 1
RBI: ARNOLD, Zach 1 ; TULIMERO, Anthony 2 ; NICKENS, Cameron 1 ; MCMILLAN, Ian 1 ; COLLINS, Nick 1
SF: NICKENS, Cameron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: UHSE, Brandon 1 ; ARNOLD, Zach 1 ; BURCKEL, Brandon 2 ; MURRAY, Justin 1 ; DEJESUS, Coby 1
SB: BURCKEL, Brandon 1
HBP: BURCKEL, Brandon 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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OF/1B
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IF
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LHP
/ BaseballIF
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OF
/ BaseballUTL
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OF
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RHP
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
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Sunday, June 01
