Sooners Dominant in Regional-Opening Shutout

Friday, May 31

Norman

6 PM CT

University of Oklahoma

38-19

Oral Roberts

27-31-1

Oral Roberts

Oklahoma

Photo by: Andrew Marsh/University of Oklahoma

Sooners Dominant in Regional-Opening Shutout

May 31, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score Highlights Tickets Box Score: OU 14, ORU 0 Photo Gallery

NORMAN — No. 9 national seed Oklahoma shut out Oral Roberts in its NCAA Norman Regional opener, 14-0, Friday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Sooners (38-19) were dominant on the mound and at the plate with the pitching staff of RHP Kyson Witherspoon and LHP Carter Campbell hurling OU's sixth shutout of the season with a combined 11 strikeouts to just three ORU (27-31-1) hits.

The OU offense registered 17 hits with seven going for extra bases, including three home runs.

The shutout was OU's first in the postseason since 2018 and the program's first postseason shutout at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

"Us scoring an early run was really big," said OU head coach Skip Johnson. "Kyson (Witherspoon) settled in and made some really big pitches with men on base which is really a good sign of a great pitcher.

"Defense played outstanding, gave us a little wiggle room when Bryce (Madron) hit the two-run homer, and then Easton (Carmichael) hit the three-run homer. Carter (Campbell) was really good, offense just took over and had some quality at-bats later on in the game. It was a good overall performance from our baseball team."

After OU starter Witherspoon escaped a bases-loaded jam at the top of the half, OU jumped on top 1-0 in the home half courtesy of junior John Spikerman and senior Bryce Madron.

After Spikerman ripped a leadoff triple up the alley in right Madron, making his first start in six games due to injury, lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score the first run of the game.

Witherspoon left a pair on base in the second and third innings prior to OU scoring two in the bottom of the third via Madron's team-leading 12th home run of the season.

The righty sophomore Witherspoon settled in to retire nine straight from the fourth through sixth innings with OU giving him plenty of run support.

In the fifth, a three-run home run to right from sophomore Easton Carmichael doubled the OU lead before a leadoff blast from junior catcher Scott Mudler in the sixth made it 7-0.

The senior reliever Campell entered in the seventh and picked up where Witherspoon left off, stranding one in the seventh and eighth before putting down ORU in order in the ninth.

The Sooners scored a combined seven across the seventh and eighth to widen the final margin. In the seventh, an RBI single from freshman Isaiah Lane and two-run single from Spikerman pushed three across. To the eighth, a fielder's choice RBI from senior Michael Snyder, RBI single from junior Jackson Nicklaus and two-run single from Mudler brought the final score to 14-0.

Witherspoon (W, 8-3) surrendered just one hit in six innings while striking out nine and walking five. In relief, Campbell went three innings to earn the save while scattering two hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

At the plate, three Sooners registered three-hit games with Spikerman and Madron going 3-for-4 and Carmichael hitting 3-for-5. Nine Sooners registered a hit out of 10 that had an at-bat. Carmichael and Madron paced OU with three RBIs each.

The Sooner fanbase showed out in the program's first postseason baseball game at L. Dale Mitchell since 2010, setting a postseason attendance record of 4,332. The number also marked the fourth-highest attended game in program history. Three of the top four attendance numbers have come in 2024.

"This is what you visualize, this is what I visualized a long time ago, being here, holding a regional here," said Johnson. "I get kind of emotional about it, because I want to bring something special here that they've had here. The program, the University of Oklahoma will be here long after I'm here, if I can just leave a mark on this program, doing the right thing, teaching these young people about lessons and bringing people the game of baseball."

OU advances to the winner's bracket to meet regional three-seed UConn at 8 p.m. CT Saturday after the Huskies (33-23) knocked off two-seed Duke in Friday's early game. Duke and ORU meet in an elimination game at 2 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

TV designations for Saturday's games have yet to be announced across the ESPN family of networks. The game can be heard locally in Oklahoma on SportsTalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM or nationwide on The Varsity app.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.