OU Baseball: Oklahoma falls to OSU in Bedlam Opener

The Sooners had more hits than the Cowboys, but the game turned on two big innings given up by the OU pitching staff.
Oklahoma pitcher Braden Davis
Oklahoma pitcher Braden Davis / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

By OU Media Relations

STILLWATER – Oklahoma fell 9-6 Friday night in Stillwater to Oklahoma State in the first of three Bedlam matchups this weekend. 

The Sooners (16-13, 7-3) outhit the Cowboys 11-6 on the night, hitting four home runs. Freshman Jaxon Willits hit two of the four homers, good for his first two collegiate blasts. Easton Carmichael and Jackson Nicklaus hit OU’s other two round-trippers.

The Cowboys (20-10, 6-4) struck first at the bottom of the first on a two-run home run from Nolan Schubart. OU starting LHP Braden Davis would shake back and twirl three scoreless innings thereafter. 

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The Sooners got on the board in the fifth. After a leadoff double from redshirt senior Kendall Pettis down the left line, freshman Jason Walk extended his hit streak to seven games with an RBI double to left field. 

At the bottom of the fifth, OSU would answer with four runs off a pair of doubles from Zach Ehrhard and Aidan Meola to make it 6-1, Cowboys. 

The teams would continue to trade runs with a leadoff home run from OU sophomore Easton Carmichael at the top of the sixth. It was Carmichael’s third of the season. 

The Sooners would continue to chip away into the seventh with a solo home run off the bat of Willits. It was the frosh shortstop’s first collegiate blast. 

In the bottom of the seventh, OSU would get the runs back with a three-run frame. A two-run single from Avery Ortiz followed by a Sooner miscue that allowed another Cowboy to cross home put OSU up 9-3 through seven. 

OU senior Bryce Madron led off the eighth with a ground rule double that bounced up and over the center field wall. After a flyout allowed Madron to advance to third, a wild pitch would allow him to get home, cutting the lead to 9-4.

In the ninth, a pair of solo homers from Willits and Nicklaus would bring the final score to 9-6. It was Willits’ second of the night to right field, good for the first two-homer game of his young career, while Nicklaus’ opposite field rocket to left was his team-leading sixth of the year.

On the mound, Davis went six innings, allowing seven runs on four hits with six walks and six strikeouts. Relievers Carson Atwood, Jace Miner and Jett Lodes would all see action in the final three innings with Lodes striking out a pair. 

At the plate, Willits and Carmichael each had two-hit games to pace OU. 


Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.