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OU Baseball: Oklahoma Opens Home Season by Crushing Wright State

The Sooners had a hit parade at the plate with a season-high 21 hits and got a dominant performance from ace Braden Davis in game one of their home-opening series.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma’s bats exploded, and the Sooners got a dominant start on the mound.

That was the right combination for an OU rout on Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park as Oklahoma opened its home schedule by pounding Wright State 20-0 in Norman.

The Sooners improved to 3-2 on the season, while Wright State fell to 1-3.

Left-hander Braden Davis pitched six shutout innings and allowed only three hits and a walk while striking out eight of the 23 batters he faced. He threw 92 pitches, including 55 strikes, and lowered his season ERA to 0.82.

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“Braden was really good and I our thought our offense came out with a sense of urgency,” said OU head coach Skip Johnson. “You know you get better (as a pitcher) the more runs you get. Everything gets better when your offense is playing offense. I thought Braden was outstanding, Lodes was good coming out of the bullpen and Pruett was good.”

The 2,107 fans on home-opening day marked the highest recorded home-opening attendance at L. Dale Mitchell going back to 2000. 

Davis had plenty of support at the plate as the Sooners racked up a season-high 21 hits.

Bryce Madron opened the scoring in the first when he doubled to right center to bring home John Spikerman. Jackson Nicklaus’ single through the left side scored Madron to make it 2-0.

In the second, Madron struck again with a two-run double to right field, plating Scott Mudler and Kendall Pettis for a 4-0 lead, and Michael Snyder’s infield single allowed Madron to come home from third.

OU made it 6-0 in the third when Anthony Mackenzie hit a solo home run to right center.

Snyder’s sacrifice fly to right center brought home Spikerman for a 7-0 lead in the fourth, but the Sooners were only getting started.

Six runs came across in the fifth, starting with Spikerman’s two-run single to right that scored Mudler and Pettis for a 9-0 lead. Easton Carmichael’s double to left allowed Spikerman to score for a 10-0 lead, and Snyder’s double to right moved Carmichael to third and scored Madron to put the Sooners up 11-0. Nicklaus’ double to left sent Carmichael home for a 12-0 lead, and Mackenzie made it 13-0 with an RBI groundout that scored Snyder.

OU added four in the seventh when Dasan Harris bounced a two-out grounder on the infield — his first collegiate hit — and drove home Carter Frederick to make it 14-0. Mudler then ran it up with a three-run home run to right field for a 17-0 lead.

After Wright State left hander Joey Valentine walked the bases loaded in the eighth, Isaiah Lane delivered his first collegiate hit with a three-run triple off the right field wall for a 20-0 lead. It was OU’s first 20-spot since 2022.

Spikerman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored, while Mudler was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs and Madron was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs. Snyder was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, and Nicklaus had two hits and two RBIs. Pettis had two hits and two runs, Lane had three RBIs and Mackenzie had two RBIs. Only one OU starter didn’t record a hit.

Jett Lodes relieved Davis and recorded four strikeouts in a scoreless seventh and eighth.

Myles Meyer pitched the ninth and added a strikeout, giving the Sooners at least 13 strikeouts in each of their first five games, but Meyer also gave up a double and two walks to load the bases before Brad Pruett closed things out with another pair of strikeouts, their season-high 15th.

Friday’s blowout was the first of a four-game series. The team meet again on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader, then finish the series at 2 p.m. Sunday. All games can be seen on ESPN+.

OU Media Relations contributed to this report.

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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.

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