Sooners Take Opener at Gonzag

SPOKANE, Wash. — Kendall Pettis drove in two runs in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Oklahoma baseball team to a 5-2 win over Gonzaga Friday night at Patterson Baseball Complex.

Pettis, who finished with a pair of hits, lined a two-run single to score Dakota Harris and Bryce Madron and break a 1-1 tie. The Sooners (27-22) and Bulldogs (18-28) had been locked up since OU tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Diego Muniz. GU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and scored again in the eighth to make it 3-2. Oklahoma tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth to reach the final margin.

Braxton Douthit, Carter Campbell and Will Carsten combined for 11 strikeouts on the mound. Douthit struck out five and scattered eight hits and three walks over 5.0 innings. Campbell (6-4) relieved him with a runner on first in the sixth inning and struck out four over 2.2 frames. Carsten got the final four outs to earn his fourth save of the season. GU reliever Ty Buckner (0-2) took the loss.

“It was a really big two-out hit by Diego to tie the game, and we took the lead on a two-out hit by Kendall,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. “I thought Braxton finally got past the mode of thinking and started competing, back to what he can do. That’s his biggest gift, is he competes. That was really good. I thought Carter was outstanding and Will was outstanding.”

Oklahoma got on the board when Jackson Nicklaus hit a two-out double off the wall in right center field and scored on the Muniz base hit up the middle. In the seventh, Madron and Harris drew two-out walks, setting up Pettis’ two-run hit into center field.

Gonzaga scored in the second inning on an RBI single by Connor Coballes. In the eighth, Coballes singled home Mason Marenco, who reached base on a strikeout.

Carsten entered in a 3-2 game with a runner on first and ended the eighth inning with a strikeout. The Sooners picked up some insurance in the top of the ninth on an RBI double by John Spikerman and an RBI groundout by Nicklaus.

Douthit got out of the second inning with a pair of strikeouts and stranded a pair of runners on second and third in the fifth with a groundout to first base. Campbell stranded two in scoring position in the sixth with a strikeout and a pop out. The Bulldogs left 13 runners on base and OU left 12. The Sooners, however, came up with more big hits, scoring four of their five runs with two outs.

Anthony Mackenzie notched two hits, Madron singled and scored a run and Harris walked twice and scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Oklahoma and Gonzaga were continue the series late Saturday.