OU takes down CSUN in 10-2 win; Vols beat OSU

NORMAN – No. 16 Oklahoma took the series over CSUN with a 10-2 win Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

After a 9-0 win over the Matadors (2-6) in the first game on Friday night, the Sooners (10-0) picked up where they left off on Saturday to take the series and remain unbeaten on the year. The 10-0 start is the best since also beginning the 2013 season 10-0.

Oklahoma scored in all but two innings on Saturday, putting up crooked numbers in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Starting right-handed pitcher Malachi Witherspoon earned his second win of the season, striking out four in five innings with just one walk and no earned runs allowed.

The scoring began in the first inning on an RBI single from sophomore Jaxon Willits after a leadoff single from fellow sophomore Jason Walk. The Sooner centerfielder, Walk, has a hit in all 10 of OU’s games to start the season.

After Witherspoon stranded the bases loaded in the top half, Oklahoma pushed another run across in the bottom of the second. Following a triple from junior Dayton Tockey, junior Dawson Willis brought him home on a bunt single. The third inning saw Tockey plate junior Trey Gambill for OU’s third run of the contest.

CSUN plated its first run of the series at the top of the fourth on a single before OU scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning. Following singles from Willits and Gambill, Carmichael plated them with a single to left to bring the score to 5-1, Sooners.

Into the fifth, Tockey kept his perfect day at the plate intact with an RBI single before an RBI groundout from senior Scott Mudler allowed Tockey to race home.

A trio of Sooners crossed home in the seventh on a pair of run-scoring doubles from Willis and Walk. The Matadors pushed one more across in the eighth for the final run of the game to bring the final to 10-2, Oklahoma.

Witherspoon went five innings, striking out four while giving up six hits, one unearned run and one walk. James Hitt (1.0 IP), Michael Catalano (1.0), Jaden Barfield (1.0) and Jackson Kircher (1.0) combined to close the game with Barfield fanning a pair and Kircher striking out the side in his collegiate debut in the ninth.

At the plate, Tockey paced OU with a 4-for-4 showing with a pair of RBIs, while three other Sooners had multi-hit days. Walk, Carmichael and Willis also brought in two runs each.

The Sooners go for the three-game sweep on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. CT. The game can be seen via SECN+ and heard in Oklahoma on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF or nationwide on The Varsity Network app.

Vols hand OSU 5-2 setback

HOUSTON – Oklahoma State dropped a 5-2 contest to Tennessee Friday at Daikin Park in the Cowboys’ opening game at the Astros Foundation College Classic.

With the loss, the 16th-ranked Cowboys dropped to 4-4, while the Volunteers, who are ranked as high as No. 1 nationally, improved to 9-0.

Colin Brueggemann led the Cowboys offensively, going 3-for-4 and finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Donovan LaSalle added an RBI double for the Pokes.

Gabe Davis took the loss on the mound as the right-hander worked three innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six.

Stormy Rhodes closed out the final five innings for the Cowboys and struck out a career-high five while giving up two runs.

Tennessee entered the game leading the nation with 21 home runs and used four solo homers to secure the win over the Cowboys.

UT took an early lead when Gavin Kilen delivered a solo home run into the seats in right field in the first inning. The blast was Kilen’s fourth homer of the year.

The Volunteers doubled their lead in the third on another solo shot off the bat of Kilen, this one going to left field and making the score 2-0.

In the fourth, two more round trippers pushed the lead to 4-0. Manny Marin led off the bottom of the inning with a homer that knocked Davis from the game, and two batters later, it was Dean Curley going deep.

Down 5-0 after six, the Cowboys got on the board in the seventh on an opposite-field home run by Brueggemann, his third of the season. LaSalle’s ground-rule double in the eighth made the score 5-2.

OSU was taking on another ranked No. 1 nationally in Texas A&M.