Sports briefs

Thunder Pop-Up event due in Lawton

The Oklahoma City Thunder is bringing the excitement directly to its Lawton fans with a special Thunder Pop-Up event at Lee West Park on Friday, April 18, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

This free, family-friendly event will feature a variety of interactive and engaging experiences for fans of all ages. Attendees can enjoy the ThunderBolt mobile experience, an attached basketball hoop, as well as an inflatable tic-tac-toe pop-a-shot game. Young athletes will have the opportunity to learn and participate in on-court drills led by Thunder Youth Basketball Coaches.

In addition to the basketball action, fans can enjoy music from a live DJ, explore the Thunder Retail Trailer for official merchandise, and take photos with the bold and colorful OKC Letters installation. The Ford promo pickup will also be on site as part of the festivities.

No tickets or registration are required, just bring your Thunder spirit and get ready for an evening of hoops, fun, and community connection.

Lawton Police set youth sports benefit

The Lawton Police Officers Association will conduct its 2nd Annual Youth Sports benefit golf scramble on June 16 at the Lawton Country Club.

The field will be limited to the first 22 4-person teams with a shotgun start at noon. Entry fee is $400 per team plus golfers can pay $25 extra that gives them the use of a 3-foot string for one use on the greens, three mulligans and one throw.

There will also be a raffle with a host of items that will be given away. Those tickets are $5 each or six for $20.

Businesses or individuals who want to assist with the effort can take advantage of several sponsorship levels. The Gold sponsorship, which is $2,000, will get a team entry, banner at the No. 1 tee box and mentions during the raffle and awards presentations.

Silver sponsors are $1,500 which gets a team entry, banner on No. 1 tee box, commemorative plaque and mentions during the award ceremony. Bronze sponsors pay $1,000 which gives them a team entry, banner at the first tee box and introduction at the awards presentation.

There are also $200 hole-in-one sponsorships and $100 hole sponsorships.

The enter a team or get more information call Clay Houseman at (580) 704-5331 or Brian Valdez at (580) 704-6287. Or team captains can send an email to the following: [email protected].

Four CU women

on Academic team

Cameron University women’s basketball placed four student-athletes on the 2024-25 Academic All-District NCAA Division II team.

Grace Alverson, Kloe Heidebrecht, Kennedy Cummings and Alannah Gillespie have been recognized for their success and work ethic in the classroom.

“We are extremely proud of all our women’s basketball student-athletes who wear the Black and Gold and not only represent our university in intercollegiate athletics, but also achieve high academic success in the classroom,” Head Coach Jeff Mahoney said. “We have continually placed an emphasis on balancing athletics and academics and will continue to do so. Congrats to Grace, Lani, Kennedy and Kloe on their most recent achievements.”

No. 7 LSU drops No. 10 OU in baseball

NORMAN—No. 10 Oklahoma dropped the series finale to No. 7 LSU Saturday by a final of 3-2.

The Tigers (30-3, 10-2 SEC) completed the sweep with the close win, as the Sooners (23-8, 5-7) had the game-tying run on second in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback.

It was the first time OU has been swept in a conference series since Kansas State in 2023 and the first at L. Dale Mitchell since TCU in 2021.

Following a scoreless first inning, LSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on a two-out Sooner error. The Sooners responded with one run in the home half of the second as Jaxon Willits raced home on a passed ball after getting aboard via a leadoff walk.

The Tigers pushed the lead to 3-1 in the fourth on an RBI double from leadoff hitter Derek Curiel.

OU starter Malachi Witherspoon and relievers Gavyn Jones and Dylan Crooks combined to hurl five straight scoreless innings to close the contest, putting the Sooners in position in the bottom of the ninth.

Leadoff pinch hitter Brayden Horton reached on an LSU error in the ninth before a two-out RBI single from Dasan Harris pulled the Sooners within one. With the tying run on second, the Tigers escaped with the win as relief pitcher Zac Cowan collected the third out via strikeout.

At the plate, five different Sooners recorded OU’s five hits in the game with Harris plating OU’s solo RBI.

No. 10 Oklahoma dropped Friday night’s contest to No. 7 LSU, 10-2, leaving the Sooners (23-7, 5-6 SEC) with their loss of consecutive games for the first time this season as LSU (29-3, 9-2 SEC) took the series with the win.

LSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second on a pair of RBI doubles and a single. The Sooners responded in the third inning with a pair of runs on an RBI single from junior Trey Gambill and double from sophomore Jaxon Willits. In Gambill’s first game back from injury the junior finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, run scored and two walks drawn.

The Tigers scored the final six runs of the game, putting up single runs in the sixth and seventh before a four-spot in the ninth.

In the sixth, a solo home run from Josh Pearson pushed the Tiger lead to three runs before an error in the seventh allowed another run to cross and make it 6-2 after seven.

OU starting left-handed pitcher Cade Crossland (L, 1-2) took his second loss of the season, going five innings and surrendering five runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

At the plate, five Sooners recorded OU’s five hits in the contest with Gambill and Willits bringing in the two OU runs. It was Willits’ six game of the last seven with a run batted in.

OSU baseball wins series opener

STILLWATER—Harrison Bodendorf shined as Oklahoma State knocked off No. 22 Kansas State, 4-3, in Friday’s series opener at O’Brate Stadium.

With the win, which marked OSU’s third over a ranked opponent this season, the Cowboys improved to 13-14 overall and 2-6 in Big 12 play. K-State is now 20-9 and 8-2 in the league.

The victory also marked a program milestone as it was the Cowboys’ 100th win at O’Brate Stadium, which opened in 2021.

Bodendorf had a career night on the mound as the southpaw picked up the win after pitching seven innings and striking out a career-high 12 while allowing just one unearned run on two hits.

The 12 strikeouts and seven innings were the most by a Cowboy pitcher this season as Bodendorf improved to 6-1; his ERA dropped to 3.67 ERA while he is now averaging 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

Hunter Watkins recorded the final out to pick up his first save as he got K-State’s top hitter, Maximus Martin, to pop out with the bases loaded to end the game.

Brayden Smith had another great day at the dish, reaching base four times and going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.

After Bodendorf got six consecutive outs via strikeout between the second and third innings, the Cowboys took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a Smith double that scored Drew Culbertson. The RBI double extended Smith’s hitting streak to 14 games.

Bodendorf allowed an unearned run in the fourth inning but bounced back nicely in the fifth, striking out three in the frame for the third time in the game.