Sooners Even Series With 6-3 Win At West Virginia

Right fielder Bryce Madron and shortstop Dakota Harris each hit two-run home runs and Braden Carmichael struck out six over 6.2 innings to lead the Oklahoma baseball team to a 6-3 win at No. 12 West Virginia Saturday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.

The Sooners (26-21, 10-10 Big 12) and Mountaineers (35-12, 12-5 Big 12) will play a rubber game at 10 a.m. CT Sunday. The series finale was moved up from the original noon CT start to avoid inclement weather.

Madron put Oklahoma on the board in the first inning with his 11th homer of the season. Harris made it 4-1 in the sixth with his seventh homer of the year. OU added two runs in the top of the eighth to bring the lead back to three after WVU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth.

Carmichael (5-0) notched a victory in his fifth straight start. He scattered seven hits and retired 13 straight at one point. Will Carsten got the final seven outs to earn his third save of the season. WVU starter Blaine Traxel (6-4) pitched 7.0 innings and took the loss.

"It was an exciting game. We took the early lead," Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. "Braden started out a little shaky, but he settled in and started making quality pitches. He got of some big two-out jams and Will got out of some big two-out jams. It was great to see that. The offense played really well, especially late there when they made it close. We hit another two-run homer and added on in the eighth. That was huge."

Oklahoma led 2-0 after three pitches in the first inning. Junior third baseman Anthony Mackenzie singled on the second pitch of the game and Madron homered over the West Virginia bullpen in right field on the first pitch he saw. WVU made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by left fielder Landon Wallace.

Carmichael and Traxel dueled for four straight scoreless frames until the Harris home run in the sixth, which followed a one-out double by Madron. The Mountaineers countered with two runs in the bottom half of the frame on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Braden Barry and an RBI single by catcher Dayne Leonard.

Carmichael retired 13 straight from the first-inning RBI single until a two-out base hit in the fifth. With two runners in scoring position and two outs in that fifth inning, he induced a foul pop out to end the frame. The Sooners got a single in the second inning by second baseman Jackson Nicklaus and a bunt single in the third by Mackenzie, but nine straight batters were retired before Madron's one-out double in the sixth.

Oklahoma plated a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth on RBI singles by left fielder Kendall Pettis and designated hitter Sebastian Orduno to extend its lead to 6-3.

Carsten came on following a two-out double in the seventh inning and got a fly out to left to maintain the one-run lead. He retired six of the final eight batters, rolling a groundout to Harris at second base to end the game.