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3 takeaways from OU baseball's series sweep over Houston

Braxton Douthit

Graduate student pitcher Braxton Douthit during the game against California Baptist University

 Ray Bahner/OU Daily

Oklahoma (11-5) swept Houston (5-10) with contests on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Sooners defeated the Cougars 13-1 on Friday and 8-3 on Saturday before pulling out a 7-6 win on Sunday.

The Sooners have won nine of their last 10 games and have garnered five consecutive wins.

Here are the three takeaways from the series:

Starting rotation delivers

All three starters turned in a solid outing against Houston.

Junior Kale Davis had his best start of the season on Friday, going a season-high six innings and allowing only one run on five hits with a season-best five strikeouts. The Oklahoma State transfer improved his earned-runs average to3.54 on the season.

On Saturday, redshirt senior Braxton Douthit also turned in his best performance this season. The Lamar transfer earned his second win of the season by pitching seven innings and allowing only one run on two hits with four strikeouts.

Then on Sunday, sophomore Jamie Hitt had a decent outing, pitching four innings and allowing three runs on two hits.

Oklahoma’s bats get hot

After a slow start to the season, OU’s bats have turned hot.

During the series opener on Friday, freshmen Easton Carmichael and Rocco Garza-Gongora led the way,

Carmichael went 4 for 5 with three RBIs and a triple, whereas first baseman Garza-Gongora went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a home run.

On Saturday, Carmichael struck again, going 2 for 4 with four RBIs and a three-run home run. The catcher now leads the team with a .436 batting average.

On Sunday, OU was led by shortstop Dakota Harris and third baseman Anthony Mackenzie. Harris went 1 for 3 with a two-run home run to open the scoring in the second inning. Mackenzie finished 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Clark and Carsten miss series

Third baseman Wallace Clark and pitcher Will Carsten notably missed the weekend with undisclosed injuries.

Clark, a sophomore, was removed midgame against UNLV on March 7, and Carsten, a junior, hasn’t appeared since Feb. 25 against Rider.

Due to the injury, regular first baseman Mackenzie has worked in at third base and allowed freshman Garza-Gongora to earn playing time at first.

Carsten, a junior transfer from McLennan College, was OU’s No. 2 starter before missing time. The 6-foot-7 right-handed arm has a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings this season.

Clark, who made 42 starts last season, is batting .217 with five RBIs in 2023.

Next, the Sooners take on Wichita State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Wichita, Kansas.

This story was edited by Austin Curtright.

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