Oklahoma Sooners Baseball vs Sam Houston Bearkats

Junior pitcher Kyson Witherspoon during the game against Sam Houston on March 7.

 Jamee Kalisik/OU Daily

In No. 19 Oklahoma’s (25-9, 7-7 SEC) 14-0 run-rule win over No. 17 Vanderbilt (25-10, 7-7) on a warm and sunny Saturday, it was not a player or coach who would steal the show.

On the same day as the inaugural Crimson Combine, it was the baseball program who would excel in attendance, setting a single-game attendance record (5,051) and a single-game student record (877) in the win against the Commodores at L. Dale Mitchell Park. In the Sooners’ inaugural season in the SEC, one of the big highlights has been the fan support.

“That’s exciting for our players because they’re going to play better,” head coach Skip Johnson said. “When we go to other places, it’s packed like that too. I think us getting used to that is only going to make us better.”

So far this season, Oklahoma has welcomed the No. 3 and No. 17 teams in the country to Norman, and with series later in the year against the No. 2 and No. 6 teams, the crowds should no doubt stay the same.

For the second straight game, the crowd was able to get on its feet early, as junior catcher Easton Carmichael set the tone in the first inning with a three-run home run. The Sooners have scored seven runs in the first inning the last two games, after not scoring in the first the previous four games.

Carmichael led the way for the Sooners on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs. His 35 runs batted in leads the team.

After another run in the third inning, the Sooners would make their mark in the fourth, posting seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. The exclamation point was junior infielder Dawson Willis’ three-run homer to make it 11-0 OU at the end of the inning.

The bottom third of the order collected six RBIs, four hits and two walks on Saturday, and allowed for the top and middle of the lineup to see hittable pitches they could drive into the gap.

“It makes everybody calm down a little bit,” Johnson said about the early runs. “It makes everybody relax and makes a pitcher’s fastball and breaking ball command better in all the things they do.”

The sudden outburst offensively allowed junior right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon to calm down and deliver an effective outing.

After missing his scheduled start Friday due to “back spasms”, Witherspoon was able to toss a complete game shutout against the Commodores. He only gave up two hits, no walks and six strikeouts. Witherspoon now has 74 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched this season.

“Mainly fastball and cutter,” Witherspoon said about what was working for him. “Just trying to get ahead of those (pitches) gave me success.”

Oklahoma has taken the first two games against Vanderbilt, and will go for the sweep tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park on SEC Network+.

This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.

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