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NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

OU Baseball: Oklahoma Bats Heat up in DH Wins Against UCF

Originally posted on FanNation All Sooners
By Bryce McKinnis | Last updated 3/9/24

UCF visited L. Dale Mitchell Park with one loss Saturday and left with three.

Oklahoma defeated the Knights 4-3 and 11-3 in a Saturday double-header. They play again at noon Sunday.

OU improved to 8-5 while UCF fell to 9-3.

Sophomore righty Malachi Witherspoon (1-1) recorded his first win of the year in the first game and brother Kyson Witherspoon recorded the save. Grant Stevens secured the second win.

“I think the more we play, the better we’re going to play. I think there’s 100 percent truth to that,” Sooners seventh-year head coach Skip Johnson said. “It’s a long day when you’re playing a doubleheader, two nine-inning games, they’re not used to it. . . . They’re not used to being at the field that long, much less being on the field, so I thought that was really big, them showing the effort.”

Stevens was excellent in the second win despite pitching only two innings and some change. He came in to replace Carson Atwood in the fifth inning and, sporting a 6-2 lead, was immediately faced with loaded bases and UCF’s pinch hitter. Stevens won the duel.

“Grant coming in after them throwing some velocity was really big. Grant coming in and keeping [UCF] at bay and letting us score some runs, putting up some goose eggs was really huge,” Johnson said.

The Sooners took a first inning lead of the first game as Anthony Mackenzie batted Jackson Nicklaus home. The Knights tied the game on designated hitter Matt Cedarburg’s home run on the first at-bat of the third inning; starter Braden Davis locked in to deal a strikeout against his next batter and the Sooners grounded out the next two runners to escape the inning.

UCF scored again in the sixth, but the Sooners tied it right back as Easton Carmichael crossed home plate following a Nicklaus single. Malachi Witherspoon took the bump facing loaded bases the following inning and gave up a run, but got OU out of the inning down a score.

Mackenzie scored on a Jaxon Willits sacrifice fly to left field to tie it. In the eighth, Jason Walk pinch ran for Carmichael. He stole second, took third on Michael Snyder’s ground out and scored on an overthrown double play attempt to score the deciding run.

“I thought Braden Davis was really good in the first game. We got some big hits and some runs early. They kept them off the board in the first game, and then they [UCF] tied it up, and then we came in and got the big hit,” Johnson said. “I thought Malachi was good. I thought Kyson was good coming in after [Davis], coming in bases loaded with no outs and doing the job he did was incredible.

“And then J-Walk putting some pressure on them coming off the bench and running and forcing those guys to make a mistake was really big,” Johnson said.

Johnson was proud of how his players “picked each other up” in the second game after a shaky start.

“We strike out with bases loaded in the first with one out and Snyder hits a triple into the left-center gap, and it was like that the whole way. I think we had three two-out hits in that game,” Johnson said. “Everybody picked each other up out of the bullpen.”

Mackenzie hit a deep double to right field that bounced over the back wall. Snyder sent Bryce Madron, Mackenzie and Nicklaus home with a deep triple to center field (his second triple of the season) and the Sooners piled on from there. Madron hit a similar shot that found its way over the back wall to send Kendall Pettis home and establish a 4-0 lead for the Sooners in the second inning. It turned out to be all they needed.

“It was just a good day to pick each other up. I think that’s been the strength of our team all year, and it was really big at that point,” Johnson said.