Sunday, February 17
Norman
12:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

5
vs
2

Cal Poly

Sooners Sweep Cal Poly on Opening Weekend

Sooners Sweep Cal Poly on Opening Weekend

February 17, 2019 | Baseball

Cal Poly
Cal Poly
2
5
Oklahoma
Oklahoma

NORMAN – Sophomore Levi Prater struck out five batters in 6.1 innings and junior Jason Ruffcorn earned his second save of the weekend, as the Oklahoma baseball team completed the weekend sweep of Cal Poly with a 5-2 victory Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. 

Sophomore first baseman Tyler Hardman and junior second baseman Conor McKenna both went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs to lead the Sooners' eight-hit effort. OU (3-0) scored one run in the second and fifth innings and added three more in the eighth. Prater (1-0) allowed just one run on three hits with one walk in the win. Ruffcorn pitched the final 1.1 frames and struck out two batters to pick up the save. Cal Poly (0-3) starter Darren Nelson (0-1) allowed two runs in 5.2 innings in the loss. 

With the weekend sweep, the Sooners start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2013. 

“Prater was fantastic,” Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson said. “The spirit of the dugout was good, and the execution was good. The pitchers came out and they were themselves. When they get in this environment you worry about that a little bit. We practice game like. We do a lot of stuff game like. I think that was a separator for us. They came out and they were themselves. That was good sign and a good step forward for us.” 

Oklahoma took the lead in the second inning on a pair of doubles by McKenna and Hardman. McKenna found open land in deep right center field and Hardman drove him home with a double laced down the right field line. OU manufactured its second run in the fifth when senior right fielder Blake Brewster reached on a dropped pop up and eventually scored on a groundout by Vujovich. 

The Sooners added three insurance runs in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-1. McKenna doubled down the right field line to plate two runs, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. The double scored junior catcher Brady Lindsly, who went 2-for-4 in the game, and junior shortstop Brandon Zaragoza, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Sophomore designated hitter Cade Cavalli then tripled into deep right center and scored on Hardman's base hit to right field. 

Cal Poly cut the OU lead to 2-1 in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Nick DiCarlo to score center fielder Bradlee Beesley. In the ninth, Beesley scored on a base hit by designated hitter Blake Wagenseller. 

Oklahoma pitching allowed just six runs in the series, tallying 20 strikeouts to just nine walks. The starters allowed just four earned runs in 17.2 innings, and the bullpen was even batter, totaling nine strikeouts and allowing just one run in 9.1 innings of work. 

The Sooners travel to face Dallas Baptist at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Dallas. OU then goes to San Diego, Calif., for the Tony Gwynn Classic next weekend, Feb. 22-24, where it will face San Diego, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton.