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OU Baseball: Oklahoma Wins Again, Takes Series at Texas Tech

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OU Baseball: Oklahoma Wins Again, Takes Series at Texas Tech


By OU Media Relations

LUBBOCK, TX — No. 22 Oklahoma took the series over Texas Tech with a 7-5 win Saturday afternoon in Lubbock. 

With the win, Oklahoma (28-17, 17-6) clinched its fifth conference series of the season and second straight series victory in Lubbock over Tech (30-19, 12-14).  

OU collected its 17th win in Big 12 play Saturday, matching the most wins in conference play since 2009. 

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A complete team win powered OU to the series W, with the offense putting up seven runs on 11 hits, including two home runs. The pitching staff of starter Kyson Witherspoon and relievers Carter Campbell, Dylan Crooks and Malachi Witherspoon allowed a powerful Tech offense just five runs on seven hits, with all five runs coming in the final four innings.

OU jumped out to another early lead, scoring a pair at the top of the first. After a double from senior Bryce Madron, sophomore Easton Carmichael brought him in on an RBI single down the left line. Two batters later, senior Anthony Mackenzie singled in Carmichael for a two-run lead before the Red Raiders stepped to the plate. 

Witherspoon settled in and worked five scoreless innings to start, a day after junior Braden Davis and senior Will Carsten combined to shut out the Red Raiders for OU’s fourth shutout of the season. 

The Sooners provided plenty of insurance at the top of the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits. A leadoff home run from Madron, his team-leading 10th of the season, started the offensive explosion. After a Carmichael single, stolen base and HBP drawn by senior Michael Snyder, Mackenzie ripped his sixth home run of the season out to right on a three-run shot. 

Tech scored its first run of the series in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run after the Sooner arms had held the Red Raiders scoreless for 14 innings. 

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Witherspoon exited in the seventh with a final line of: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB and 7 K. It was the righty’s fifth appearance on the year with seven-plus strikeouts. 

Campbell and Crooks combined to finish the seventh, allowing the Red Raiders to push a pair across on a two-run single. Crooks induced a groundout to get out of the jam, stranding a pair. 

The Sooners got one back at the top of the eighth again off the bat of Madron. After a HBP drawn by fellow senior Kendall Pettis and walk to junior John Spikerman, Madron dropped an RBI single into right field to score Pettis. A play at the plate ended the OU threat with runners on the corners, as Spikerman was ruled out at the plate after review on a double-steal attempt. 

Tech pulled within two in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run home run, but sophomore closer Malachi Witherspoon shook back with a strikeout looking to secure the OU win and series victory. 

Madron led OU at the plate with his seventh game of the season with three hits, going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two stolen bases. Mackenzie brought in four runs in a 2-for-5, one home run showing. Seven Sooners recorded a base hit in the game. 

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OU, already having secured a spot in the Big 12 Championship in Arlington, is now in first place by two games in the conference standings heading into Sunday. 

The teams meet for the series finale at 2 p.m. Sunday.



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Oklahoma City police investigating early morning shooting

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Oklahoma City police investigating early morning shooting


Oklahoma City police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man injured in northeast Oklahoma City.

Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, emergency crews were called to a reported shooting near Kelley and Wilshire Blvd.

Investigators say the shooting occurred between a couple inside the home, adding that the woman shot the man.

However, police say they are trying to determine if the shooting was accidental.

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The victim was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

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The woman has been taken into custody for questioning, but it is unknown if she will face charges just yet.



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North Carolina, Oklahoma advance to the Men’s College World Series finals

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North Carolina, Oklahoma advance to the Men’s College World Series finals


Oklahoma is just three outs away from steamrolling through the right side of the bracket and knocking out Georgia to reach the championship finals.

To prepare, let’s take a look at what arms we should expect for the Sooners just like we did for the North Carolina earlier.

The Sooners have leaned heavily on their freshmen pitching trio in Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski throughout Omaha. The first two went at least seven innings, while Wesloski tossed 5.2 innings on Wednesday. Even though they used relievers LJ Mercurius and Jackson Cleveland in the first two games, neither pitched more than two innings nor allowed a run. 

If LJ, who entered for Wesloski on Wednesday, finishes the game, he will have gone 3.1 innings.

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That sets up Oklahoma very well to matchup with UNC, which went 3-0 and also hasn’t used many arms up to this point. 

If OU does win, expect Rager, Xander Mercurius and Cleveland to be ready to go. Rager, who hasn’t pitched since their first round game against Alabama on Saturday, June 13, would have a full week of rest.



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Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff

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Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff


U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern easily won Oklahoma’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, and the race for a new governor in the deeply conservative state began with Republicans Gentner Drummond and Mark Mazzei advancing to a runoff.

In a primary that again tested President Donald Trump’s status as Republican Party kingmaker, both Hern and Mazzei carried his endorsement in their bids to win open races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices. With nearly all the votes counted, Drummond, the state’s attorney general, was narrowly ahead of Mazzei, a former state senator.

The primary had Republicans picking their preferred successor to outgoing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and a nominee for the Senate seat once held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in Oklahoma since 1990.

Hern’s most serious potential GOP rivals stayed out of the Senate race after Trump endorsed him even before Mullin was confirmed as a replacement for fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Hern received more than 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff.

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He struck a somewhat bipartisan tone in speaking with reporters after winning big, touting his experience as a House member working on issues such as trade and energy. He promised to represent conservative principles and “Oklahoma ideologies” in the Senate and noted he already has relationships with senators.

“We have a lot of friends in a lot of different states, including blue states,” Hern said.

READ MORE: Live Results: Oklahoma midterm primaries

Trump endorsed Mazzei last month in a hotly contested race that also had other major candidates, including former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall and Chip Keating, a former state public safety director who is the son of a two-term governor.

Drummond told reporters at his watch party that he had expected a runoff after Trump endorsed Mazzei and suggested that Trump could reconsider his endorsement of Mazzei, saying, “who knows?”

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“Mr. Mazzei got a bump, but now he’s got to earn the rest,” Drummond said.

Trump repeated his endorsement of Mazzei on his Truth Social platform on Monday. Mazzei told supporters Tuesday night, “All I can say is, ‘Wow.’

“Eighteen months ago when we started this adventure, no one thought this was possible,” he said. “The political insiders said we had no chance. We started at zero, but who in here actually had faith we could get the job done and get in the runoff? You did.”

Mazzei also boosted his campaign with personal funds — nearly $10.9 million, or almost 95% of the $11.5 million he raised, according to campaign finance reports. Drummond put $2.5 million from his own pocket in raising about $7.2 million. Together, Drummond, Mazzei, Keating and McCall contributed $22.5 million of their own funds to their campaigns, or 72% of their combined fundraising of more than $31 million.

READ MORE: Oklahoma begins choosing a new U.S. senator and governor in crowded primary

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The winner of the GOP runoff will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday by a wide margin.

In a solidly Republican state, the races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices set off a political scramble. To replace Mullin in the Senate through this year, Stitt appointed Republican Alan Armstrong, an energy executive, but state law prohibited him from seeking a full term.

In November, Hern will face the winner of a Democratic runoff between N’Kiyla Thomas, a nurse and community activist, and Jim Priest, an attorney and minister.

The governor’s race is open because Stitt is finishing his second four-year term and cannot serve a third under the state constitution. Trump has seemed eager for him to go.

As head of the National Governors Association, Stitt drew Trump’s ire earlier this year over a dispute over invitations to White House events at the group’s annual meeting. The fallout led to Trump attacking Stitt on social media as a “RINO,” meaning Republican in Name Only.

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