Oklahoma Sooners Baseball Cruises To 6-1 Win Over Notre Dame In Season Opener

It started slow for Oklahoma but once the Sooners got their offense rolling, they were way too much for a Notre Dame team that was struggling to produce. Jacob Elliott was masterful in his start by throwing seven full innings and allowing no runs off two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Jacob Evans closed the game out by fanning four batters over the final two innings but was also on the hook for Notre Dame's run. That run came in the top of the eighth when Cavan Biggio doubled down the left field line to score Kyle Fiala. The Irish finished the night with just three total hits and were sat down by Oklahoma pitchers eight times by strike out.

Oklahoma's first runs of the 2015 baseball season came on a third inning barrage where they pounded Notre Dame with three runs. Junior Alex Wise got things started for the Sooners in the inning with a triple off the left-center wall. Craig Aikin brought him home on the next at bat with a single through the left side. After stealing second, Aikin was brought home by Sheldon Neuse, on a single to the shortstop, to score the second run of the inning. Neuse then became the third run to score when he came home on an Austin O'Brien sacrifice.

In all, the Sooners posted six runs off twelve hits against the Irish. They scattered single runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings to get to their final of six runs. Newcomer Alex Wise was strong in his debut. The JUCO transfer from NEO went 3-for-5 from the plate and scored twice. "These guys (talking about the newcomers) are going to make big, big contributions early," junior Craig Aikin said. After spending the first two years of his Oklahoma career as the leadoff man, Aikin moved to the two-hole and produced two RBI while going 2-of-three. He also scored twice for the the Sooners. "We're attacking," he said, "We're not holding back. We're going to go out swinging, we're gonna steal bases and we're gonna hit. You're going to have to make a play to throw us out."