Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners beat Dallas Baptist, 4-2, in midweek matchup

The Oklahoma Sooners starting things off on the right foot this past weekend with a sweep of Cal Poly, and they were able to keep the momentum going with a solid midweek win over Dallas Baptist.

Freshman Ben Abram got the start on the mound for the Sooners, going 5.0 innings and allowing four hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out five batters. The big Canadian (6’7”, 264) earned the win, but not without the help another great performance by the Oklahoma bullpen. Ledgend Smith relieved with one one and nobody out in the fifth, and he immediately forced a double play and went on to retire ever batter he faced in 2.2 innings of work. Aaron Brooks and Zach Matthews brought it home for the Sooners, with Matthews earning his first save of the season.

At the plate, Blake Brewster led the way for OU, going 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Freshman Milan Walla also made an impact, going 1-3 with two RBI and bumping his average up to .308 (second on the team).

Oklahoma got things going in the bottom of the second with a pair of walks from Conor McKenna and Justin Mitchell. After a pair of deep fly balls left OU with runners at the corners, Brewster and Walla came through with a pair of singles to get the Sooners on the board and make it 2-0.

DBU unexpectedly got on the board in the top of the fourth when Jackson Glenn scored from first on a dropped fly ball in center with two outs. A throwing error by Ware on the next at-bat could’ve cost the Sooners another, but they were able to hold Glenn at third before an Abram strikeout ended the frame.

OU got one back in the bottom of the inning, but the Sooners could’ve done much more damage. With Mitchell on first with one out, Tyler Hardman hit one into the gap for a standup double, putting two runners in scoring position. After a Brewster walk, Walla drew another with the bases loaded to give OU a 3-1 lead. However, OU was unable to get anything else with the bases juiced.

In the top of the fifth, DBU’s Luke Bandy homered to right center to get the Patriots back within a run with one out. Fortunately for OU, Abram buckled down and got out of the inning without further damage. In the bottom half, OU loaded the bases once again but came up empty.

Ware led off the bottom of the seventh with a liner to the left field corner for a stand-up double. A Mitchell single brought him to third two at-bats later, and a Cavalli foul-out then allowed him to tag up and give OU a 4-2 advantage. From there, the pen took the Sooners home.

Oklahoma will now head out to San Diego for the Tony Gwynn Classic, where they will face San Diego (Fri., 8 p.m. CT), San Diego State (Sat., 8 p.m. CT) and Cal State Fullerton (12 p.m. CT).