Oklahoma Baseball: Dane Acker no-hits LSU en route to 1-0 OU victory

Oklahoma Sooners pitcher Dane Acker entered Sunday’s game against LSU (7-5) with a 4.50 ERA and a 0-1 record through two appearances on the season. He ended the game as OU’s first pitcher to throw a no-hitter since 1989, leading the team to a 1-0 win over the No. 14 LSU Tigers in the Shriners Classic.

The Sooners improved to 9-3 on the season and finished the weekend in Houston with two wins in three games. Oklahoma opened the weekend with a 6-3 win over No. 9 Arkansas before falling 8-7 (10 innings) to Missouri on Saturday.

Acker (1-1) dueled against LSU right-hander AJ Labas (1-2), who was working on a non-hitter of his own through seven innings. However, catcher Justin Mitchell broke the tension on the first pitch of the top of the eight, sending one into the Crawford Boxes for his first career home run.

Entering the ninth inning at 101 pitches, Acker was understandably shaky and wearing down a bit in the final frame. However, the junior was able to keep composed and ended things by forcing a grounder to short on a 3-1 count. He ended the day with 11 strikeouts and only one walk.

At the plate, the Sooners only managed two hits of their own, with Brendan Zaragoza getting OU’s second with a lead-off double in the ninth. In total, the teams combined to have five runners on base throughout the contest.

Oklahoma returns to L. Dale Mitchell Park to face Dallas Baptist this coming Tuesday before hosting Arkansas Pine Bluff (Wednesday) and San Diego State (Friday-Sunday).

You can catch the postgame interviews with Acker, Mitchell and OU head coach Skip Johnson at the 3:55 mark of the video below: