One down, two to go.
The Oklahoma baseball team did what it needed in order to stay on the good side of things in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, beating Nebraska, 7-4, in the first round. OU’s victory advances the Sooners in the winner’s bracket where they will play host, and No. 4 national seed North Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Malachi Witherspoon, Oklahoma’s normal No. 3 starter, was the star Friday. The Sooners’ right-hander kept Nebraska scoreless through his six innings of work. Witherspoon gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters over his 102 pitches.
His offense picked him up plenty, staking him to a 2-0 lead after two innings and a 4-0 advantage through six.
Drew Dickerson popped a two-run home run in the second to give OU the early lead and he was followed in the third inning by Easton Carmichael, who hit a solo shot to make it 3-0. Trey Gambill’s RBI single in the fifth inning provided more breathing room.
OU still needed more, though, as Nebraska scored four runs in the eighth inning off Jason Bodin. The Sooners, however, had already added to their advantage, scoring three runs in the seventh. Scott Mudler plated a run with a groundout and Kyle Branch tacked on two more with a two-out single through the right side.
Oklahoma hasn’t lost its opening game at the NCAA Tournament since 2012, a stretch of six straight appearances with a victory.
North Carolina booked its spot in the second round earlier Friday with a 4-0 win over Holy Cross. The Crusaders and Cornhuskers will play an elimination game at noon Saturday. The winner will play the loser of Oklahoma/North Carolina on Sunday at noon.
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