After an incredible performance versus Oral Roberts on Tuesday, OU was not able to carry any of that momentum into the weekend. After losing the first two games of the series, the Sooners were hungry to avoid the sweep on their home field.

Starting the game for OU on the mound was Kyson Witherspoon, who entered this one with a 2-1 record on the season. Witherspoon surrendered an RBI double in the first frame, and Oklahoma was unable to match Lamar's run and trailed 1-0 after the first.

Witherspoon stabilized things in the second, retiring the side in order. The Sooners were able to tie it back up in the second due to an Isaiah Lane RBI that scored Michael Snyder.

A Lamar solo shot in the third that gave them a 2-1 lead was followed up by a 1-2-3 inning for the Oklahoma offense, and the Cardinals led 2-1 after three. Both teams’ bats were shut down in the fourth, with Lamar keeping their 2-1 lead into the fifth.

Lamar's offense would not stay silent, as a Drake Varnado squeeze bunt and a Zak Skinner sacrifice fly helped the Cardinals extend the lead to 5-1 after five.

The Oklahoma offense showed signs of life in the sixth, as Michael Snyder logged an RBI to cut the lead to 5-2.

Pitching continued to keep Oklahoma in it, as Lamar’s bats couldn’t break through in the seventh or the eighth.

Come the eighth, Jackson Nicklaus homered for the third straight game, sending a solo shot into right to cut the lead down to 5-3.

OU was unable to gain momentum after that, as Lamar pushed across a late insurance run to clinch a 6-3 win. The Cardinals thus completed the three-game sweep, and Oklahoma fell to 15-12 on the season.

Notes, takeaways from the Sooners' 7-3 win over Kansas on Saturday:

Softball Travels to Kansas for Top-25 Series​

Unanimous No. 1-ranked Oklahoma Softball looks to continue its unbeaten start to Big 12 play with a three-game conference series at No. 24/RV Kansas beginning Thursday, March 28.

First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT followed by a 5 p.m. start on Friday and a noon Saturday finale. The series will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2.

The Big 12-leading Sooners enter the series two full games ahead of third-place Kansas in the conference standings.

OU leads the all-time series 78-44 with a 26-12 mark in Lawrence and a 67-13 record under head coach Patty Gasso. The Sooners have won 19 straight games against KU including a three-game sweep at home last April.

The series marks the beginning of a challenging seven-game road stretch for Oklahoma, as the top-25 series against the Jayhawks is followed by a visit to No. 2/2 Texas next weekend and a rescheduled April 9 midweek at red-hot Wichita State.

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS​

Kansas enters the weekend 22-8-1 on the season with a 7-2 mark in Big 12 action, two full games behind OU in the conference standings. The Jayhawks have won 19 of their last 22 including Big 12 sweeps of then-No. 13/19 Baylor and Houston. KU entered the top-25 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll this week at No. 24.

Campbell Bagshaw is the Jayhawks' leading hitter, carrying a .317 average into the week with five doubles, two home runs and 24 RBIs. Hailey Cripe has driven in 23 with a KU-best seven doubles and hits .309 while Lyric Moore bats .307 and leads the club with five home runs. The Kansas lineup bats .278 as a team while scoring 4.77 runs per game.

Right-hander Katie Brooks and southpaw Kasey Hamilton combine to form a formidable pair, anchoring the Kansas pitching staff. Brooks is 10-2 with a 1.89 ERA, striking out 53 and walking 46 over 74.0 innings of work. She has yet to allow a home run this season, limiting opponents to a .246 average. Hamilton has fanned 71 and walked 37 across 101.1 innings, going 9-5 with a 2.28 ERA and a .207 batting average against.

All article information via:


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From Skip Johnson's ejection to the Lamar bats keeping their momentum going into Friday, it was a long Friday night for OU.

Braden Davis led the Sooners on the mound to start this one, but the Cardinals' offense jumped on the southpaw early. Lamar took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning via back-to-back homers.

Oklahoma responded quickly with an offensive surge. The top of the Oklahoma lineup was swinging for the fences early, as their half of the first featured not one, not two, but three home runs. It started with Jason Walk's first career homer, followed right away by a Bryce Madron bomb. Jackson Nicklaus kept the impressive inning going with a two-run shot that gave OU a 4-2 lead going into the second.

Lamar started the second nearly perfect as Davis walked two batters and allowed a single to start the inning. After Lamar cut the lead down to 4-3, Davis was able to sit the next three batters down and help Oklahoma hold their lead going into the bottom of the second.

It was all Cardinals from that point on. After two runs in the third and a three-run homer from Zak Sinner in the fourth, Lamar led 8-5 going into the bottom of the fourth. Unluckily for the Sooners, their bats went cold as Lamar's offense kept their foot on the gas; the Cardinals hung five more runs on OU in the fifth.

Lamar led 13-6 in the bottom of the ninth, but Oklahoma did not quit. With hopes of life on offense, Kendall Pettis cranked a two-run shot to cut the lead to 13-8. But that was all the Sooners could muster.

The Oklahoma bats were unable to keep up, as Lamar's explosive offense led them to a 13-8 victory and clinched a series win.

Demarcus Grainger has been added David White’ Westmoore staff.

White is former Bishop Gorman head coach when Demarco Murray and Ryan Reynolds played there. He was added and hired as the Sooners’ Director of Player Personnel before Drew Hill took over and has been with OU since.

Westmoore also has Juaquin Iglesias as their WR coach. Very popular DB trainer Dwight Dobbins is now their DB coach as well.

Coach White is putting together a very good staff at Westmoore, and one that will be of OU fans interest.

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This kid is an AWESOME human being. Full story on him coming this weekend. But for now, be aware that he has already scheduled an unofficial for next Saturday, April 6.

He told me that an OV is likely to follow. Evans is pretty enamored with Todd Bates and Oklahoma; the Sooners are already in a really good spot here.

How often do you guys do youtube videos over recruiting?

With the ACC on the edge of breaking apart, I have been paying attention to the whole realignment question. There is something that I don't understand. All the Conference Commissioners have said any team they added would have to be additive, meaning they would have to increase the value of the League's deal per time. No team is willing to take a revenue cut in order to add a team. I keep hearing talk of UNC being a key figure to be added to the SEC. I know UNC is huge in MBB, but everything I have seen says FB is what drives the revenue and it's not even close. If all of this is true, how do you justify adding UNC FB? they aren't that big of a brand in FB. Am I missing a piece of the puzzle?

In a back-and-forth affair, Lamar won an opening shootout over the Sooners in Norman. After coming off of an explosive win versus Oral Roberts on Tuesday, OU was unable to carry the momentum into game one of the series versus Lamar on Thursday night.

Oklahoma rolled out righty Brendan Girton onto the mound and after a scoreless first inning, Anthony Mackenzie found home plate to put Oklahoma up 1-0 on Lamar after two.

The lead was not held long. The Cardinals' bats were able to get hot in the third, putting up a whopping six runs. Oklahoma answered though with a Bryce Madron solo home run and an Anthony Mackenzie two-run shot to cut the lead to 6-4 after three.

As if anyone would be shocked, the offenses continued to stay in rhythm in the fourth. With an Easton Carmichael RBI, an Anthony Mackenzie two-run single and a Jackson Nicklaus two-run bomb into right field the Sooners were able to retake the lead at 9-7 going into the fifth.

After two more back-and-forth innings, Jamie Hitt took the mound for OU in the seventh with them leading 10-9. Sadly for Sooners fans, the change on the mound did not stop the Cardinals from immediately retaking the lead 12-10.

Lamar would ultimately hold onto the lead versus Oklahoma and take the first game of the series in Norman. OU will look to respond on Friday night in game two at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Did we scrimmage today? If so is anyone allowed in? I’m assuming if so an update on it will come soon

Others on the board had been comparing this year to past teams, and that time 2B was the dead drop off. Offensive production from the infield compared to the previous years noticed a gaping hole at 2B. Yes the All-American 2B from the past few years is now leading the charge from shortstop. Grace Lyons productivity, along with 3B "Brito Bomb" and 2B T R A Jennings and 1B Cyd Sanders, led a most formidable offense.

With the arrival of Alynah Torres bat, the Sooners are now entering Beast Mode again! Long live the Queen and her empire.

Boomer

UPDATE: As practice concluded, Everett walked off the practice field, clearly hobbled, and with an ice wrap on his right knee. Positive sign that he’s walking though.

Troy Everett was working against Da'Jon Terry in one-on-ones and appeared to lose his footing and go down. He was immediately in pain and it wasn't long before the trainers were being rushed to check on him.

While it was on the opposite side of the field and the vantage point wasn't great, it did not look good. The entire OL/DL group went down on a knee just after it happened, and the drills stopped while he was being attended to.

After a few minutes, a couple of teammates assisted Everett off the field, and unfortunately, he appeared unable to put any weight on his right leg. Again, the vantage point wasn't great, but that's what I can report for now. We will definitely do some digging to see if we can come up with any more details.

With Roberts allegedly trending to Ohio State and Brahme trending to Oregon, in addition to just looking at Chase Loftin’s film for the first time 20 min ago. Idk how this kid is like 4th on our list in terms of TE recruiting. His athleticism and route running appear to be superior to Roberts’, respectfully. Gotta give Parker some credit on this one, he been singing Loftin’s praises for a minute.

For all the guys that are in states that legally can bet, did you notice that Fanduel removed the “Alternate Totals” tab on just the March Madness games? They still have the “Alternate Total” tab for NBA games

I'm not sure if I am pissed or in shock. Will he be able to play any at all in 2024?

Very quick notes from today's open practice before I head back for interviews. I will update later tonight.

*** I will start with DT/NT Jayden Jackson. Everyone I speak with says he is "one of the best DT's on the team already." You can see that as more than just talk with the fact Jayden Jackson is already working with the ones and in front of senior NT Da'Jon Terry.

Don't get it twisted, the two NT's rotate and play the spot better than we have seen done in Norman in some time. But it's very evident that JJ will be a vital part of the Sooners' plans moving forward if he continues to develop and play the way he has early on in the spring.

*** Similarly, Gracen Halton and David Stone seemed to be rotating at the DT spot. Both made plays. However, Stone was almost unblockable at times. Yes, he had times he was rendered useless, but more often than not, he was in the backfield making plays. During the team inside drill session (run game OL and offense vs Sooners' front seven on defense), Stone made two big plays that everyone took notice of at the time. Both plays went for TFL's and one of them was Stone besting one of the Sooners better OL in offensive guard Febechi Nwaiwu.

As for Halton, he also made a few plays in live team inside run drill (not all plays go inside). He also was very vocal to everyone. You can see a difference in his stance with his fellow teammates. At one point, as the Sooners' staff was giving the players a water and fruit break to get nutrients in them mid-practice, you could visibly see Halton going up and down the sideline telling players to hustle and that "we don't walk off the field!"

That is once again another statement of the type of players that BV and his staff have recruited to set their culture in motion.

Needless to say, I think you can guarantee that, both, Halton and Stone will be the guys to watch at DT UNLESS the Sooners add more depth there after the spring. Something we expect to take place, but even so, they will play quite a bit and contribute during the 2024 season.

*** Markus Strong still has a ways to go. Looks the part. He is one I could see making a big jump by September. Ashton Sanders is making plays, but still unsure with his size just yet.

Either way, this is one time I can sit here and say I am not too worried about the DL. The DT needs depth (more on that in a bit below), but the talent already on campus is the best it's been in sometime.

*** On the inside drill... Here are some quick notes and takeaways I made when watching the defense and offense go live vs one another. Remember, this isn't going to have any WR talk or QB making throws. It's run-oriented...

1)RB Gavin Sawchuk made two big runs to the left. In a game setting, I would sit here and confidently tell you that he was '88 and out the gate.'

What stood out, though, was the patience that Sawchuk had. He waited on LT Jake Sexton and TE Davon Mitchell to spring him. It's his burst and the ability to be patient and let the play develop that makes Sawchuk so different than the other RB's. A knack that is not easily taught.

Oh, and before you think Mitchell is the TE with the one's, I want to clear up that Bauer Sharp was on the end running shell (7v7) with the QB's as well. They rotated. Sawchuk also went down and ran in shell as well. He and Jovantae Barnes were the main two on that end during 7v7.

*** Barnes looks like he is moving like the old Barnes (as we have reported several times before this), and Sharp is going to be a problem at TE. Pun intended... He looked Sharp.

*** Our guy Bryan Clinton went in-depth on the OL and his thoughts, so I will leave that part alone -- at least for the most part. Clinton's write up is pinned on the top of the message board.

I will add that everyone has been impressed with Nwaiwu, Sexton and the growth of BJ Brooks and Daniel Akinkunmi. Also, the Florida version of Michael Tarquin has been on display early on. Even in one-on-one's, Tarquin was winning his reps and being the physical and versatile OL that the Sooners had hoped he would be. Again... so far.

*** On Akinkunmi: "He is a gym and film rat. He wants to learn. Always learning. He just has that demeanor about him that you feel he will be something at some point. Still so raw, but the pieces are there and (Coach) Bill (Bedenbaugh) will get the most out of him."

*** Still need a bit more depth on the OL. Obviously, getting Hatchett back will help. So will the addition of Eddy Pierre-Louis come June. However, I am talking in terms of experience. Getting another guy like Hatchett would be very beneficial for the Sooners. I see the OL as much better than we all expected, but you don't want to enter SEC play having to rely on too many young guys. Because of that, I fully expect an addition or two on OL after spring.

*** Speaking of OL Geirean Hatchett. The transfer OL is still in a walking boot, but most expect him to come in and compete for a starting job once he is healthy.

*** At LB, it looked like they rotated quite a bit opposite of Danny Stutsman. One batch of plays you would see Lewis Carter out there with 28. Then you would have Kobie Mckinzie or Kip Lewis.

The second string was Dasan McCullough and Jaren Kanak, but they rotated with Sam Omosigho also playing some with Kanak.

All in all, the LB's looked pretty sharp. Overplayed some runs, but it's spring and it's early with it being only the fourth practice.


*** We all know Billy Bowman was out for the most part. That meant Peyton Bowen and Robert Spears-Jennings getting in work at the safety spots.

A source recently had this to say about Bowen: "He is starting to love football. Much more mature this spring. Finding his voice and confidence in the safety room. You can see the light starting to come on and that is going to be big with ramp up in competition this season."

*** At DE, I am such a fan of transfer DE Caiden Woullard. He was in the starting lineup with Halton, Jayden Jackson and Ethan Downs.

The edge guys rotated. You saw a combination of Trace Ford and R Mason Thomas and then Woullard and PJ Adebawore as well. Adebawore looked much more refined, but he still has a ways to go with his hands and technique. Still, he will play because his first step is still lethal and hard to beat.

*** I think you will also see freshman DE Danny Okoye in pass rush situations some. He made some plays in one-on-ones where the OL had zero chance.


*** This team has a ways to go. What I can say is that there are some deficiencies there, but they aren't as glaring as past years and the talent on the roster is the best it's been since Brent Venables and his staff arrived in Norman. What will translate to is yet to be seen, but it's at a much better starting point than the first two seasons and that is at least something, right?

OU cannot compete with Kentucky with NIL, but it should be able to compete with Oakland University.