OU Edged in Series Opener at Kentucky

Friday, May 9

Lexington, Ky.

5:30 p.m. CT

University of Oklahoma

32-15, 13-12

Kentucky

26-20, 11-14

Oklahoma

Kentucky

May 09, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Final Stats

LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 17 Oklahoma narrowly fell in the series opener at Kentucky, 4-3, Friday night in Lexington.

Following a pair of scoreless innings to start the contest, OU (32-15, 13-12 SEC) struck first in the third inning off the bat of junior Easton Carmichael. Fellow junior Trey Gambill singled to right to set the stage for Carmichael's two-run home run, his 13th of the season and third in OU's last three games.

The Wildcats (26-20, 11-14) got the two runs back and more in the home half of the third, putting up four on five hits. It was the biggest inning OU starting right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon has surrendered this season. After a leadoff triple off the wall, Luke Lawrence ripped an RBI double to left for UK's first run of the game. The next batter, left fielder Cole Hage hit a two-run home run to right center to give UK the lead. The scoring concluded with an RBI single from James McCoy to make it 4-2, Wildcats.

Witherspoon responded with a scoreless fourth where he put the Wildcats down in order. At the top of the fifth, OU trimmed the lead to one on a two-out RBI single from freshman Kyle Branch to make it 4-3.

The Sooners stranded single baserunners in the sixth and seventh and had two on with one out in the ninth before a pair of strikeouts ended the game. OU left 10 on base on the night.

Witherspoon (L, 9-3) exited after five innings, surrendering four runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The six hits and four runs tied season highs given up in both categories and his four strikeouts tied the lowest in his 12 appearances.

Relievers James Hitt (1.0 IP) and Jason Bodin (2.0) closed the game, hurling three scoreless innings and surrendering one hit with one strikeout for both.

Carmichael and Gambill paced OU at the plate with respective 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 showings with Carmichael plating a pair and scoring two of OU's three runs.

The teams make a quick turnaround for an 11:30 a.m. CT game two Saturday. The game can be seen via SEC Network and heard on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity Network app.

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