'Give it everything I had': How Braden Carmichael delivered OU baseball a shutout of OSU in Bedlam

NORMAN — Braden Carmichael told himself throughout the night to take it one inning at a time.

But as the redshirt senior pitcher stood on the mound in the ninth inning of OU’s rivalry game against 22nd-ranked OSU on Friday, that plan went out the window.

Carmichael was just one strike away from recording a complete game in what marked his final outing at L. Dale Mitchell Park, and he could feel his heart pounding as the crowd rose to its feet.

Carmichael unloaded his 96th pitch of the night to OSU’s Chase Adkison, who sent a high-flying shot into center field and into the glove of John Spikerman.

Ball game.

OU (30-23, 12-12 Big 12) earned a 5-0 win over OSU (36-16, 14-9 Big 12) thanks in large part to a career night by Carmichael, who got swarmed by his teammates following the final out. The veteran Sooner pitched a complete game shutout and struck out five batters along the way.

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"I had to give it everything I had," Carmichael said. "I knew how big the game was. Obviously, I knew this was my last time pitching here, so it was just a big relief."

Carmichael is the first OU pitcher to record a complete game since Dane Acker, who threw a no-hitter against LSU on March 1, 2020.

Carmichael was aided by a relentless wind, which allowed him to throw strikes and dare OSU to swing. The Cowboys recorded 17 fly balls throughout the night.

"He's a strike thrower," OU head coach Skip Johnson said of Carmichael. "That's one thing that he's going to do. ... Him being a captain and an older guy, understanding the role that he had to do to take it one pitch at a time. I think he did that probably as best as he's done all year."

OU initially struggled to get much going against OSU’s Juaron Watts-Brown.

The sophomore pitcher kept the Sooners off the board through the first three innings and recorded five strikeouts along the way.

But Easton Carmichael drew first blood in the fourth frame. The freshman sent a laser shot down the third-base line for a double that brought in two runs, giving OU a 2-0 lead.

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That set the tone for the Sooners, who bounced back after suffering a 13-2 loss to the Cowboys on Thursday.

"It's not easy (to bounce back)," Easton Carmichael said. "In baseball, you've got to have a short memory. You've got to come back ready to play, and these guys showed that tonight."

The Sooners then tacked on another two runs in the fifth inning. Anthony Mackenzie delivered an RBI triple, and the junior came home on the next at-bat thanks to a wild pitch.

OSU’s best scoring opportunity came in the top of the sixth inning when it placed runners on first and second base with one out.

But a ground ball by Adkison rolled into the glove of shortstop Dakota Harris, who turned a double play to get OU out of the jam.

Diego Muniz then tacked on the final run of the night with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning, sealing the Sooners’ 5-0 win.

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Easton Carmichael led OU at the plate. He went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, while Mackenzie went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

OU concludes its regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday with a rubber match against OSU.

The Cowboys will have plenty of motivation to bounce back. They'll secure a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with a win and a West Virginia loss to Texas.

But OU is also motivated. A series win would go a long way for the Sooners, who are playing some of their best baseball as they make a push for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

"We try to get them fired up," Johnson said of his players. "We try to motivate them. We try to get them to execute game plans and stuff like that. I think they've bought into it a little bit more as the year has gone on."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball beats OSU behind Braden Carmichael's complete-game shutout