Oklahoma rolls over Wichita State 15-7 after building 11-run lead

Wichita State pitcher Connor Lungwitz thrived on deception and location in his first two starts and won both. On Tuesday, he ran up against a team that he couldn’t baffle with breaking pitches.

That’s life as a freshman. Lungwitz isn’t yet ready to blow fastballs past good hitters, and neither are most of WSU’s pitchers. Oklahoma pounced on Lungwitz early, took advantage of sloppy defense and ran away from the Shockers 15-7 at Eck Stadium.

WSU (11-22) lost its third straight game after giving up nine two-out runs in the first three innings, committing four errors and walking nine batters. Down 11-0 after three, the offense got going way too late against the OU bullpen. The Sooners (18-15-1) won for the seventh time in nine games and swept the season series from the Shockers.

Lungwitz had stopped WSU losing streaks in his two previous starts, a 10-2 win over Stephen F. Austin in which he struck out 10 and a 15-8 win over Oral Roberts. In both, he got ahead of hitters and finished them off with breaking pitches. The Sooners provided a tougher test.

“I wasn’t getting ahead and then I couldn’t pitch the way I wanted to,” he said. “They were taking advantage of the fastball and hitting it.”

Lungwitz survived the first inning down 3-0. He couldn’t survive the third after giving up a single and a double. That started the avalanche, one hastened by two errors, and OU scored eight runs to grab an 11-0 lead and give the red-clad fans who populated Eck Stadium plenty of reason to yell “Boomer” and wait for the “Sooner” reply. Robby Evans replaced Lungwitz and walked two and gave up three hits. Clayton McGinness got the final out of the inning after giving up a hit and a run.

“From there we’re playing from behind,” WSU coach Todd Butler said.

Way behind.

Sooners starter Jake Irvin, who possesses the low-90s mph fastball so many Shockers lack, shut out WSU for three innings and Kyle Tyler followed with another scoreless inning. Down 11 runs, Butler went to his bench in the fifth inning and liked the results.

The Shockers scored six runs in the fifth inning with No. 9 hitter Jordan Boyer tripling in two and freshman Luke Ritter singling in two more.

“We got some freshmen in and they swung the bat and put some runs up,” Butler said. “I want to see those guys keep developing. We hadn’t done much offensively.”

Boyer, a redshirt freshman, started his first game as a Shocker and went 3 for 4 at shortstop.

“I appreciate the way he comes to the park every day and he hasn’t played a whole lot,” Butler said. “He’s been one of the most positive players on our team and he can play. Tonight, he swings the bat and doesn’t care who’s pitching.”

Boyer last played March 3 against TCU and entered the game 3 for 9.

“As tough as tonight’s game was for us, we’ve just got to focus on the positives,” he said. “It was nice to see all the hard work pay off, all the hours spent. To get a chance to help the team out, that was nice.”

The Sooners scored three runs with two outs in the first inning. In the third, it scored eight, six of those with two outs.

In the first, Lungwitz got two outs then walked two batters. He grooved a fastball to Austin O’Brien, who smacked it to center field for a double and a 1-0 lead. Hunter Haley followed with a two-run single.

Lungwitz worked through a two-out throwing error by second baseman Tanner Kirk and a two-out walk in the second.

The third started ominously, with a single by O’Brien and Haley’s run-scoring double. After the Sooners scored again to make it 5-0, Evans got a second out and induced a ground ball that Kirk failed to handle for this second error of the game, allowing a run to score. A single by Jack Flansburg drove in two more runs and Boyer’s throw zipped past third baseman Chase Rader, giving OU another run. Haley’s double drove in two more and put the Sooners up 11-0.

The Shockers scored six runs in the fifth inning after Butler subbed in five new hitters.

An error on OU catcher Renae Martinez, who dropped a popup on the infield, and a walk to Dayton Dugas, gave the Shockers a start. Boyer tripled to drive in both mistakes, pushing the Shockers toward a five-hit inning in which they batted around. Alec Bohm doubled to drive in a run, Keenan Eaton singled in a run and Ritter singled in two.

Worth noting — WSU right fielder Greyson Jenista left the game after he was hit in the left foot by a pitch in the first inning. Butler said the foot was bruised. … Butler said he will start Chase Williams on Sunday against Missouri State in place of Zach Lewis. Williams threw a scoreless inning in relief on Tuesday and struck out two batters. … North Dakota announced that it will drop baseball after this season, in addition to men’s golf. WSU defeated North Dakota 16-3 in March. WSU is 10-0 vs. North Dakota in a series that started in 2010.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Oklahoma rolls over Wichita State 15-7 after building 11-run lead."