Sooners Blast Western Illinois

Originally Published: Mar 5, 2010 6:29 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Oklahoma dominated Western Illinois 12-1 in its second game of the Sooner Classic Friday.

Zach Neal pitched five and two-thirds innings and struck out eight on the day, including striking out the side in the first inning. The junior from Flower Mound, Texas finished the game after only giving up five hits and one earned run.

It was two big innings that did most of the damage for OU, which scored eight of its 12 runs in the third and eighth innings.

The Sooners’ three runs in the third came on RBI-singles by Drew Harrison and Tyler Ogle and an infield error on a Garrett Buechele single.

Oklahoma opened up the eighth with a Chris Ellison triple and two at bats later Ross Hubard singled to center to bring him home. Buechele reached base after being hit by a pitch and Casey Johnson walked to load the bases. Cameron Seitzer hit a grand slam on the next at bat to expand the gap to 12-1.

The Sooners return to action Saturday in Norman.