Malachi Witherspoon goes six scoreless and Oklahoma defeats Nebraska 7-4 in Chapel Hill Regional

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Malachi Witherspoon pitched six scoreless and got plenty of offensive support in Oklahoma’s 7-4 victory over Nebraska in the nightcap of the Chapel Hill Regional on Friday.

Witherspoon (4-8) allowed three hits and struck out nine batters.

No. 2 regional seed Oklahoma (36-20) will play regional host North Carolina on Saturday. No. 3 Nebraska (32-28) faces a loser-out game against No. 4 Holy Cross. North Carolina defeated Holy Cross 4-0 earlier Friday.

Oklahoma took a 3-0 lead on Drew Dickerson’s two-run home run in the second and Easton Carmichael’s leadoff home run in the third.

Trey Gambill made it 4-0 with an RBI single in the fifth and Kyle Branch delivered a two-run single in Oklahoma’s three-run seventh inning.

Max Buettenback laced a bases-loaded triple in Nebraska’s four-run eighth inning.

The game started 2 1/2 hours late after a rain delay.

Jackson Brockett (4-4) took the loss.

Dylan Crooks earned his 15th save.

Oklahoma is making its 42nd appearance in the NCAA tournament. Nebraska, which won the Big Ten Tournament as the eighth seed, is making its 19th NCAA appearance.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports