Oklahoma spent the last month spinning its wheels. It entered Friday night’s series opener against Kansas just 7-6 in April and needing to find some traction.

An 8-0 victory over the Jayhawks certainly gave the impression the Sooners were getting out of the bog from which they’ve been stuck.

“We know we have to turn on the jets,” OU catcher Jackson Williams said after going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. “We have to get something going.”

The Sooners improved to 28-15 overall and, more importantly, 8-8 in the Big 12 with their third straight conference win. The victory put them at the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since their 3-0 decision over Nebraska April 13.

It was almost a carbon copy of that performance.

Stephen Porlier, who pitched a complete game in that win over Huskers, threw seven innings of shutout ball to improve to 6-4.

He didn’t have the dominant stuff he had two weeks earlier, but made up for any deficiencies with grit.

The Jayhawks (20-26, 6-13 Big 12) left runners stranded four times in the first six innings and only managed four hits off OU’s ace.

“He pitched with great poise out there,” Sooner coach Sunny Golloway said. “He stayed composed.”

Control was the only thing Porlier didn’t have in his corner. He walked four and hit two more.

“It was one of those nights where you feel like you can’t control much,” he said. “You just have to be effectively wild.”

He was. And had enough command to keep Kansas at bay until the run support arrived.

The Sooners were coming off a three-game series at Kansas State in which they scored 38 runs. But Kansas’ Andy Marks had them baffled until Aaron Reza, who went 2-for-3, poked an RBI single in the fifth inning to give OU the lead.

It turned out to be the spark that lit the fuse.

Zach Hedges, who went 2-for-3 in just his fourth start of the season, and Joseph Hughes both smacked RBI doubles in the sixth inning to give the Sooners a three-run lead.