1999 GMC Savana dash light, oil pressure. No crank

Let me preface my problem with.
I had been driving my van throughout the day with no cranking, starting, or running issues. Both the battery and starter are about 3-4 months old, having been replaced in Setember 07. There were no indications of what was to follow later in the evening.
In the evening I went out on a short errand. Shortly after (within mintues) of leaving the driveway, I notice the "check gauges" light came on. (A light I never new had existed). I looked at the gauges and all was normal, temps, voltage, except the oil pressure was reading "0". As I was in an area where I could not pull over safely, at once, I made a "U" turn and headed for home, All of this was within a 1/2 mile of the house. Within a 1/4 mile, the engine stopped running and I drifted off to the shoulder. I waited a few minutes, then turned to the key to crank and start the engine, to my surprise, the cranking sounded like a "low" battery condition. As it was getting dark, I walked back home only a short distance. The next morning I went back to the van with a portable battery and the cranking still "grunted" like a dead battery. So, I pulled the battery and took back to the shop from whom I purchased the battery and starter, as new in the fall. They load tested the battery, no problem. In the mean time, I pulled the starter and had that tested - No problem, as well. Also, I had previously cleaned all of the grounds, and battery power connections I could find.
I had the van towed to the house, where I checked the oil level and it was very low. I noticed a lot of oil on the ground directly under where the oil filter was located back where I had, previousley, pulled off the road. So, I added oil and checked the area where the oil filter scewed into the block and it was very oily. Let me state, this van has not leaked, so much as a drip, since I have owed it from new. I removed the oil filter and the gasket came apart, once removed. This engine had about 2500-3000 miles since the last change.
So, here is my question:
If the filter gasket blew, for whatever reasons, and I lost oil, then pressure, what would that have to do with cranking? I'm not thinking the engine would have seized in such a short period at neighborhood speeds of 25-35 mph. There were no ticking, clanking, banging noises at all.
Do these 5.7L engines have an "lost" oil pressure kill switch, to protect it? I'm at a loss.
My next thought is to pull the pulgs and see if it cranks without the compression forces.
Any thoughts? Thanks for any replies.