Oklahoma baseball: Three things to be mindful of in Tallahassee Regional
By Chip Rouse
The 2018 season continues for 64 NCAA Division I baseball teams this weekend, and Oklahoma baseball is among them.
The Sooners are in Tallahassee, Florida, this weekend as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Regional at that location, hosted by the Florida State Seminoles, the top seed..
It is Oklahoma’s second consecutive appearance in NCAA postseason play after a three-year absence from 2013-16. The Sooners will face Mississippi State, out of the Southeastern Conference, in their opening game on Friday.
The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional (31-25). They finished in third place in the SEC West Division this season and are making their seventh appearance in an NCAA baseball regional in the last eight seasons.
More from Stormin in Norman
- Oklahoma football: ESPN, USA Today bowl projections after Week 3
- Oklahoma football: Sooner ‘D’ grading well, but real test begins with Big 12 play
- Two Oklahoma football players receive Big 12 weekly honors
- Oklahoma football: Sooners’ stock rising fast in ESPN prospective rankings
- Oklahoma football: Sooners leaving opponents in the dust early and often
Samford (36-24), the champions of the Southern Conference, is the fourth team and the No. 4 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.
The three keys for Oklahoma in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional:
The return to the lineup of outfielders Steele Walker and Kyler Murray
The Sooners played in the Big 12 Championship last weekend without the services of junior Steele Walker, the team’s leading hitter and run producer, who was out with a strained muscle.
The situation worsened in the opening inning of the conference tournament, when Kyler Murray, No, 2 on the team in home runs and runs batted in and projected to be the starting quarterback for the Sooners in football next season, suffered a leg injury on a slide into second base. Murray left the game and did not return for the remainder of the Big 12 tournament.
Both are key contributors within the Oklahoma offense and solid outfield defenders, as well. For the Sooners to have a realistic chance of winning the Tallahassee Regional, or even getting a couple of wins, they need to have both Walker and Murray in the lineup.
The good news is that both players are projected to start in the game with Mississippi State.
Win game one
Right-handed starter Jake Irvin will draw the pitching assignment in game one for the Sooners. OU needs another strong outing from Irvin (6-2, 2.85 ERA) but, more importantly, the Sooners need to provide him with run support.
In his last two starts — against Kansas and in the Big 12 Championship facing Baylor — Irvin went seven innings at Kansas, allowing one run on three hits and striking out nine, and in five innings against Baylor he gave up two runs on five hits, while striking out six. Oklahoma lost both games.
The Sooners have been struggling down the stretch to finish out games. A win in the regional opener will give OU big momentum boost, which is something the Crimson and Cream could really use right now.
Get some runs on the board early
Oklahoma has had tremendous success this season when the produce runs right off the bat. The Sooners are 20-4 in 2018 when they score in the opening inning and 27-8 when they are the first team to score.
Moreover, when OU has the lead after seven innings, the Sooners are 34-2, which speaks to the quality of their late-inning relief pitching.