Stormin in Norman
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OU Baseball, Softball Headed in Opposite Direction

By Chip Rouse

Jun 19, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Bleach balls fill the bleachers during a break in action between against the Vanderbilt Commodores and against the TCU Horned Frogs in the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 19, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Bleach balls fill the bleachers during a break in action between against the Vanderbilt Commodores and against the TCU Horned Frogs in the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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No question that the big news around the Sooner Nation right now is the advancement of the men’s basketball squad as one of college basketball’s Final Four, but OU baseball and softball are making news as well, only for opposite reasons.

The last time we checked in on the Sooner baseball team, it has just completed a six-game winning streak over West Coast teams, four of which were against Cal State-Bakersfield, the same school Oklahoma eliminated in its opening-round game a week ago in the NCAA Tournament.

While this past week was one of the best for Oklahoma basketball, that was not the case on the baseball diamond. The Sooner baseball team was blanked 5-0 on the road by Oral Roberts on Tuesday and followed that up with a second consecutive shutout at Texas Tech on Friday.

The Red Raiders completed a three-game sweep of the Sooners with 6-2 and 13-7 wins on Saturday and Sunday.

So, in the course of one week, Oklahoma went from an overall season record of 13-9-1 to two games under .500 at 11-13-1. The Sooners wind up a 10-game road trip over 15 days in a game with Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday before returning home for a three-game weekend series against the Longhorns of Texas, who also are 11-13 in 2016 and having troubles of their own this season.

The Sooners had not scored a run in 25 consecutive innings before pushing across a single run, their only run of the game, in the sixth inning on Saturday at Texas Tech.

When you look at the team stats for the Sooners, it is easy to see why they are struggling. They are hitting just .251 as a team, and only one player in the starting lineup (shortstop Sheldon Neuse) has a batting average above .300. He is third in the league with a .398 average and has four of Oklahoma’s four home runs this season.

The Oklahoma pitching staff has given up close to four runs a game, and none of the starters has won more than three games.

There is still plenty of game remaining on the schedule, but the trend line is not looking good for an OU team that is just beginning Big 12 baseball play, where the competition will get much tougher.

While the Sooner baseball team is going downhill at the moment, the same is not true of the women’s softball team, which is perennially ranked in the nation’s top 25 and is presently in the No. 14 spot nationally.

Patty Gasso’s OU softball squad is 23-6 this season and winners of its last five games. The Sooners, who are just three seasons removed from winning the national title in the Women’s College World Series, are 4-4 against ranked teams in 2016 and begin the Big 12 portion of their schedule this week with a game against Oklahoma State and a three-game weekend series hosting Kansas.

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