Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma Baseball: Bedlam Game a Brothers Reunion for Sooners’ Pair

By Chip Rouse

Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; A member of the Oklahoma Sooners Ruf Neks waves a flag in the second quarter of the 2015 CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; A member of the Oklahoma Sooners Ruf Neks waves a flag in the second quarter of the 2015 CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /
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After being run out of town by a TCU offense that outscored the Sooners 25-5 in three games over the weekend, Oklahoma baseball now faces a Bedlam bash on Wednesday with Oklahoma State.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday, game one in the 2016 Bedlam baseball series was rescheduled for Wednesday because of bad weather in the area. The midweek matchup will pit OU freshman right-hander Jake Irwin, who is 2-0 with wins in his last two outings, against Cowboy right-handed starter Michael Mertz (1-2, 4.15 ERA).

It should help some that the first Bedlam game of the season is in Norman, which is the only venue where the Sooners hold more than a one-game advantage on the diamond over their in-state Big 12 rivals.

Oklahoma owns a 24-22 all-time record over the Cowboys of OSU in games played in Norman, but this is the first time the two teams have met at OU’s L. Dale Mitchell Park since April 1, 2014.

The Sooners lost 3-1 the last time they hosted Oklahoma State in their home park. The two schools have played 14 times since then with Oklahoma winning just twice (once in Tulsa in 2014 and in Oklahoma City in one of the five meetings a year ago between the Sooners and the Cowboys).

It doesn’t help that OU is coming off of its worst weekend outing of the season, having been swept in three games at TCU and managing just five runs in 25 innings. The middle game of the series didn’t even make it a full nine innings because of college baseball’s mercy rule, which ends a game when there is a 10-run difference after seven innings.

In 279 games all-time between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, only seven games separate the two schools in wins and losses: OSU leads the all-time series 143-136. Interestingly, the Sooners are 29-28 in games played in the Cowboys’ home park in Stillwater, but Oklahoma State has won 53 of the 99 games played in Oklahoma City, which is virtually a home game for Oklahoma, located just 20 miles north of the Norman campus.

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Bedlam baseball also marks a reunion for a pair of brothers on both teams, setting up an all-Oklahoma house divided for both families. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Elliott of Oklahoma and teammate Austin O’Brien, also a junior, who starts at first base for the Sooners, have younger brothers who play for Oklahoma State.

Jensen Elliot, a right-handed hurler, is in his freshman year at Oklahoma State, and Austin O’Brien’s younger brother, Mason, is a sophomore first baseman for the Cowboys.

Also of interest surrounding the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State midweek Bedlam battle:

  • Freshman pitchers have accounted for 12 of the Sooners 18 wins this season. Freshman right-hander Jake Irwin goes for his third win of the season on Wednesday vs. the Cowboys.
  • Freshman designated hitter Steele Walker has wielded a hot bat for the Sooners over the last eight games. Walker is 11 for 27 and hitting .407 during that stretch.
  • Center fielder Hunter Haley, last week’s Collegiate Baseball News’ Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week is closing in on a pair of milestones. He has 99 runs batted in his OU baseball career and is just three runs shy of reaching the century mark in runs scored in his collegiate career. Former Sooner Max White, who started in seven differentplayed in the outfield for Oklahoma, was the last OU player to reach the century mark in both runs and RBI.
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