Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma Baseball Opens Its Big 12 Season at Baylor

By Chip Rouse

Jun 23, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; General view of the stadium during the fifth inning of the contest between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; General view of the stadium during the fifth inning of the contest between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a month and a half of nonconference play, the Oklahoma baseball season heads into Big 12 action with a three-game weekend series against the Baylor Bears.

The Sooners enter the Big 12 schedule with the most wins of any team from a major conference. Oklahoma is 21-4 overall and ranked No. 10 in the most recent Collegiate Baseball News weekly poll. Not a bad beginning for a team that began the 2017 college season unranked and projected for a sixth-place finish in the difficult Big 12.

Oklahoma’s 21 victories so far in 2017 represents a 10-game improvement from where the Sooners stood after 25 games a year ago.

Oklahoma took two out of three against Baylor last season in Norman, but the Sooners had lost three consecutive series against the Bears in the three years before that. OU leads the all-time series with Baylor 40-36.

The three games with Baylor mark the end of a nine-game road trip after OU began the season with 19 consecutive home games. The Sooners are 5-1 on the current road trip, the one loss coming earlier this week in a 4-3 decision against in-state rival Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in both hitting and pitching. The Sooners are hitting .309 as a team and the pitching staff has compiled a collective earned run average of 2.61 Four OU position players rank in the top 10 in the league in hitting, led by senior first baseman Austin O’Brien and senior catcher Renae Martinez, both with a season batting average of .373.

Baylor enters its weekend matchup with a season record of 17-4 and is 1-2 in the Big 12 after beginning play last weekend at home against West Virginia. Designated hitter Matt Menard leads the Bears in hitting with a .342 average. He has scored 15 runs and has 15 runs batted in.

Right fielder Kameron Esthay has provided power with four home runs and 19 RBI.

Sooner right-hander Dylan Grove is expected to get the start in the series opener on Friday. Grove is 0-1 in four previous starts this season with an ERA of 2.79.

OU ace Jake Irvin will draw the starting assignment in the middle game of the series on Saturday. Irvin is 5-0 with a Big 12-best strikeouts and a ERA. Junior Devon Perez will pitch the series finale for the Sooners on Sunday.

The Sooners are 9-11 in Big 12 season openers.

Oklahoma will need to win two of three at Baylor to remain in the upper tier of the conference standings.

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