Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma Baseball: Notable Numbers From OU’s Series Win Over Texas Tech

By Chip Rouse

Nov 21, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners sooner schooner during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners sooner schooner during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Oklahoma baseball is off to its best season start since 1985, with 25 wins in 31 games.

Four of those 31 wins have come in the Sooners’ opening two Big 12 series. Both Baylor and Texas Tech, OU’s opponents in its first two conference series of the 2017 season, are ranked in the USA Today College Baseball Top 25. Baylor was ranked 18th last week when the Sooners played them and won two of three at Baylor, and the Red Raiders were the nation’s second-ranked team when they came to Norman over the weekend for the showdown with 18th-ranked Oklahoma.

“I’ve got a good team,” Sooner head coach Pete Hughes told the Oklahoma City Oklahoman after Sunday’s series-deciding win. Hughes was asked how his team is handling all the talk about OU’s impressive start this season.

“They don’t get caught up in all that,” he said. “We get caught up in just trying to get better every weekend.”

“I’ve got a good team. We don’t get caught up in any of that (talk about having the best start since the 1985 season). We get caught up in just trying to get better every weekend.” –Sooner head coach Pete Hughes

The Sooners are 36-27 under Hughes as a ranked team, and their national ranking is certain to go up a few more notches this week as they prepare to head to Texas this weekend.

Here are a dozen more notable numbers from the win over Texas Tech and the Sooners’ season thus far:

.366 – Sophomore first baseman Brylie Ware’s league-leading batting average.

1 – OU is second in the conference standings, but the Sooners continue to lead the Big 12 in team hitting and pitching. As a team, Oklahoma is batting .293, and the Sooner pitching staff owns a collective earned-run average of 2.76, 10th best in the country.

4 – Oklahoma carries a series win streak of four against Big 12 opponents, dating back to last season.

5 – Junior second baseman Kyle Mendenhall has five home runs to lead the Sooners this season. He only hit one round-tripper in his first two seasons at OU.

6 – Runs batted in in the Texas Tech series by senior catcher Renae Martinez. He had a bases-clearing double in the opening game, one in the game two and two more in the series finale.

7 – Oklahoma’s walk-off 5-4 victory on Sunday was the Sooners’ seventh in two seasons, and all seven have come on Sundays.

10 – In Big 12 series decided in the third and final game, the Sooners have won 10 consecutive games.

16 – Total strikeouts recorded by Sooner starter Dylan Grove and reliever Vincenzo Aiello in OU’s 6-2 victory in the series opener with the Red Raiders.

27 – Team home runs by the Sooners in their 31 games, tops in the Big 12.

45 – Nearly 45 percent Oklahoma’s runs this season (89 of 196) have been scored when two were out.

69 – Total bases this season by OU sophomore outfielder Steele Walker, one behind Big 12 leader Hunter Hargrove of Texas Tech.

2,502 – The attendance at Friday night’s series opener with Texas Tech. That is 600 short of capacity and the 20th largest crowd in the history of L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Home/OU Baseball