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Oklahoma Baseball: Previewing Weekend Red-River Series With Texas

By Chip Rouse

Jun 18, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos warm up before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 18, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos warm up before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma baseball begins the first of an eight-game road swing on Friday with the opener of a three-game series against Red River archrival Texas.

The Sooners, now 26-6 and ranked 14th in this week’s USA Today Collegiate Baseball Coaches Poll are off to their best start since going 27-5 in the first 32 games of the 1985 season and have won their first two Big 12 series.

Texas, on the other hand, has lost two of its first three Big 12 series this season and has a 20-12 overall record. The Longhorn pitching has been solid, with a collective staff ERA of 2.96 and ranked second in the Big 12 behind the Sooners, but the Texas offense has struggled at the plate. The Longhorns’ .249 batting average is next to last in the conference.

Offensively, the Sooners have been putting up impressive numbers. OU hitters lead the Big 12 in runs (232), home runs (28), runs batted (200) in and slugging percentage (.436) and are second in batting average (.294). And they haven’t done that against particularly soft competition.

The Sooners have played five teams thus far ranked in the top 50 in RPI (ratings percentage index). OU’s record against those teams is 6-4.

Oklahoma’s top hitter, first baseman Austin O’Brien returned to the lineup earlier this week after a 12-game absence, and picked up right where he had left off, clubbing a grand slam home run and keying the Sooners’ midweek win over Oral Roberts. O’Brien suffered a torn elbow ligament back in early March.

Sophomore Brylie Ware filled in for O’Brien while he was out is right behind the Sooner starting first baseman, hitting .351 himself and a team-best .453 on-base percentage.

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Sophomore outfielder Steele Walker is also having a terrific season, with a .349 batting average through all games, 29 RBI and a .571 slugging percentage.

The Longhorns’ leading hitter this season is catcher Michael McCann, who is hitting .368 with a .439 slugging percentage. First baseman Kacy Clemens (one of former major-leaguer Roger Clemens’ sons) is also having a good season offensively, hitting .313 with 11 doubles and 28 runs scored.

The Sooners will face two of the conference’s toughest hurlers on Friday and Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. Nolan Kingham and Morgan Cooper, both right-handers, are second and third, respectively, in the Big 12 with earned run averages of 1.02 and 1.44. Kingham’s record is 4-2 and Cooper is 3-2 and averaging 11 strikeouts per game.

Sophomore right-handers Dylan Grove and Jake Irvin will draw the starting assignment in the first two games of the Texas series. Grove is 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA in six starts this season, Irvin will be back on the hill on Saturday after missing his last two scheduled starts with what was described by head coach Pete Hughes as inflammation. He is a perfect 5-0 in five starts and owns a Big 12 second-best 1.16 ERA.

Oklahoma has won back-to-back series against the Longhorns the last two seasons but trails in the overall series by a wide amount. OU is 51-127-2 all-time vs. Texas.

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