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Oklahoma Baseball: Sooners Begin Six-Game Road Trip at West Virginia

By Chip Rouse

Nov 19, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; A West Virginia Mountaineers cheerleader cheers during the second quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 19, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; A West Virginia Mountaineers cheerleader cheers during the second quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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The road has not been kind to Oklahoma baseball this season, and lately no venue – home or away – has mattered as the Sooners have dropped seven of their last eight games and fallen to 28-15 overall this season.

Oklahoma is 7-10 away from home this season and 3-3 in two series on the road in the Big 12, and the Sooners are at West Virginia this weekend in the first of back-to-back weekend road series against conference teams.

West Virginia (24-15, 4-2)) has played twice as many games on the road than they have at home at Monogalia County Ballpark this season, but the Mountaineers have won eight of their 11 home dates.

The all-time series between these two teams is tied at 8-8, and they have split the 12 games since West Virginia became a member of the Big 12.

The Mountaineers have climbed above Oklahoma in the national rankings. While the Sooners have fallen out of the top 25 with just one win in their past eight outings, West Virginia is up to No. 25 or 26 nationally, depending on which poll you follow.

The Sooners last 19 games over the past month have all been against teams that fall within the top 100 in RPI (ratings percentage index). OU is just 7-12 in those contests and just 3-9 when playing on the road. West Virginia is No. 9 in RPI.

Here is what you need to know about OU baseball this weekend at West Virginia:

  • Sophomore outfielder Steele Walker is hitting a team-best .358 and leads the Sooners in practically every offensive category this spring. In his last game, against Kansas, he homered and drove in four of OU’s seven runs.
  • Junior second-baseman Kyle Mendenhall has hit two game-winning home runs for the Sooners this season.
  • OU pitching ace Jake Irvin will pitch the Friday night series opener for the Sooners. Irvin is 5-0 in seven starts, but he did not make it out of the fourth inning in his last start, a week ago at home against Kansas.
  • Sophomore Brylie Ware, the Sooners’ designated hitter for most of the season, has 12 multi-hit games this season.
  • Sooner pitchers will have a tall task this weekend against West Virginia. The Mountaineers are hitting a collective. .282 in Big 12 games, second-best in the conference and a .408 slugging percentage.
  • Center fielder Brandon White is West Virginia’s top hitter, batting .359, and first baseman Jackson Cramer leads the team in the power department with seven home runs and 31 runs and runs batted in.
  • Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in on-base percentage with a .385 average.
  • Sooner southpaw relief pitcher Austin Kerns has made 24 appearances out of the bullpen this season, that ranks second in the Big 12 and 10th nationally.
  • The Sooners have lost their last three games against West Virginia (the series finale last season at Norman and two games in the Big 12 Tournament).
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