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Oklahoma baseball: Sooners head into Bedlam with sights set on second

By Chip Rouse

Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; A general view of an end zone marker prior to the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; A general view of an end zone marker prior to the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports /
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When Bedlam rolls around every season, Oklahoma baseball doesn’t need much of a motivational boost to be ready to go to battle.

It doesn’t take much to get anyone with Sooner ties up for any type of competition with Oklahoma State. The OU softball team held the Cowgirls to two runs and five hits in sweeping their in-state rivals in Bedlam softball last weekend, and the Sooners would like to follow suit on the baseball diamond this weekend.

And there is something even bigger at stake for the Sooners this weekend than simply beating their rival. Oklahoma (34-18, 12-9) is just one game back of Texas Tech and has a chance of drawing even or even overtaking the Red Raiders for second place in the final regular-season conference standings. season.

A second-place tie with Texas Tech would be good enough to earn the Sooners a No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Championship next week in Oklahoma City because OU won the series this season with the Red Raiders.

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Baylor and West Virginia are just a game back of Oklahoma in the standings, so if the Sooners slip up against OSU, there could be a shakeup of a different sort at the top of the Big 12 standings.

The Sooners and Cowboys will play at ONEOK Field in Tulsa on Thursday before the series moves to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City for games two and three on Friday and Saturday.

Oklahoma State (24-25, 6-14) is having a down year on the baseball diamond by historical standards, but the Cowboys already own a victory over the Sooners this season, winning 4-3 in Stillwater back on March 21. The Cowboys lead the overall series with Oklahoma 155-138 and have prevailed in 12 of the past 17 meetings. Fourteen of the past 20 games between the two Bedlam rivals have been decided by three runs or less.

Eight things to know about the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State Bedlam baseball series this weekend:

  • Oklahoma leads the nation with five top-25 RPI series wins this season and is one of 11 teams with six or more wins in the RPI top-20.
  • Cowboys left fielder Garrett McCain leads the Big 12 with a .393 batting average, .550 slugging percentage and .496 on-base percentage. Another Garrett, Oklahoma State third baseman Garrett Benge, is also hitting over .300 (.308) and leads the Cowboys with 50 runs batted in.
  • Oklahoma is 13-16 against Oklahoma State in games played in Tulsa and 47-53 in games played in Oklahoma City.
  • Sooner sophomore designated hitter Brylie Ware has blasted five home runs in his last seven games.
  • Oklahoma center fielder Steele Walker ranks in the top-10 in eight Big 12 offensive categories. He is 8 for 22 (.364) in five games against the Cowboys.
  • The Sooners have nine walk-off wins since the beginning of the 2016 season. Seven of those nine wins have come on a Sunday.
  • Oklahoma pitchers rank ninth in the country with 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Junior right-hander Devon Perez (5-2, 3.69 ERA), who is expected to start Friday’s game for the Sooners, is averaging 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
  • OU is ranked 24th this week in the USA Today Coaches Poll, 20th in the Baseball America Top-25
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