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Oklahoma baseball: What to know about Sooners’ return to postseason play

By Chip Rouse

Jun 27, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; A B-2 Bomber flies over TD Ameritrade Park before the game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in game one of the College World Series championship series. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 27, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; A B-2 Bomber flies over TD Ameritrade Park before the game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in game one of the College World Series championship series. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma baseball made giant gains in 2017, but the Sooners’ play in the month of May doesn’t really reflect the improvement.

OU was just 4-6 during May after going 30-16 in the two-and-a-half months before that. Regardless of their recent struggles – which includes a four-game losing streak – the Sooners return to NCAA postseason play this season for the first time in four years.

The last time Oklahoma appeared in the NCAA Baseball Championship, in 2013, Sooner head coach Pete Hughes was at Virginia Tech, the team OU beat 10-4 in the regional final.

The Sooners open 2017 NCAA play in Louisville along with three other teams – Xavier, Radford and host Louisville – OU has never met in baseball.

Oklahoma (34-22) is the No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional and will go up against No. 3 seed Xavier (32-25), out of the Big East,  in its opening game. Both teams finished third in the regular season in their respective conferences.

Here is what you need to know about the Sooners and the NCAA Tournament as regional play gets underway today:

  • The Sooners enter regional play on a four-game losing streak. Xavier, their opening-round opponent, have won their last seven games.
  • OU is one of only two teams in the entire 64-team tournament field with a losing streak of more than two games entering NCAA regional play.
  • Oklahoma is making its 37th NCAA postseason appearance. That is twice the number of combined NCAA appearances of the three other teams in the Louisville Regional.
  • Despite the Sooners up-and-down season, they are the only team in the country to win five series in 2017 against teams in the top 25 in RPI (Ratings Percentage Index).
  • OU head coach Pete Hughes is making her first NCAA appearance as coach of the Sooners. He is the fifth Oklahoma head coach to take the Sooners to the NCAA Baseball Championship.
  • The Sooner offense is led by center fielder Steele Walker, catcher Renae Martinez and first baseman Austin O’Brien. Walker leads OU in hitting (.338) and is second on the team with a .552 slugging percentage and .421 on-base percentage. Martinez is hitting .328 and slugging .522. O’Brien is hitting .302 and is tied with Walker for the team lead in home runs with eight.
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