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Oklahoma baseball: Sooners picked to finish 4th in Big 12 Preseason Poll

By Chip Rouse

Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of the stadium during the National Anthem of game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of the stadium during the National Anthem of game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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It’s February, and that means on the collegiate sports calendar is that the opening of the Oklahoma baseball season is just a couple of weeks away.

The Sooners, who finished 35-24 a year ago and in third place in the Big 12 with a 12-11 conference record, are picked to finish fourth in the 2018 Big 12 Preseason Poll.

Two-time defending conference champion Texas Tech (5) and TCU (4) received all nine first place votes from the league coaches who participated in the poll, with the Red Raiders receiving the nod as the Big 12 preseason favorites. Texas was picked to finish third.

The three teams picked ahead of Oklahoma are all ranked in the top 15 of the Baseball America Top 25 preseason poll: 5. Texas Tech, 7. TCU and 14. Texas.

Oklahoma was picked to finish sixth in last year’s Big 12 Preseason Poll and finished three spots higher. That was the second time in the last three seasons that the Sooners had finished third in the league standings after being projected to finish in the lower half of the conference.

The Sooners return the top two starters in their pitching rotation from last season. Right-hander Jake Irvin was 6-3 with a 3.53 earned run average, and right-handed starter Devon Perez finished with a 6-2 record and a 3.50 ERA. Perez returns after being drafted in the 21st round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.

Among the position players, Oklahoma returns center fielder Steele Walker, who hit .333 last season with a slugging average of .518 and an on-base percentage of .413. He has been named a preseason All-American by several collegiate baseball publications.

Junior infielder Brylie Ware, a former junior-college All-American and Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year last season, is also back for another season. Ware posted a batting average of .298 last season with five home runs, all five coming in the final 14 games of the season.

The Sooners open the 2018 season against Indiana on Feb. 16 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The OU home opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park is scheduled for Feb. 21 against Abilene Christian.

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