Oklahoma baseball: OU hosts Red River Showdown with Texas
By Chip Rouse
Of the all-time Oklahoma baseball opponents, the Texas Longhorns is the team that has had the most success against the Sooners.
It’s hard to look at it as a rivalry, when OU is just 52-130–2 against the hated Longhorns. It is abundantly clear, however, that anytime Oklahoma and Texas get together, anywhere, in any form of competition, it is guaranteed to be an all-out, emotionally charged battle.
Beginning on Friday, on the eve of the annual spring football game, the Red River rivalry in baseball starts off a busy weekend in Norman on a high note with a diamond battle between two ranked teams.
The No. 17 Longhorns, according to Collegiate Baseball, come to Norman sporting an overall record of 22-13 and third place in the Big 12 with a 9-3 record in league play. The No. 11 Sooners come into Friday’s action with a league-leading 8-1 record and winners of 11 of their last 13 games.
Oklahoma, 24-11 overall, has been getting it done with a balance of strong pitching and timely hitting. The Sooners lead the Big 12 with a team batting average of .305 and a staff ERA of 2.44.
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All Big 12 outfielder Steele Walker leads the Sooners, hitting a team-best .338 with eight home runs, 33 runs batted in and a .571 slugging percentage. The OU junior right fielder has hit six of his eight home runs in the last seven games.
The Sooners’ starting lineup features five players hitting better than .300.
Right-hander Jake Irvin (5-0, 2.77 ERA) will get his usual Friday night start for Oklahoma in game one of the Texas series. Irvin is among the conference leaders in strikeouts with 55 in 48 2/3 innings.
Earlier this week, Irvin learned that he had been added to the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, presented every season to the best amateur baseball player in the country. He is one of four Big 12 candidates among the 40 players nationally currently on the watch list.
Fellow right-handed starter Devon Perez (4-0, 2.61) will be on the hill for the Sooners on Saturday, and Nathan Wiles (1-1, 4.4.04) is expected to draw the starting assignment in Sunday’s series finale.
Texas second baseman Kody Clemons, son of former major league All-Star and Cy Young winner Roger Clemons, leads the Longhorns at the plate with a .367 batting average, nine home runs, 35 RBI and a Big 12-best .688 slugging percentage.
The expected weekend pitching rotation for Texas includes three right-handers: Nolan Kingham (4-2, 4.14 ERA), Chase Shugart (3-2, 4.86) and Blair Henley (5-3, 2.92).
Despite the Longhorns’ overwhelming dominance all-time, Oklahoma had won three of the last four series against Texas before losing two of three in Austin a year ago. Before 2013, the Sooners had lost 15 consecutive series against the Longhorns.
Oklahoma is 21-5 at L. Dale Mitchell Park this season and a perfect 6-0 against Big 12 opponents. The Longhorns, in contrast, are 4-7 on the road this season. The Texas series is the next to last home appearance for the Sooners this season.
As if there needs to be anything more tying this two longtime rivals together, Sooner skipper Skip Johnson, who is in his second season at Oklahoma, spent a decade as the pitching coach at Texas under legendary coach Augie Garrido. In addition, OU assistant coach Clay Van Hook was an infielder for the Longhorns from 2005-07.