Oklahoma baseball: Sooners lose series at Texas Tech
By Chip Rouse
A little over a week ago, Oklahoma baseball was positioned at the top of the Big 12 standings with an 8-1 league record. What a difference a weekend — or two — can make.
In each the past two weekends, however, the Sooners have fallen twice in three games, salvaging the series finale at home against Texas and at Texas Tech this past weekend.
As a result, 14th-ranked Oklahoma is now 10-5 in Big 12 play and tied for third place in the conference standings.
It is no time for the Sooners to get comfortable, though. Lying in wait for OU this coming weekend is league-leading Oklahoma State 23-14-1, 12-3).
Oklahoma opened its Big 12 schedule winning the first three series against conference foes, but has lost its last two. The Sooners still have series remaining with Oklahoma State, at home against Kansas State and at Kansas to end the regular season. The latter two teams have won a combined six conference games and are at the bottom of the league, which should set up a strong finish for OU, but first they must stop the current bleeding.
Against Texas Tech (29-8, 10-5), the Sooners gave away game one, squandering one-run leads in both the ninth and 10th innings before falling 5-4. OU took a hard one to the chin in game two, giving up nine Texas Tech runs in the first four innings on the way to a 12-6, series-clinching victory.
The Oklahoma bats came alive in the series finale on Sunday, as the Sooners returned the favor from their beatdown in game two with a 12-5 hammering of their own behind a 17-hit attack. The Sooners scored nine of their dozen runs in the seventh (4), eighth (2) and ninth (3) innings.
Here are the numbers that mattered from the Texas Tech series:
3 – The Sooners hit three home runs (Cade Cavalli, Steele Walker and Kyler Murray) in a losing effort in game two of the Texas Tech series. It was the third time OU has hit three HRs in a game this season.
6-8 – Oklahoma is 6-8 against ranked opponents this season.
8 – The Sooners 12-5 win on Sunday snapped an eight-game losing streak at Texas Tech. OU had not won their since 2012.
8 – Sophomore weekend starter Nathan Wiles has pitched into the eighth inning on successive Sundays.
9 – Steele Walker has hit nine home runs in his last 12 games.
11 – Sunday’s 12-run outburst was the 11th time this season Oklahoma has scored more than 10 runs in a game.
11 – Right fielder Steele Walker had a monster weekend, collecting 11 hits in 16 plate appearances (.688), including home runs number 10 and 11 on the season.
27 – OU left fielder Cade Harris has hit safely in 27 consecutive games. Harris was 5 for 12 in the three games.