Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma baseball: Sooners look to rebound from woeful week

By Chip Rouse

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 30: Second baseman Brock Holt #12 of the Boston Red Sox cannot make after the basll squirts free as Dee Gordon #9 of the Seattle Mariners steals second base during the fourth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on March 30, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 30: Second baseman Brock Holt #12 of the Boston Red Sox cannot make after the basll squirts free as Dee Gordon #9 of the Seattle Mariners steals second base during the fourth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on March 30, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma baseball hit a big bump in the road last week, losing three out of four away from home.

Related Story. Sooners' gallant comeback falls short in Bedlam. light

Oklahoma State scored a run in the bottom half of the ninth to edge the Sooners 6-5 in a midweek Bedlam matchup in Stillwater that will not count in the conference standings. OU moved on to West Virginia over the weekend and didn’t find much of a welcome there, either, dropping two of three.

Despite the three losses last week, Oklahoma’s 22-7 (.759) overall record remains the winningest percentage in the Big 12. The Sooners are back home for four games this week, hosting Oral Roberts on Tuesday and welcoming TCU for a big three-game series at L. Dale Mitchell Park, beginning on Friday.

The Sooners made a two-run second inning hold up for a 2-1 win in the series opener with West Virginia, but found themselves on the wrong end of 12-3 and 5-1 scores in the final two games of the series.

The OU athletic department reported that It was the first time in the first six weeks of the season that Oklahoma had lost in a three-game weekend series. Before last weekend, the Sooners had won the rubber game (the Sunday game in a three-game weekend series when the series is tied at one game apiece) in a Big 12 series 14 consecutive times, dating back to the 2014 season.

Discounting last week, Oklahoma pitching remains among the best in the college game this season. OU leads the Big 12 and ranks 11th nationally with a staff ERA of 2.91. The Sooners have allowed three or fewer runs in 19 of their 29 games this season and have held their opponent to zero or one run 12 times.

Sophomore right-hander Cade Cavalli was the only OU pitcher to post a victory in the West Virginia series, going five full innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He also fanned a career-high eight batters. It was Cavalli’s fourth win of the season against one loss.

Three other Sooner starters — Levi Prater, Nathan Wiles and Ben Abram — already have five wins apiece. Those three, plus Cavalli, have accounted for 19 of Oklahoma’s 22 wins in 2019.

Junior closer Jason Ruffcorn garnered his seventh save of the season, and fourth in the last six games, in the Sooners’ 2-1 win last Friday at West Virginia. His seven saves leads the Big 12 and ranks 12th nationally among NCAA Division I teams.

The Sooners dropped four spots, to No. 23 from No. 19, in this week’s USA Today College Baseball Top 25.

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