Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma baseball: Sooners find themselves on slippery slope

By Chip Rouse

ST. LOUIS, MO - APRIL 6: Michael Wacha #52 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at Busch Stadium on April 6, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - APRIL 6: Michael Wacha #52 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at Busch Stadium on April 6, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It hasn’t been the best couple of weeks for the 2019 edition of Oklahoma baseball, and the downward slope the Sooners have been on is about to get even steeper.

For the second straight weekend, Oklahoma has lost series to Big 12 opponents, dropping two of three at West Virginia and repeating that outcome this past weekend at home against visiting TCU. The Sooners also lost midweek games both weeks. That adds up to a 2-6 record over the past two weeks and a 23-10 overall record.

Two weeks ago, OU’s record stood at 21-4 and the Sooners were ranked 19th in the USA Today Baseball Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Oklahoma hosts Texas Southern for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Those will be the last two Sooner home games at L. Dale Mitchell Park in the month of April. Between April 12 and May 3, OU will play 11 consecutive road games.

More from Stormin in Norman

OU goes on the road this weekend at Baylor and doesn’t play another home game until May 3, when Texas Tech comes to Norman for a three-game series. In fact, after Wednesday, the Sooners have just three home games scheduled the rest of the season.

After the weekend series at Baylor, Oklahoma is at Oral Roberts on April 16. The Golden Eagles defeated the Sooners 4-2 in 11 innings last Tuesday. The Sooners go out of conference the weekend of April 19 for three games on the road against Minnesota. That will be followed by a single game at Wichita State on April 23, and OU continues its tour of the Sunflower State with three games at Kansas State that weekend.

As poorly as Oklahoma has played in its last two Big 12 series, the Sooners are in a three-way tie for second place with a 5-4 conference record and just a game and a half out of first place. That’s the good news. The bad news: The Sooners are on the road at first-place Baylor (22-8, 6-2) this weekend.

For two weekends in row,, OU has won the opening game of the series, but lost the next two. Senior third baseman Brylie Ware was the difference in a 7-6 walk-off victory over TCU on Friday. Ware sharply singled to left field in the bottom of the ninth, driving in freshman Diego Muniz with the winning run.

While the OU offense has struggled a bit the past two weeks, the pitching and defense has remained solid. Four OU starters have won four or more games this season and, as a staff, the Sooners own a 3.15 ERA, which leads the Big 12 and ranks 19th among NCAA Division I teams. They have been getting strong performances at both the front and back end of the rotation. Junior closer Jason Ruffcorn has a 2.11 ERA and is tied for the Big 12 lead with seven saves.

Additionally, Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in double plays (30) and fielding percentage (.979), and has committed the second fewest errors (26).

Tyler Hardman continues to pace OU hitters at the plate. The sophomore first baseman was 5 for 11 in the TCU series. His 46 hits are second in the Big 12, and he is fourth in the conference with 31 RBI and tied for third with 72 total bases.

Freshman leadoff hitter Diego Muniz also had a productive weekend against TCU pitching, collecting five hits in 11 at bats. Four of his five hits were for extra bases (three doubles and a home run, and he drew three walks. The Sooner right fielder’s weekend output included four runs batted in, five runs scored and a .600 on-base percentage.

The Big 12 coaches picked Oklahoma to finish seventh this season in their preseason coaches poll. So far, the Sooners are exceeding the expectation of the league coaches, but how they play over their remaining games in April ( a total of 13 games, 11 on the road) will go a long way in determining what kind of season the Sooners ultimately end up having.

Home/OU Baseball