Oklahoma baseball: Sooners riding ‘Mighty Mo’ to Kansas State
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma baseball is riding a three-game winning streak, and the Sooners are hoping that momentum will carry over this weekend at Kansas State as they complete the final three games of a lengthy road trip.
OU (28-24. 6-6) returns to Big 12 action this weekend for the first time in nearly two weeks. The Sooners won two of three games against Minnesota last weekend in the second weekend leg of an 11-game road swing. Oklahoma is 4-4 on the road trip, but are just, but is just 2-4 away from home this season against Big 12 teams.
Kansas State (20-22, 5-7) has won its last three series against Big 12 opponents, including taking two of three from No. 19 TCU last weekend, and is 7-3 over its last 10 games. The Sooners lost two of three at home to TCU earlier this month.
Only one game separates OU and K-State in the Big 12 standings. If the Sooners want to remain ahead of the Wildcats in the standings, they will need to win two of the three games.
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The Sooners have dominated the all-time series with Kansas State with a record of 168-61 and have beaten the Wildcats in eight of the last nine games between the two teams.
The two offenses are fairly similar. Oklahoma averages slightly more runs per game than the Wildcats, but K-State has the decided edge in the long ball. The big statistical difference is in the two pitching staffs. The Sooners are second in the Big 12 with a staff ERA of 3.26, nearly two runs better than Kansas State, which ranks next to last in the conference.
Outfielders Zach Kokoska and Will Brennan are the most dangerous hitters in the K-State lineup. Kokoska, who bats cleanup, his hitting .329 through 42 games with six home runs and 26 runs batted in; Brennan owns a batting average of .306 with 13 doubles and 24 RBI.
The Wildcats will go with a couple of freshman starters this weekend against the Sooners. Right-hander Griffin Hassall will get the call in the series opener on Friday. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Week went 7 2/3 innings, giving up just three hits in a win over TCU. On Sunday, OU will see the best of the Kansas State starters in southpaw Jordan Wicks. In 10 starts this season, Wicks is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.52.
Oklahoma is averaging 5.8 runs per game, while allowing opponents 3.7 runs. The Sooner pitching staff has yielded three or fewer runs in 23 of 42 games.
An interesting side note to this game: Kansas State head coach Pete Hughes preceded Skip Johnson at Oklahoma. As the Sooners’ head coach from 2014-17, Hughes compiled an overall record of 128-107-1.