Oklahoma baseball: Sooners earn No. 5 seed in Big 12 Championship
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma baseball has already faced in-state rival Oklahoma State five times this season, and there will be a sixth Bedlam game on Wednesday, when the two teams square off in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship.
Oklahoma (27-26, 11-13) is the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, having finished a game back of Oklahoma State (32-16-1, 12-12) in the regular-season conference standings.
The Sooners ended the regular season winning three of their last four Big 12 series, including taking two of three from Baylor this past weekend.
Oklahoma took two of three in the regular-season Bedlam series with Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys won the two games between the in-state rivals that did not count toward the Big 12 standings. Otherwise OSU holds a 3-2 advantage in the 2021 season series.
The Oklahoma side of the bracket features No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Oklahoma State and the winner of a play-in game on Tuesday between No. 8 West Virginia and No. 9 Kansas. The other side of the bracket includes No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 7 Kansas State.
The Sooners and Cowboys will play in the final game of the opening round, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The earlier matchups on Wednesday are No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Baylor, No, 2 TCU vs. No. 7 Kansas State and No. 1 Texas vs. the play-in winner between West Virginia and Kansas.
Oklahoma is hitting .291 as a team for the season, second best in the Big 12. Sooner junior first baseman Tyler Hardman leads the conference with a .401 batting average and is also the Big 12 leader in total bases with 141 in 52 games, one more than sophomore Eric Strand of Oklahoma State.
Strand and Cowboy teammate Jake Thompson rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 in hitting, averaging .360 and .363, respectively. Thompson leads the Big 12 with a .509 on-base percentage. Strand’s 64 RBI this season are second best in the conference through all games.
The Cowboys have a couple of quality starters in freshman right-hander Justin Campbell and southpaw Scott Parker. Campbell is 6-1 in 11 starts with an ERA of 2.25. Parker also has a 6-1 record and an ERA of 2.34. The Sooners are sure to see one of those two pitchers in the opening round.
Oklahoma State pitching has recorded seven shutouts this season. That’s tied for fifth most nationally. And Cowboy pitchers are averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks eighth in NCAA Division I baseball.
Oklahoma senior Jason Ruffcorn has gotten the start in the opening game the last two weekend series, his only two starts of the season, and he is a good bet to get the start against Oklahoma State. The former Sooner closer and All-Big 12 second-team selection has a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 3.26. Opponents are hitting just .198 against him.
Ruffcorn is one of three Sooners to be named to a 2021 All-Big 12 first or second team. Hardman was a first-team selection and redshirt-freshman Peyton Graham joined Ruffcorn as a second-team honoree. In addition, true freshman outfielder/DH Jace Bohrofen was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
Oklahoma has outscored its opponents 308 to 224 in the final seven innings this season and is 22-1 when leading after six innings.
The winner of the four-five matchup between the Sooners and Cowboys will likely face top-seeded Texas in a winner’s bracket contest on Thursday. The loser will be paired against the loser of the Texas-West Virginia/Kansas contest in an elimination game on Thursday.