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Oklahoma baseball: Sooners begin tough season-ending road stretch at TCU

By Chip Rouse

Blake Robertson (26) takes the plate as the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at O'Brate Stadium on OSU campus in Stillwater on Saturday, April 9, 2022.Ou Osu Baseball 2
Blake Robertson (26) takes the plate as the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at O'Brate Stadium on OSU campus in Stillwater on Saturday, April 9, 2022.Ou Osu Baseball 2 /
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Seven of the 10 remaining Oklahoma baseball games are on the road, and the homestretch of the 2022 season begins this weekend with three games in Ft. Worth against TCU.

The Horned Frogs are 27-16 overall and ranked 24th in the country this week. TCU is 12-6 in the Big 12, one game back of conference leader Oklahoma State. Oklahoma comes into the series with a 9-6 conference record, tied with West Virginia for fourth place. The Sooners are 27-16 overall.

Oklahoma has won five of its last six games against Big 12 opponents, but those wins were against teams at the bottom of the conference standings.

TCU was swept in two games last weekend at No. 22 Florida State, but the Horned Frogs, who in recent years have done well against the Sooners, are 6-3 in their last three Big 12 series.

Oklahoma is 62-40 overall against TCU, but the Sooners have won just four of the last 22 games with the Horned Frogs, which includes a current six-game losing streak. TCU owns a 21-9 record against Oklahoma since becoming a member of the Big 12 in 2012.

The Sooners are 4-2 away from home in the Big 12, but that has been achieved primarily against teams in the lower half of the standings. TCU, on the other hand, is 7-2 at home in Big 12 action. Both losses were to West Virginia, which shares fourth place in the league standings with OU.

What fans need to know about the Oklahoma-TCU baseball series

  • The Sooners will go with the probable pitching rotation of left-hander Jake Bennett (4-2, 3.29 ERA) on Friday, right-hander David Sandlin (4-2, 5.50) on Saturday and freshman Cade Horton (2-1, 4.63) in the series finale on Sunday.
  • First baseman Blake Robertson leads Oklahoma offensively. Robertson is hitting .384 with an on-base percentage of .524, second best in the Big 12.
  • The Sooners have three hitters who rank in the top 10 in the Big 12: Robertson, Peyton Graham (9th at .345) and Tanner Tredaway (10th, .341), TCU’s best hitter is shortstop Tommy Sacco, who is hitting .354, seventh best in the Big 12. Third baseman Brayden Taylor owns a .319 batting average, which ranks 19th in the league.
  • TCU is last in the Big 12 in team batting average (.264), fourth from last in runs (286) and next to last in home runs (36).
  • The Horned Frogs make up for their offensive woes with an outstanding pitching staff. TCU’s staff ERA (4.65) ranks fourth in the conference. Their two primary starters are Riley Cornelio (3-4, 4.45 ERA in 11 starts) and Brett Walker (4-2, 4.92 in 10 starts).

Prediction

This is going to be a tough road challenge for Oklahoma. They have the bats to cause trouble for the TCU pitching staff, but they have to be able to advance runners and get them around to score once they get on base. They can’t just rely on two and three-run homers to produce the scoring. The key matchup in this Big 12 series will be the OU hitters against TCU pitching. Oklahoma probably isn’t going to win this series, but they should avoid a sweep. TCU wins two of three.

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