Mired in a season-long four-game losing streak, the Oklahoma baseball team welcomes No. 17 Vanderbilt to Norman this weekend for a third straight SEC series against a top-25 opponent.
The No. 19 Sooners (23-9, 5-7) suffered their first series sweep of the season, losing three games to No. 7 LSU last weekend. That was followed by a 9-1 home loss to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, extending OU's winless streak.
Sooners host No. 17 Vanderbilt for top-20 SEC series
In the wake of its current losing streak, Oklahoma dropped in the national rankings to No. 19 this week in both the D1Baseball Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Vanderbilt series caps a seven-game homestand that has been highly unfavorable to the Sooners through the first four games. The all-time series between the Sooners and the Commodores is five games long, with Oklahoma holding a 3-2 edge.
The most recent meeting was in 2008 as part of the Tempe Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Two of OU's three wins over Vanderbilt came in that postseason.
While Oklahoma has lost its last four games, Vanderbilt (25-8, 7-5) is riding a five-game winning streak, including a series sweep at Florida last weekend.
This is the Sooners' fifth SEC series in their first season in the conference most experts believe to be the best in Division-I college baseball. OU is 2-2 in those series with wins over South Carolina and Mississippi State, and series losses to then-No. 12 Alabama and No. 7 LSU.
The series opener on Friday night will be televised on SEC Network with a 7 p.m. CT start time. Saturday's game and the series finale on Sunday will be on SEC Network+ beginning at 4 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
- Sooner ace Kyson Witherspoon, the normal Friday starter, will have his start pushed back while he deals with back spasms. He is expected to be fine and is still expected to take the mound on Saturday. The junior right-hander has a 2.40 ERA and is holding opponents to a .199 batting average. His 68 strikeouts rank seventh nationally.
- Oklahoma averages 6.8 runs per game, which ranks 16th out of 16 SEC teams this season.
- Four Sooner hitters are batting above .300 through 33 games, led by outfielder Trey Gambill at .338. Freshman second baseman Kyle Branch is hitting .319, shortstop Jaxon Willits is at .311 and catcher Easton Carmichael is hitting .302. Carmichael leads the Sooners with 30 runs batted in, and Willits is the team leader with eight home runs.
- OU is 15-5 this season at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Three of those losses, however, came at the hands of LSU a week ago. The Sooners have outscored their opponents 142-85 at home this season.
Vanderbilt
- First baseman Riley Nelson leads the Commodores with a .352 batting average. Third baseman Brodie Johnston is the team leader in home runs and RBI with six and 28, respectively.
- Junior right-hander Cody Bowker is the ace of the staff with a 2-1 record in eight starts and a 2.68 ERA, tied for sixth in the SEC. Vanderbilt's 3.37 staff ERA is third-best in the SEC and sixth-best in D1 baseball.
- Vanderbilt has scored four or more runs in an inning 18 times this season and seven or more runs in an inning five times.
- The Commodores don't beat themselves with costly errors. They are second in the SEC in fielding percentage at .985, which is also fifth-best in D1 baseball.