Oklahoma baseball heads to West Texas in hopes of extending Big 12 lead

What was once a three-game margin atop the Big 12 standing is now down to a mere game as the Oklahoma baseball Sooners travel to West Texas this weekend to do battle with Texas Tech.

The relatively cozy lead the Sooners held in the Big 12 standings a little over a week ago took a major hit last weekend as the Sooners lost two of three games at home to Texas while Oklahoma State was sweeping its series with BYU.

Oklahoma (26-17, (15-6) had won nine straight games prior to the series against Texas, but the Sooners have been on the short end of the scoreboard in three of their last four games and are anxious to get things turned around in Lubbock against a Texas Tech team (30-17, 12-12) that also hit a rough patch last weekend, losing all three games at Kansas. That was just a week removed from a series sweep by the Red Raiders over second-place and then No. 22-ranked West Virginia.

The Sooners dropped from No. 18 to No. 23 in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll.

The three-game series in Lubbock will be the Oklahoma's penultimate baseball road trip as a member of the Big 12, with the Sooners pulling up stakes and moving to the SEC after this season. This may also be the final time the Sooners and Red Raiders meet in the regular season for the foreseeable future.

The all-time series between Oklahoma and Texas Tech has been closely contested with OU holding a slim six-game advantage (54-48-1), but the Red Raiders are 23-15 in games played at Dan Law Field in Lubbock.

What fans need to know about this weekend's OU-Texas Tech series

• The last time the Sooners were in Lubbock (2022), OU took the first two games and won the series over the Red Raiders.

• The series between OU and Texas Tech features the top two hitting teams in the Big 12. The Red Raiders lead the conference with a team batting average of .314 and average nearly nine runs per outing. Texas Tech sophomore Damian Bravo leads the conference with a .402 batting average and 20 doubles. The Sooners are hitting .304 as a team, with catcher Easton Carmichael (.358) and second baseman Jackson Nicklaus (.349) leading the way.

• A couple of side notes to this series: Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock was an assistant coach at Oklahoma under Sunny Golloway from 2006 to 2011. Oklahoma pitchers James Hitt and Brendan Girton transferred to OU from Texas Tech.

• Pitching has been an issue for both teams. Given the offensive firepower of both lineups and averaging nine (T-Tech) and eight (OU) runs, respectively, this series sets up as being a high-scoring affair.

• Reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Braden Davis will get the start on Friday night for the Sooners. The left-handed transfer from Sam Houston State is 4-1 in Big 12 starts this season and has struck out eight or more batters in six of his nine starts.

• Texas Tech is seventh currently in the Big 12 standings with a 12-12 league record, but the Red Raiders are one of just two teams in the conference with 30 overall wins this season. Oklahoma State is the other with 31.