Baseball vs. KSU: Five Things to Watch

March 30, 2012

By Andrew Gilman | SoonerSports.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 24 Oklahoma (16-10, 2-4 Big 12) opens a three-game series with Kansas State (13-11, 2-4) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. OU's Jordan John (3-4, 3.14 ERA) gets the nod in the series opener against KSU's Matt Applegate (2-2, 5.56 ERA).

Below are five things to watch this weekend when the Sooners and the Wildcats tangle for the 37th consecutive season.

1. Sooners hitting their stride
OU got swept in its only other home Big 12 series, but the Sooners seem to be playing better of late. OU went 4-1 last week, including a series win at Texas Tech, rallying from an 0-4 conference start. OU has won five of its past six games. The Sooners are allowing less than three runs per game in the last five wins. One of the reasons on offense is Max White. The centerfielder/first baseman has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games. He has 21 RBIs in the last 19 games after a slow start where he had just two RBI in OU's first seven games of the year.

2. Wildcat payback?
OU lost the series to Kansas State last year in Manhattan, Kan., but it was the first time the Sooners lost a series to the Wildcats since 2001. But Kansas State got two more important victories over the Sooners last year – beating OU twice in the Big 12 Tournament, both of which were one-run games.

3. Offensive battle
The Sooners come into the game ranked eighth in the conference in team ERA. Kansas State ranks ninth. That could lead to a lot of runs being scored. Kansas State is ranked No. 4 in the conference with a .290 team batting average and the Wildcats have a pair of starters who are hitting better than .429 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Sooners have scored five or more runs in nine of their past 11 games.

4. Overton is on fire
Sophomore Dillon Overton has been sensational this season and is scheduled to get the start in game two on Saturday. He threw his second complete game and improved to 4-0 on the season after beating Texas Tech last week. Overton is in the top-five in the Big 12 in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and complete games. In addition, Overton has a 2.89 ERA and has walked just 12 batters in 46 2/3 innings pitched.

5. Promotions
The first 100 fans into each of the three games against Kansas State will receive “K” cards. Also, OU players will sign autographs following Saturday's game. Sunday, kids can run the bases after the game is over. The first 250 fans on Sunday will receive ice cream helmets. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All games will be on the radio on KREF-AM 1400 and on TV on Cox Ch. 3/703 HD. Friday's game can also be seen nationally on Fox College Sports.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Baseball vs. KSU: Five Things to Watch

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