Baseball Plays TCU for Big 12 Title at Home

No. 3 TCU

Oklahoma

May 14-16 | Norman | L. Dale Mitchell Park

Pitching Match-Ups
TCU	Oklahoma
LHP-Alex Young 9-2, 1.46, 68 Ks	RHP-Jake Elliott 4-5, 2.81, 75 Ks
RHP-Preston Morrison 11-1, 1.87, 65	RHP-Robert Tasin 8-2, 2.16, 51
LHP-Tyler Alexander 4-2, 2.94, 60	RHP-Alec Hansen 5-5, 3.89, 89

On the Air
Radio	1400 AM \| 1560 AM SoonerSports.tv Toby Rowland \| Chris Plank
TV	FCSC FSSW (Thursday) FSSSW+ (Saturday) Chad McKee \| Mickey Tettleton

Player to Watch
Jake Elliott // So. // RHP The Sooners' series starter every weekend this season, posted five-shutout innings in a no-decision start that OU won at TCU in 2014.

NORMAN, Okla. – The Big 12 regular season champion will be crowned at L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend. Oklahoma needs to sweep to earn its first regular season title, while No. 3 TCU needs just one win.

The Sooners won their third straight Big 12 road series by taking two out of three from Kansas State last weekend. Oklahoma is now 32-22 overall and 13-8 in conference play. Junior second baseman Kolbey Carpenter leads the way with a .366 batting average and .563 slugging percentage on eight home runs and 37 RBI. Junior center fielder Craig Aikin ranks second at .342 with a team-leading 12 doubles. Junior catcher Anthony Hermelyn is third on the team at .304, while sharing the team-lead in RBI at 39 with sophomore shortstop Sheldon Neuse, who is hitting .293. In the opener, Oklahoma looks to sophomore RHP Jake Elliott (4-5), who has pitched the weekend opener all 13 times this season. He owns a 2.81 earned run average and .219 batting average against. The Sooners pitching staff is first in the Big 12 and 12th in the nation with an 8.90 strikeout-per-nine-inning average.

Promotions

It's “Military Appreciation Weekend” throughout the entire series. Active duty and military veterans and their families will be eligible for $4 admission at the stadium. On Friday, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free special edition OU baseball hat followed by "Friday Fireworks" after the game. For Saturday's regular season finale, “Sunday Sundaes” return for the final time. The first 200 fans will receive a mini OU baseball helmet with an ice cream sundae. Kids can also run the bases following Saturday's game.

Scouting the Horned Frogs

Winners of six in a row, No. 3 TCU is 40-9 overall and 15-5 in the Big 12. Designated hitter Connor Wanhanen (.364) and center fielder Cody Jones (.362) leads the Horned Frogs lineup in hitting. Wanhanen has driven in 30 runs and scored 28, while Jones has scored a team-high 46 to go with 24 stolen bases. Right-hander Preston Morrison leads a staff of aces with an 11-1 record, while holding a 1.87 ERA. Out of the bullpen, righty Riley Ferrell has locked down 12 saves with a 0.73 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 24.2 innings.

Winning in the Big 12

Robert Tasin has entered rare company for an OU pitcher in recent years with his fifth conference win. He became the first Sooner to win five Big 12 games since Michael Rocha and Burch Smith did so in 2011. Tasin, who has won four of his six league starts plus one relief win, will have an opportunity to match Zach Neal (2010) with six Big 12 wins in one season when he pitches against TCU.

Sooners in the Outfield

Aikin (center field), junior Hunter Haley (left) and redshirt-senior Taylor Alspaugh (right) have combined to start 79 games together in the Sooner outfield. All three players have been on the Oklahoma roster since 2013, but did not see the field together until opening day 2014. The trio started 41 games together in 2014 and 38 in 2015. They have played the most games together in the outfield since Cody Reine, Erik Ross and Max White started 47 together from 2010-12.