Baseball Hits the Road for Kansas

April 29-May 1 | Lawrence, Kan. | Hoglund Ballpark

Oklahoma

Kansas

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Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 20-20-1 (6-9 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (3rd Season) Career Record/Years: 607-461-3/20 Rank: NR

Kansas Jayhawks
Record: 17-23-1 (3-8 Big 12) Coach: Ritch Price (14th) Career Record/Years: 650-619-4/22 Rank: NR

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Stream	ESPN3: Friday Saturday Sunday

Player to Watch
OF-Steele Walker, Fr. Over the last 12 games, Walker is hitting .386 (17-for-44). He doubled twice vs. West Virginia to push his season total to 12, which ties him with Neuse and Wise for the team lead.

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma baseball team is on the road this weekend for a three-game, Big 12 series at Kansas. Game one gets underway Friday night at 6:00 pm.

The Sooners have claimed three of their last four conference series and head towards the weekend with a 20-20-1 overall and 6-9 Big 12 record. Oklahoma has claimed all three league series wins at home, while being swept twice on the road at Texas Tech and TCU, both of which currently rank in the nation's top-10 of several polls. Junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse leads the Sooners offensively. He is hitting .367 with a .639 slugging and .469 on-base percentage; all of which rank in the top five among Big 12 hitters. Senior right fielder Alex Wise has been in the lineup in each game for Oklahoma and is second with a .308 batting average, including a .328 mark in conference play. He has scored 23 runs and is tied for the team lead in doubles at 12 with Neuse and freshman outfielder Steele Walker. Walker has hit .386 (17-for-44) over the last 12 games to lift his season average to .271. Freshman right-hander Chris Andritsos (4-3) leads the OU pitching staff with a 2.86 earned run average. He struck out eight in 7.2 innings of a no-decision vs. West Virginia last week. Andritsos had a no-hitter through six innings on the Sooners' eventual 1-0, 10-inning victory. Junior right-hander Jake Elliott (0-1) and freshman right-hander Jake Irvin (2-1) round out Oklahoma's rotation.

Kansas is 17-23-1 overall and 3-8 in the Big 12 after a tie with Grand Canyon at home on Tuesday and a loss to Nebraska at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. The Jayhawks are hitting a collective .283, led by catcher Michael Tinsley at .369 with 35 runs scored. Left fielder Devin Foyle, who ranks fourth with a .324 average, has knocked in a team-high 29 runs. Lefty Ben Krauth (3-4) is Kansas' Friday starter. All three of the Jayhawks' league wins have come in their last three Friday games. He has thrown two complete games and owns a 3.02 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched.

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups

Game	Oklahoma	Kansas
Friday	RHP-Chris Andritsos, Fr. (4-3, 2.86, 34 K)	LHP-Ben Krauth, Sr. (3-4, 3.02, 75 K)
Saturday	RHP-Jake Elliott, Jr. (0-1, 5.08, 29 K)	TBA
Sunday	RHP-Jake Irvin, Fr. (2-1, 4.85, 35 K)	TBA

Last Time They Met

A pair of walk-offs opened and closed a series sweep for Oklahoma over Kansas in Norman last season. The Friday dramatics came by way of a 7-6, 10-inning thriller that ended on a walk-off home run by the winning pitcher Jacob Evans. The Sooners took game two, 6-3, behind six-strong inning from Alec Hansen, who struck out nine, and a three-hit game from Kolbey Carpenter. Oklahoma needed extras again on Sunday as Taylor Alspaugh provided the walk-off base hit in the 10th of an 8-7 win.

Wrist Injury Slows Sooner Senior

After having been voted a series captain by his teammates each of the past two weekends, senior left fielder Hunter Haley finds himself on the shelf with a fractured wrist. A career .448 (13-for-29) hitter against Kansas, Haley was injured in last weekend's opener against West Virginia on a high-throw, swipe-tag play at first. For his career, Haley has registered 99 runs driven in and 98 scored, leaving him just shy of becoming the 40th player in program history to record 100 in each category throughout his Sooner career.

Last 15 Meetings

Year	Result	Location
2015	Win, 8-7 (10)	Norman
	Win, 6-3	Norman
	Win, 7-6 (10)	Norman
2014	Loss, 3-4	Lawrence
	Win, 2-1	Lawrence
	Win, 2-1	Lawrence
2013	Win, 7-2	Oklahoma City
	Loss, 8-10	Norman
	Win, 2-1	Norman
	Win, 12-1	Norman
2012	Win, 4-1	Lawrence
	Win, 8-2	Lawrence
2011	Win, 11-7	Norman
	Win, 11-4	Norman
	Win, 12-1	Norman

All-Time vs. Kansas

Oklahoma leads the all-time series over Kansas, 133-70-1, including a 38-17 mark in Big 12 regular season games. In postseason play, the two sides have met seven times with OU holding a 4-3 advantage, which includes a 2-1 mark in the Big 12 Championship with a 7-2 Sooner win in the 2013 title game. Jacob Evans got the win in five innings of relief and first baseman Matt Oberste provided four RBI.

Cool Ranch Andritsos

Freshman Chris Andritsos has emerged as Oklahoma's Friday night starter and one of the top two-way players in the Big 12. On the mound, he is 4-3 with a team-leading 2.86 ERA and Big 12-leading 0.83. In limited action at the plate as the OU designated hitter or first baseman, Andritsos is hitting .250 (9-for-36) with five runs scored and five driven in. Against West Virginia, he had a no-hitter through six and went on to strike out eight in 7.2-shutout innings in an eventual, 1-0 win. Andritsos then beat the Mountaineers with his bat in game two as he went 3-for-5 and drove in the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning.

April Brins Spring to Wise's Bat

In the month of April, senior right fielder Alex Wise is hitting .386 (22-for-57). After dropping to a season-low .253 batting average on March 26, Wise busted out of a slump with a 2-for-4, two-double game at Little Rock (3/29) and has lifted his average to .308. Since that game, he has hit successfully in 13 of 16 games with eight multi-hit games and seven doubles.

Up Next

The Sooners return home for their final four home games of the season next week. The action gets started at L. Dale Mitchell Park in a non-conference game against Oral Roberts on Tuesday, May 3. Oklahoma then welcomes Kansas State to Norman on the weekend.