No. 10 Sooners Head to Baylor for Big 12 Opener

March 24-26 | Waco, Texas | Baylor Ballpark

¹⁰ Oklahoma

¹⁴ Baylor

FCSC (Fri.) / FSSW (Sat.-Sun.)

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Weekend Pitching Match-Ups
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Baylor
Friday, 6:35p.m.	RHP-Dylan Grove (0-1, 2.79)	RHP-Nick Lewis (3-1, 2.73)
>>>Last Start	at Georgia Tech (3/14): ND, 6.0 IP, 0 R, 2 K	vs. West Virginia (3/17): L, 4.0 IP, 10 H, 5 K
Saturday, 3:05 p.m.	RHP-Devon Perez (4-0, 2.86)	RHP-Montana Parsons (1-1, 3.64)
>>>Last Start	at Kennesaw State (3/19): W, 6.1 IP, 3 R, 6 K	vs. West Virginia (3/18): ND, 6.0 IP, 10 H, 5 K
Sunday, 12:05 p.m.	TBA	LHP-Chad Bradford (3-1, 2.38)
>>>Last Start	N/A	vs. West Virginia (3/19): 6.2 IP, 1 R, 2 K

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 21-4 (0-0 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (4th Season) Career Record/Years: 638-472-3/21 Rank: 10^CBN/15^N/19^USA/24^BA/25^D1B

Baylor Bears
Record: 17-4 (1-2 Big 12) Coach: Steve Rodriguez (2nd Season) Career Record/Years: 327-231/14 Rank: 14^N/18^USA/19^CBN/20^BA/22^D1B

On the Air
TV/Stream	FOXSportsGo FCSC (Friday) FSSW (Saturday) FSSW+ (Sunday) Pat Combs Steve Johnigan
Radio	KREF 1400 AM TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland Ross Hubbard

Player to Watch
RP-JB Olson, Sr. Notched his fifth save of the season and ninth of his career as the Sooner closer last week to move into a tie for seventh all-time at OU. Threw 6.2-scoreless innings of relief against Baylor in 2016 with six strikeouts.

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FIRST PITCH

The No. 10 University of Oklahoma baseball team opens Big 12 play at Baylor this weekend. The Sooners meet the Bears for the first of three from Ferrell Field at Baylor Ballpark in Waco on Friday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. as OU completes a stretch of nine road games. All three games will air across the Sooner Sports Network and can be heard locally on the home of Sooner baseball, Sportstalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM. The voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland will handle all of the play-by-play action alongside former OU baseball player Ross Hubbard. Friday will be televised on FOX College Sports-Central followed by two games on FOX Sports Southwest. Pat Combs (ppb) and Steve Johnigan (color) will be on the call.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

Oklahoma is 21-4 on the season, marking a 10-game improvement over the first 25 games of 2016. The Sooners lead the Big 12 in hitting and pitching with a .309 batting average and 2.61 earned run average. Senior catcher Renae Martinez picked up two hits in Tuesday night's 4-3 loss to Oklahoma State to tie for the team lead in average at .373. He has scored 19 runs, driven in 16 and smacked three home runs. Sophomore left fielder Steele Walker is fourth on the team with a .357 average and has driven in a team-leading 25 runs. He has seven doubles, three triples and three home runs for a .582 slugging percentage. Oklahoma expects to get redshirt-freshman outfielder Kyler Murray, who began spring football practice this week, back into the lineup after being slowed by a hamstring injury earlier this month.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

No. 14 Baylor is 17-4 under second-year head coach Steve Rodriguez and 1-2 in the Big 12 after salvaging its first series with a Sunday win against West Virginia at home last weekend. The Bears are coming off a midweek win over Dallas Baptist and own a 12-3 record at their home park. Designated hitter Matt Menard is hitting .342 with 15 runs scored and 10 driven in. Right fielder Kameron Esthay has scored 24 runs with 19 RBI and four home runs on a .292 average. Senior RHP Nick Lewis, who has not started a game vs. OU in his career, gets the nod on Friday. He is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA and 29 strikeouts across 29.2 innings in five starts.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.315/.420/.356	Hit .333 (5-for-15) in the Kennesaw State series.
CF-Ben Hollas	.323/.427/.484	Hit a team-high .444 (8-for-18) in Georgia last week.
3B-Jack Flansburg	.277/.371/.361	Has started at all four infield positions for second year.
1B-Brylie Ware	.361/.466/.431	Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (3/13).
LF-Steele Walker	.357/.407/.582	Hit go-ahead grand slam at Kennesaw State (3/18).
C-Renae Martinez	.373/.427/.582	Drove in seven runs and homered twice last week.
DH-Brady Lindsly	.286/.400/.381	Has hit in all 11 starts this season.
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.292/.376/.442	Homered in back-to-back games vs. NIU and Villanova.
RF-Blake Brewster	.314/.442/.629	Homered twice at Kennesaw State (3/18).

Last 10 Meetings
Year	Result	Location
2016	Win, 7-6 (11)	Norman
	Loss, 1-6	Norman
	Win, 4-3	Norman
2015	Win, 13-3	Waco
	Loss, 2-7	Waco
	Loss, 0-3	Waco
2014	Loss, 5-10	Norman
	Win, 13-7	Norman
	Loss, 2-3	Norman
2013	Win, 2-0	OKC

ALL-TIME VS. BAYLOR

Despite having lost three consecutive series to the Bears prior to 2016, the Sooners lead the all-time series, 40-36. Oklahoma took two out of three last year after Baylor claimed two out of three in the three previous series. In the 2013 Big 12 Baseball Championship opener, Jon Gray pitched OU to a 2-0 victory in a complete-game, 12-strikeout effort. The Sooners' last visit to Waco resulted in the Bears claiming the series by Saturday, but Oklahoma salvaged Sunday's game in dominating fashion, 13-3.

LAST TIME THEY MET

Oklahoma walked off twice to claim the 2016 Baylor series. The Sooners never led until the final run of the game in either win. In game one, Steele Walker led off the eighth with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored the tying run on an Alex Wise sacrifice-fly. Sheldon Neuse hit a leadoff-single in the ninth and the Sooners had two on after a walk to Jack Flansburg. Renae Martinez was then asked to sacrifice; a bunt fielded in front of the mound and thrown away as Neuse came in to score the winning run. Sunday's finale went to extra innings as both teams scored in the sixth, seventh and eighth inning; all ended with the score tied. Cade Harris and Ben Hollas singled to set the table in the 11th and Flansburg delivered the walk-off single. Each team hit four home runs in the game with Hunter Haley hitting two for OU.

Next Home Game
Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech March 31 \| Norman, Okla. The Sooners hit the road for nine-straight games away from home beginning next week. Oklahoma returns for its Big 12 home opener against Texas Tech on March 31. TICKETS

BIG 12 OPENERS

The Sooners are 9-11 in the first Big 12 match-up of the season after a 5-0 loss at Texas Tech (3/24/15). Oklahoma lost the series to the Red Raiders to mark the first series loss in the first Big 12 weekend since 2012 against Texas. OU won its first Big 12 game in the league opener vs. Iowa State (3/7/97), 7-4.

MILESTONE TRACKER

Jake Irvin has 42 strikeouts on the season to push hit career total to 93; which leaves him seven shy of 100. JB Olson picked up his fifth save of the season last week. He is in a five-way tie for seventh all-time in career saves at nine; a list that includes Garrett Richards and Ralph Garza. Offensively, Steele Walker needs four hits in the next 18 games to be the 14th player on record (2003-present) with 100 career hits in 100 career games or less. He currently has 96 hits in 82 games.

University of Oklahoma Athletics