Sooners Finish Homestand vs. Kennesaw State

March 16-18 | Norman, Okla. | L. Dale Mitchell Park

Kennesaw State

Oklahoma

Tickets

SoonerSports.tv (Fri.)

FSOK/FCSC (Sat./Sun.)

KREF 1400

Live Stats

Notes

Twitter

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Kennesaw State
Fri. 6:30 p.m.	RHP-Jake Irvin (2-0, 3.63)	RHP-AJ Moore (1-0, 1.83)
>>>Last Start	vs. TAMCC (3/9): ND, 4.1 IP, 5 R, 5 K	vs. Sacred Heart (3/9): W, 6.1 IP, 0 R, 9 K
Sat. 1 p.m.	RHP-Devon Perez (1-0, 3.12)	RHP-Brooks Buckler (1-0, 2.74)
>>>Last Start	vs. TAMCC (3/10): W, 5.1 IP, 0 R, 0 K	vs. Sacred Heart (3/10): ND, 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 K
Sun. 1 p.m.	TBA	RHP-Jake Rothwell (0-1, 8.15)
>>>Last Start	N/A	vs. Sacred Heart (3/10): ND, 6.0 IP, 1 R, 8 K

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 12-7 (0-0 Big 12) Coach: Skip Johnson (1st Season) Career Record/Years: 12-7/1 Rank: NR

Kennesaw State Owls
Record: 8-10 (0-0 ASUN) Coach: Mike Sansing (30th Season) Career Record/Years: 1,075-614/30 Rank: NR

On the Air
TV/Stream	SoonerSports.tv (Fri.) FSOK/FCSC (Sat./Sun.) FOXSportsGO (Sat./Sun.) George Frazier Ross Hubbard
Radio	KREF 1400 AM TuneIn Radio App

Player to Watch
SS-Brandon Zaragoza Coming off a three-hit game on Wednesday night, his third of the season, Zaragoza is hitting .310 overall and .346 in the last 13 games.

FIRST PITCH

The Oklahoma baseball team wraps its 13-game homestand by welcoming Kennesaw State to L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend. Game one is set for Friday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. The series continues the following two days at 1 p.m. This weekend's entire series will be broadcast by Sooner Sports TV. Game one will be a premium SoonerSports.tv feature followed by game two on FOX Sports Oklahoma and game three on FOX College Sports-Central. Former OU and MLB pitcher George Frazier (play-by-play) will call the games alongside former Sooner Ross Hubbard (color). The two televised games will also be stream on the FOXSportsGo mobile app. All three games will air locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM and will be streamed at Sportstalk1400.com and the Sportstalk page of the TuneIn app.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

Oklahoma has won eight of its last 10 games to improve to 12-7 overall entering the final weekend before Big 12 play begins. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin anchors the Sooner rotation with a 2-0 record and 3.63 earned run average. In 22.1 innings, he has struck out 29 and help opponents to a .175 average. As a team, the OU pitching staff is averaging 9.91 strikeouts-per-nine innings. Sophomore catcher/first baseman Brady Lindsly is hitting a team-high .409 and riding a seven-game hit streak. He has driven in 13 runs and totaled five extra-base hits. Junior left fielder and leadoff hitter Cade Harris is hitting .343 with a team-best .505 on-base percentage. He leads the country with 10 doubles and is third in the nation with 22 walks to go with a team-leading 24 runs scored. Senior second baseman Kyle Mendenhall is hitting .311 and is tied for the team lead in home runs with three to go with a team-high 21 RBI, including a team-best 11 of the Sooners' 47 two-out RBI.

PROMOTIONS

The Sooners will celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Saturday with a green OU koozie giveaway to the first 200 fans in attendance. Sunday will be “Sunday Funday”, where kids can run the bases post game and fans can get selfies and autographs with the Sooners.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
LF-Cade Harris	.343/.505/.543	First in the country in doubles (10), third in walks (22).
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.310/.359/.352	Hitting .346 (18-for-52) since Feb. 25.
RF-Steele Walker	.316/.404/.461	Sitting on 98 career RBI and 97 career runs.
CF-Kyler Murray	.260/.339/.500	Grand slam vs. TAMCC first for OU since April 4, 2017.
1B-Brady Lindsly	.409/.500/.545	Hitting .545 (12-for-22) over seven-game hit streak.
3B-Brylie Ware	.278/.346/.361	Reached base in 16 consecutive games.
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.311/.365/.473	Career-best 21 RBI through just 19 games.
DH-Cade Cavalli	.245/.379/.358	.462 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).
1B-Tyler Hardman	.189/.238/.324	Went 3-for-6 with two doubles vs. Texas Southern.

SCORING EARLY

OU scored in the first inning for the eighth time in 10 games against Texas Southern (3/14). The Sooners are 8-2 when scoring in the first inning this season; outscoring opponents 16-8 in the first. However, the opposition holds a 26-23 lead on runs scored in the second and third innings combined. OU is also 910-3 on the year when pushing across the first run of the game.

CROOKED NUMBERS

The OU lineup was hitting just .220 following a 5-2 loss at Dallas Baptist (2/27). Since turning the calendar to March, the Sooners are hitting a collective .323 and have collected 10 hits or more in seven of the last nine games. Oklahoma is 8-2 in March and averaging 8.1 runs per game, including its two largest offensive outbursts of the season. In the first 10 games of the season, the Sooners scored more than one run in an inning only 10 times and have since scored two or more in an inning on 21 occasions in the last nine games.

CHASE FOR THE 100-100 CLUB

Steele Walker sits at 98 RBI and 97 runs scored in his career. He is in the hunt to become the first OU player to reach 100 in each category since Sheldon Neuse (2014-16). Beginning with Jackson Williams (2005-07), seven Sooners reached the milestone over the next seven years. Walker would be just the second to do so playing his entire career in the BBCOR era. ALl-time, 39 players have reached the 100-run, 100-RBI mark as a Sooner. The first to do so was Keith Drumright (1974-76) with 147 runs and 114 RBI. Walker's former teammates Austin O'Brien (2014-17) and Hunter Haley (2013-16) were the most recent Sooners to approach the mark. O'Brien finished his career with 98 RBI and 95 runs, while Haley finished with 99 RBI and 98 runs. Both O'Brien (UCL) and Haley (wrist) suffered major injuries during their senior season.

Next Home Game
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia March 23 \| Norman, Okla. The Sooners welcome the Mountaineers to Norman for their Big 12 opener next Friday. TICKETS

SCOUTING THE OWLS

Kennesaw State is 8-10 on the season after taking a series from Sacred Heart at home last weekend and a 15-3 loss at Georgia on Tuesday evening. The Owls Friday starter, right-hander AJ Moore, is 1-0 with a 1.83 ERA in four starts. He has struck out 24 and help opponents to a .191 average. Second baseman Grant Williams, who went 6-for-13 against OU last season, has driven in a team-high 16 runs and slugged eight doubles and one home run. Left fielder LaDonis Bryant is hitting a team-leading .354 and stolen four bases, which is tied for the team lead.

2017 VS. KENNESAW

Oklahoma finished its five-game, spring break trip through the Atlanta area by sweeping a series at Kennesaw State (3/17-19/17). The Sooners came from behind in game one, erasing a 2-0 deficit with a five-run sixth inning, which featured a leadoff-home run by Ben Hollas and a three-run jack by Renae Martinez that broke a 2-2 tie. In game two, OU overcame an early 6-0 deficit after the second, including a six-run sixth, on the way to a 17-9 win. Moore made the start and lasted five innings in a no-decision for the Owls. Steele Walker was 3-for-4 with five RBI and a grand slam in the sixth that gave OU its first lead at 8-7. Devon Perez pitched the Sooners to a 14-4 win in the Sunday finale. He struck out six in 6.1 innings; scattering nine hits. Domenic DeRenzo hit a two-run home run in the second and totaled three runs and three RBI on a 2-for-4 day.

University of Oklahoma Athletics