Oklahoma Visits Wichita State Tuesday Night

Seventh Inning Spoils Sooners' Night at DBU

Oklahoma Visits Wichita State Tuesday Night

March 19, 2018 | Baseball

By: Athletics Communications

March 20 | Wichita, Kan. | Eck Stadium

Oklahoma

²⁶Wichita State

COX Kansas

KREF 99.3/1400

Live Stats

Notes

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Pitching Match-Up
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Wichita State
Tues. 6 p.m.	RHP-Nathan Wiles (1-1, 5.94)	LHP-Alex Segal (0-0, 5.68)
>>>Last Start	at Dallas Baptist (2/27): ND, 5.2 IP, 1 R, 4 K	N/A

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 14-8 (0-0 Big 12) Coach: Skip Johnson (1st Season) Career Record/Years: 14-8/1 Rank: NR

Wichita State Shockers
Record: 13-4 (0-0 AAC) Coach: Todd Butler (5th Season) Career Record/Years: 209-215/8 Rank: 26^CBN

On the Air
TV/Stream	COX Kansas YurView Shane Dennis Denning Gerig
Radio	KREF 99.3/1400 TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland

Player to Watch
RF-Steele Walker Walker is just one RBI and two runs from becomming the 40th player in Oklahoma history to reach 100 RBI and 100 runs in a career. The first to do so was Keith Drumright (1974-76).

FIRST PITCH

The Oklahoma baseball team plays its lone road game in the month on Tuesday, March 20 at Wichita State. The Sooners and Shockers take the field at 6 p.m. for first pitch from Eck Stadium. Voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland will call the action across the Sooner Sports Network, which will air the game locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM. The game can also be streamed online at Sportstalk1400.com or on the TuneIn mobile app. Wichita State will broadcast the game on local television on COX Kansas. Shane Dennis and Denning Gerig will be on the call.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

Oklahoma won its third series in a row to improve to 14-8 on the season. Sophomore right-hander Nathan Wiles gets the call for his fourth start of the season. He is 1-1 on the year with a 5.94 earned run average and 17 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched. The Sooners have five batters hitting .300 or better; led by sophomore catcher Brady Lindsly at .389. Senior second baseman Kyle Mendenhall is second on the team at .357 with a team-leading 23 RBI. Junior right fielder Steele Walker is hitting .326 with 16 RBI and 14 runs scored, while collecting a team-high 10 multi-hit games. The OU pitching staff has totaled double digit strikeouts in 12 of 22 games this season; averaging 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings, whick ranks 24th in the nation and tops in the Big 12. Offensively, the Sooners are third in the league averaging 6.0 runs per game. The OU lineup has produced double digit runs six times; scoring 12 or more runs on three occasions. Oklahoma has played just five games away from L. Dale Mitchell Park this season and is 0-2 in its only true road games of the year, while Wichita State is 9-1 in its home park.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
LF-Cade Harris	.317/.477/.488	Third in the nation in walks (24), ninth in doubles (10).
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.313/.363/.349	Hitting .344 (22-for-64) since Feb. 25.
RF-Steele Walker	.326/.422/.465	Sitting on 99 career RBI and 98 career runs.
CF-Kyler Murray	.258/.333/.468	Grand slam vs. TAMCC first since O'Brien (4/4/17).
C-Brady Lindsly	.389/.470/.519	Sixth in the Big 12 in batting average.
3B-Brylie Ware	.289/.355/.386	Reached base in career-best 19 consecutive games.
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.357/.406/.512	Career-best 23 RBI through just 22 games.
DH-Cade Cavalli	.241/.375/.345	.448 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).
1B-Tyler Hardman	.186/.229/.326	Went 3-for-6 with two doubles vs. Texas Southern

LEFT TO RIGHT

The Sooners have started Cade Harris, Kyler Murray and Steele Walker from left to right in the outfield in 17 games this season and all but one since opening weekend. The unit's total starts together surpassed the Walker-Ben Hollas-Blake Brewster unit's 15 from last year. In 2016, the Hunter Haley-Walker-Alex Wise outfield made 15 starts together. Beginning with opening day 2014 through the 2015 Big 12 Championship, Haley-Craig Aikin-Taylor Alspaugh patrolled the Sooner outfield together for 82 games. Walker, who has started all but two games in his entire career at OU, is the only true outfielder of the group. Harris moved to left field last season to solidify a position that had been started by six different players, including 14 starts by Murray, until Harris started the last 17 games of the season. Murray, a high school All-American middle infielder, did not play in the outfield until last season and had previously not played baseball in the spring of 2016.

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 29-23 lead on runs scored in the second and third innings combined. OU is also 11-3 on the year when pushing across the first run of the game.

CHASE FOR THE 100-100 CLUB

Steele Walker sits at 99 RBI and 98 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 as seniors.

Next Home Series
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia March 23-25 \| Norman, Okla. The Sooners open Big 12 play against the Mountaineers to begin a seven-game homestand that finishes the month. TICKETS

Last 10 Meetings
Year	Result	Location
2017	Loss, 2-4	Norman
2016	Win, 15-7	Wichita
	Win, 4-2	Norman
2015	Loss, 8-9	Wichita
2009	Win, 5-4	Norman
	Win, 8-1	Norman
	Win, 15-0	Wichita
2008	Win, 12-11	Norman
2007	Win, 5-4	Norman
2006	Win, 7-6	Norman

SCOUTING THE SHOCKERS

Wichita State is 13-4 overall and ranked No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball News. The Shockers, whose Friday series opener was cancelled, split a two-game series against former Missouri Valley Conference rival Creighton in Omaha over the weekend. Wichita, which is playing its first season in the American Athletic Conference, owns quality series wins over Nebraska and UT Arlington. Third baseman Alec Bohm is hitting a team-high .344 with five home runs and 18 RBI. Center fielder Greyson Jenista is hitting .288 and matches Bohm for the team lead in homers at five to go with 14 RBI. Lefty Alex Segal gets the start for the Shockers on Tuesday. He sports a 5.68 ERA and has struck out 12 in 6.1 innings with no record.

LAST TIME THEY MET

The Shockers came in to Norman and snapped No. 13 Oklahoma's 13-game win streak with a 4-2 decision on March 7, 2017. In a game that lasted over four hours, only six total runs were scored on 11 hits with Wichita State outhitting the Sooners, 6-4. OU pitchers totaled 18 strikeouts and WSU pitchers totaled 11. Despite leaving 13 runners on base, the Shockers took advantage of eight walks, three hit batsmen, three wild pitches and stole five bases. The key play came in the sixth as Wichita State had a 2-1 lead, the bases loaded and two down. A groundball to the right side should've ended the inning, but the call on the field was that OU lefty Braidyn Fink missed the bag at first attempting to get the force as two unearned runs came in to score.

SOONER-SHOCKER CONNECTION

Wichita State's fifth-year head coach Todd Butler played at Oklahoma for two seasons, 1987-88. He was named an ABCA All-American in 1988 and set the Sooner record for stolen bases in a season with 46. He is tied for 14th all-time at OU with 53.