Baseball Rivals Meet for Bedlam Opener Friday

April 26, 2018 | Baseball

By: Athletics Communications

April 27 | Stillwater, Okla. | Allie P. Reynolds Stadium

April 28-29 | Tulsa, Okla. | ONEOK Field

¹⁸Oklahoma

¹⁷Oklahoma State

FSSW+ (Fri.) FSOK (Sat./Sun.)

KREF 99.3/1400

Live Stats

Notes

Twitter

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State
Fri. 7 p.m.	RHP-Jake Irvin (5-0, 2.87)	LHP-Carson Teel (5-2, 3.77)
>>>Last Start	at Tech (4/20): ND, 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 K	vs. KU (4/20): W, 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
Sat. 7 p.m.	RHP-Devon Perez (4-1, 3.54)	RHP-Joe Lienhard (4-1, 4.44)
>>>Last Start	at Tech (4/21): 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 K	vs. KU (4/21): W, 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 K
Sun. 3 p.m.	RHP-Nathan Wiles (4-2, 3.73)	RHP-Jonathan Heasley (2-3, 7.11)
>>>Last Start	at Tech (4/22): W, 7.1 IP, 5 ER, 3 K	vs. KU (4/22): ND, 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 28-15 (10-5 Big 12) Coach: Skip Johnson (1st Season) Career Record/Years: 28-15/1 Rank: 18^CBN/22^BA/23^USA/24^N

Oklahoma State Cowboys
Record: 24-14-1 (12-3 Big 12) Coach: Josh Holliday (6th Season) Career Record/Years: 224-118-1/6 Rank: 17^CBN/23^D1B/28^N/RV^USA

On the Air
TV/Stream	FSSW+ (Fri.) FSOK (Sat./Sun.) FOXSportsGo Dave Hunziker Tom Holliday
Radio	KREF 99.3/1400 TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland

Player to Watch
LF-Cade Harris The Sooner leadoff hitter, Harris ranks top-10 in the nation in walks (1st, 45), runs (4th, 50) and doubles (10th, 17). He is hitting .299 with a .455 on-base percentage.

FIRST PITCH

The Oklahoma baseball team takes on Oklahoma State in the 2018 Bedlam Series beginning Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. in Stillwater. The series continues over the weekend at Tulsa's ONEOK Field. Voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland will call the series across the Sooner Sports Network and locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM. The games can also be streamed online at Sportstalk1400.com or on the TuneIn mobile app. OSU will televise the games to FSSW+ (Friday) and FSOK (Saturday-Sunday). Dave Hunziker (pbp) and Tom Holliday (color) will call the series from the TV side. All three games can be streamed online or on mobile through the FOXSportsGo app.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

No. 18 Oklahoma is 28-15 overall after an 11-5 win at UT Arlington on Tuesday night and third place in the Big 12 with a 10-5 record. The Sooners are hitting .291 as a team, including a .311 mark in conference games to rank second in the league. Junior right fielder Steele Walker leads the way with a .373 average, hitting a league-best .456 in 14 conference games, and slugging .633 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. Senior second baseman Kyle Mendenhall and junior third baseman Brylie Ware are second and third on the team; both averaging .329. The OU pitching staff owns a 3.61 earned run average on the season, is tops in Big 12 play at 3.68 and second in conference contests with a 9.65 strikeouts-per-nine-innings average. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin, the Sooners' Friday night starter, is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 62.2 innings worked. He need just six strikeouts to reach 200 for his career. Sophomore right-hander Nathan Wiles is 4-2 with a 3.73 ERA, including a 2.61 mark in league games; ranking fourth in the Big 12. He has struck out 41 and walked only six in 50.2 innings.

CAMPUS CONFERENCE CLASH

Friday night's Bedlam contest mark the first time in the Big 12 era that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will play an on-campus conference game. In the final year of the Big Eight, OU and OSU matched up for a five-game series. The series began with game one in Tulsa, followed by two in Oklahoma City before a game in Norman and the finale in Stillwater, which happened on April 17, 1996. Next season, the Sooners and Cowboys will play game one in Tulsa, game two in OKC and game three at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
LF-Cade Harris	.299/.455/.482	1st in NCAA in BB (45), 4th in R (50), 10th in 2B (17).
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.293/.368/.329	Made 91 consecutive start at shortstop.
RF-Steele Walker	.373/.470/.633	Hit nine home runs in the last 14 games.
CF-Kyler Murray	.293/.395/.521	First career three-hit game at UTA (4/24).
C-Brady Lindsly	.320/.404/.440	Hit first HR of the season at Texas Tech (4/20).
3B-Brylie Ware	.329/.397/.439	Career-high four hits vs. Oral Roberts (4/11).
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.329/.371/.431	Five assists away from fifth most in OU history.
1B-Cade Cavalli	.237/.377/.359	Hit third HR of the season at Texas Tech (4/21).
DH-Tyler Hardman	.223/.294/.330	Three of fivemulti-hit games have come in Big 12 play.

POWER SURGE

Oklahoma went 30 games between multi-home run games having gone yard three times opening day vs. Indiana (2/16) and Kyler Murray's two long balls at TCU (4/6). The Sooners then homered in six consecutive games; marking the first stretch of five or more games since 2010 and the first in the BBCOR (2011-present) era. Steele Walker hit two vs. TCU (4/8) and Little Rock (4/10) as the Sooners matched their season-high with three. Oklahoma added two more vs. Oral Roberts (4/11) and another Walker home run vs. Texas (4/13). The Sooners have hit 18 of their 30 home runs in the last 13 games. Walker has homered nine times over that stretch, while Murray has homered three times.

FRIDAY ACE

Jake Irvin has started all 10 series openers for Oklahoma this season and 10 of 12 weekend game ones as a sophomore in 2017. He is 11-1 in those 20 starts with 13 starts of six innings or more. When Irvin won the series opener, the Sooners have won 10 of 11 series. When Irvin took a loss, no-decision or did not start game one, OU has won five of 11 series.

11-HIT WEEKEND

Steele Walker hit .688 (11-for-16) at Texas Tech (4/20-22). He notched at least three hits in every game; matching his career-high with four twice. Walker is a career .512 (22-for-43) hitter against the Red Raiders. In game two, he homered and doubled in a 4-for-5, two-RBI performance. In the finale, Walker went 4-for-6 against a variety of Tech defensive shifts; twice beating the defensive alignment for singles to center and right and finally with all four infielders on the right side he blasted a two-run home run in the eighth. Walker owned a .706 on-base percentage and slugged 1.188 for an astounding 1.894 OPS.

Next Home Game
Oklahoma vs. Kansas State May 4-6 \| Norman, Okla. The Sooners welcome Kansas State to town for their final home series of the season, including "Senior Day" on Sunday, May 6. TICKETS

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS

No. 17 Oklahoma State swept Kansas at home over the weekend and picked up a Tuesday win at Dallas Baptist to enter the series at 24-14-1 overall and 12-3, in first place, in the Big 12. Third baseman Michael Neustifter leads the Cowboys with a .298 batting average. Catcher Colin Simpson has bashed 12 home runs and driven in 40 with a .287 average. Shortstop Matt Kroon leads OSU with 35 runs scored and 12 stolen bases, while hitting .267. Lefty Carson Teel anchors the Cowboy rotation with a 5-2 record, 3.27 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. OSU

Last 10 Meetings
Year	Result	Location
2018	Loss, 1-7	Norman
2017	Loss, 2-5	OKC
	Loss, 7-9	OKC
	Loss, 3-4	Stillwater
2016	Win, 3-1	Tulsa
	Loss, 9-10	Tulsa
	Win, 9-1	OKC
	Loss, 3-4	Norman
2015	Loss, 1-5	Tulsa
	Win, 5-3	OKC

Braidyn Fink: Three appearances with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts across four innings. Dylan Grove: Two starts and one relief appearance... 5.2-inning win to clinch 2016 Bedlam series (5/15/16). Cade Harris: .240/.424/.400 in seven games, six starts... game-winning, RBI-double in series clincher (5/15/16). Jake Irvin: 1-2, 4.11 ERA, 19 K, 15.1 IP in three starts... 10-strikeout night in midweek loss in Norman (4/20/16). Steele Walker: .355/.394/.581... four multi-hit games in eight starts; hitting 11-for-31...five doubles, five runs, four RBI.

ALL-TIME VS. OKLAHOMA STATE

Oklahoma trails Oklahoma State in the all-time series, 158-138. The Sooners hold the longest win streak of the series with an 11-game stretch from 1976-77. In the last five seasons, the Cowboys hold a 15-5 advantage. The longest game played between the two was a 12-9, 18-inning victory for OU on April 15, 2014; the Sooners' last win in Stillwater.