OU Baseball Notebook March 9

Overall Record: 13-4

National Rankings: No. 9 by Baseball America, No. 9 by Perfect Game, No. 12 by NCBWA, No. 13 by D1Baseball, No. 13 by USA Today Coaches

LAST WEEK RESULTS: 4-1
W 10-3 at home vs. N. 21 Dallas Baptist
W 13-2 at home vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
L 4-5 at home vs. San Diego State
W 8-4 at home vs. San Diego State
W 9-8 (10) at home vs. San Diego State

SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, March 10 at UT Arlington – 6:30 p.m. (Arlington, Texas)
Thursday, March 12 at Cal Poly – 8 p.m. CT (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Friday, March 13 at Cal Poly – 8 p.m. CT (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Saturday, March 14 at Cal Poly – 6 p.m. CT (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
Sunday, March 15 at Cal Poly – 3 p.m. CT (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

KEY NOTES OF THE WEEK

Oklahoma went 4-1 last week with wins over No. 21 Dallas Baptist (10-3) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (13-2) in the midweek, and two wins over San Diego State (8-4 Saturday and 9-8 in 10 innings Sunday). The Sooners dropped the opener to the Aztecs 5-4 before bouncing back to win the series.
The Sooners batted .326 for the week, averaging 8.9 runs per game, stroking 21 extra base hits and recorded 11 stolen bases.
OU has stolen 29 bases through 17 games this season, equaling the total from the entire 2019 season. Freshman Peyton Graham leads the way with eight steals (8-9), surpassing the highest individual total from last year. Junior Tanner Tredaway, who led the team with seven steals in 2019, is 5 for 6 so far this season.
The Oklahoma pitching staff ranks third in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (12.4). OU pitchers have struck out 210 batters in 152.0 innings this season. Junior Cade Cavalli has a team-high 37 punch outs in 23.2 innings while junior Levi Prater has struck out 33 in 23.2 frames and freshman Jake Bennett has 16 K's in his 8.0 innings over two starts.
Perhaps more impressively, OU pitchers rank fourth nationally and first in the Big 12 with a 4.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Sooners have issued just 45 free passes this season.
Oklahoma also ranks ninth nationally in fielding percentage (.985), sixth in doubles (41), 10th in triples (8), 13th in hits (166) and 19th in fielding double plays (14).
Tredaway's 28 hits are second-most in the nation (most is 30 by Portland's Jake Holcroft). He is tied for the national lead with four triples (tied with five others) and is third in total bases (51; most is 67 by New Mexico State's Nick Gonzales).
Graham hit .500 in five games last week, totaling six extra base hits, four RBIs and nine runs scored. He slugged 1.000, walked five times and compiled a .600 on-base percentage. The freshman third baseman recorded two hits in each of OU's three games against San Diego State, homered twice on Saturday and scored the winning run in Sunday's series-clinching victory in the 10th inning.
Prater struck out 13 batters over 7.0 innings, allowing just a run on five hits and two walks Saturday against San Diego State. He retired 15 of his final 16 batters, giving up only a walk in that span, and struck out five straight between the fourth and fifth innings.
Tredaway hit .450 with five RBIs and six runs, and recorded a double, triple and a home run in five games last week. He was one of three players to go 3 for 3 in stolen bases last week (Graham and Brady Harlan). He leads OU with a .400 batting average, 13 extra base hits, 13 RBIs (tied) and a .729 slugging percentage.
Senior Jason Ruffcorn retired all six batters he faced in the ninth and 10th innings against San Diego State on Sunday, earning his first win of the season.
Senior Brandon Zaragoza hit .400 last week (6 for 15), scoring five runs. He is 10 for 24 (.417) over the last eight games with six runs scored, four RBIs and two doubles.
Catchers Justin Mitchell and Brady Lindsly have thrown out eight runners trying to steal in 19 attempts (.579 stolen base percentage). Mitchell has caught five runners stealing (runners are 9 of 14) and Lindsly has caught three stealing (runners are 6 for 9).

Weekend Ticket Mini Plan

OU is offering a new 15-game Weekend Mini Plan for $75 ($200 full price value for $5 per game)
The mini plan includes the series against Texas, Baylor, Sam Houston State and Kansas State, the Oklahoma State home game (April 17) and the Friday and Saturday games of the West Virginia series.
See the full 2020 baseball schedule and purchase tickets online at SoonerSports.com.

Sooners Playing Around the State

OU plays host to Arkansas at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, March 17. Tickets can be purchased here.
The Sooners play a non-conference game against Oklahoma State at ONEOK Field in Tulsa on March 31. Tickets for the game can be purchased through the OU Athletics Ticket Office.
Oklahoma opens Big 12 play at home with the Red River Rivalry against Texas March 20-22 at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Single game tickets, Weekend Mini Plans and Family Four Packs (Sunday only) can purchased through the OU Athletics Ticket Office.

Players Mentioned

Jake Bennett

Cade Cavalli

Peyton Graham

Brady Harlan

Brady Lindsly

Justin Mitchell

Levi Prater

Jason Ruffcorn

Tanner Tredaway

Brandon Zaragoza

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics