OU Baseball Notebook March 29

Record: 13-10, 1-2 Big 12

LAST WEEK RESULTS: 1-3
L 2-5 road at Texas State (San Marcos, Texas)
L 3-4 (11 innings) road at No. 9 Texas (Austin, Texas)
L 6-11 road at No. 9 Texas (Austin, Texas)
W 3-2 road at No. 9 Texas (Austin, Texas)

SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, March 30 at No. 16 Oklahoma State – 6 p.m. (Stillwater, Okla.)
Friday, April 2 vs. No. 11 TCU – 6:30 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)
Saturday, April 3 vs. No. 11 TCU – 4 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)
Sunday, April 4 vs. No. 11 TCU – 2 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)

KEY NOTES OF THE WEEK:

Oklahoma is playing seven straight games against Big 12 opponents. Following the weekend series at Texas, OU will play a non-conference Bedlam contest at OSU Tuesday and host TCU in a conference series this weekend.
The Sooners are home for nine straight games, beginning this weekend against TCU (April 2-4). OU will play host to Oral Roberts on April 6, Kansas April 9-11 and Texas Southern April 13-14.
Over the last two weekends (six games), OU starting pitchers have totaled 33.0 innings, allowing just 24 hits and five walks (0.88 WHIP) and eight earned runs (2.18 ERA) while notching 37 strikeouts.
As a staff, the Sooners turned in a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (27 to nine) in the series against Texas, after posting a 4.7 ratio (33 strikeouts to seven walks) in the Houston series. That is a combined 70 strikeouts to 16 walks (4.4 ratio) over the last two weekends.
In the series at Texas, Wyatt Olds struck out eight batters over 6.0 innings, allowing no walks in the game and no hits after the second inning. Jake Bennett walked none in his 5.0 innings and Braden Carmichael allowed just one run in 7.0 innings – the longest outing for a starter this season.
The Sooners rank second nationally in hits (251) and fourth in doubles (53; leads the Big 12). Only Arizona (258) has more hits this season while Western Kentucky has hit a nation-leading 61 doubles.
Tyler Hardman continued his hot streak at the plate, batting .533 (8 for 15), registering six RBIs, five extra base hits and four walks in four games last week. He reached in all five plate appearances Sunday, going 3 for 3 with two intentional walks and homered twice on Saturday.
In 17 games since Feb. 28, Hardman is hitting .544 (37 for 68) with 18 RBIs, 24 runs scored, four home runs, eight doubles and two triples. He leads the nation with his 43 hits on the season, ranks third with his 67 total bases and 13th with 27 runs scored. He is also ninth nationally and second in the Big 12 with 21 walks (Elijah Nunez of TCU has 23 walks).
Jimmy Crooks ranks fourth nationally and second in the Big 12 with his 10 doubles (national leader is Austin Knight of Charlotte with 15 and Big 12 leader is Phillip Sikes of TCU with 11 doubles). Crooks is also sixth nationally and third in the Big 12 with his 30 runs scored (Dru Baker of Texas Tech has scored 32 runs).
Jason Ruffcorn leads OU pitchers with 10 appearances this season. He is 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA and one save, notching 20 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. Only one run has been scored against him this season (March 14 vs. Arkansas State). It was his first run allowed since May 5, 2019 vs. Texas Tech (a streak of 18.2 innings and 15 scoreless appearances [beginning with the ninth inning on 5/5/19; the run was scored in the eighth inning of that game]).
Peyton Graham has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games and has registered a hit in 11 of his last 12 contests.
Conor McKenna leads the Sooners with nine multiple RBI games, and with his 25 RBIs on the season. McKenna (1.1 RBIs per game), Hardman (22 RBI, 0.95 per game) and Brandon Zaragoza (21 RBIs, 0.9 per game) are all averaging around one RBI per team game played.
Zaragoza has already registered 21 RBIs on the season. His career high prior to this year was 30 RBIs in 2019.
Thirty-one percent of Oklahoma's hits (79 of 251) have gone for extra bases. The Sooners have totaled 53 doubles, five triples and 21 home runs in 23 games, an average of 3.4 extra base hits per contest.
Pledged contributions for every home run that OU hits this season will go towards the stadium renovation project. For more information or to make a pledge, visit TheSoonerClub.com/LaunchPad.

Fan Cutouts at L. Dale Mitchell Park

This season, the OU Athletics Department is offering fans an opportunity to join the Sooners at L. Dale Mitchell Park even if you can't physically be at the games. For $50, you can get a cutout of yourself placed in open seat areas around the stadium. Cutout opportunities are limited and served on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to order.Orders will be accepted until March 31.
Proceeds from the fan cutouts will benefit the Sooner Relief Fund, which directly impacts the OU student-athlete experience.