OU Baseball Notebook April 5

Record: 13-14, 1-5 Big 12

LAST WEEK RESULTS: 0-4
L 4-5 at No. 16 Oklahoma State (Stillwater, Okla.)
L 7-11 home vs. No. 11 TCU (Norman, Okla.)
L 6-17 home vs. No. 11 TCU (Norman, Okla.)
L 3-7 home vs. No. 11 TCU (Norman, Okla.)

SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, April 6 vs. Oral Roberts – 6:30 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)
Friday, April 9 vs. Kansas – 6:30 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)
Saturday, April 10 vs. Kansas – 3:30 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)
Sunday, April 11 vs. Kansas – 2 p.m. (Norman, Okla.)

KEY NOTES OF THE WEEK:

Oklahoma continues its nine-game homestand with four contests this week at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners play host to Oral Roberts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and welcome Kansas for a Big 12 series this weekend. Game times for the KU series are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Sooners rank fifth nationally in hits (283), sixth in doubles (59) and walks (150), 16th in runs (200) and OBP (.404) and 19th in batting average (.297).
OU leads the Big 12 in doubles, doubles per game (2.19) and sacrifice flies (14), ranks second in hits, batting average, and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.59), third in base on balls (150), runs (200), scoring (7.4 runs per game), OBP (.404) and slugging (.451). The Sooners also rank fourth in the Big 12 and 44th nationally by averaging 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Tyler Hardman continues to lead the nation in hits (50) and also ranks first nationally in total bases (84). He ranks eighth nationally in OBP (.561; first in Big 12), ninth in batting average (.467; first in Big 12), 14th in runs scored (30) and 18th in walks (22).
Hardman has notched at least two hits in five of his last six games (and six of last eight). He leads the Sooners with 17 multiple hit games, has a hit in his last eight games, and has recorded a hit in 24 of OU's 27 contests this season. He ranks fifth nationally and leads the Big 12 with his 1.85 hits-per-game average (national leader Jaden Fein of San Diego State averages 1.95 hits per game).
Hardman was 6 for 12 with three home runs, eight RBIs and three runs scored in the series against TCU.
Diego Muniz batted .444 (4 for 9) with two walks in the TCU series. He slugged .778 and reached base at a .544 clip over the weekend. He hit his first home run of the season on Friday and totaled seven bases and two RBIs.
On Friday, Justin Mitchell recorded two hits (both doubles) in the series, including one in his first at bat since March 9. He started at catcher on Saturday, his first start since leaving the March 9 game with an injury.
Jason Ruffcorn pitched two scoreless innings on Sunday, striking out three batters. Christian Ruebeck tossed 1.1 scoreless innings in the series, striking out the side in the ninth inning on Saturday.
Peyton Graham has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games and has registered a hit in 13 of his last 16 contests.
Hardman and Conor McKenna lead the Sooners with nine multiple RBI games apiece. Hardman has registered a team-high 30 RBIs (1.11 per game), while McKenna (0.96 RBIs per game) and Brandon Zaragoza (23 RBIs, 0.85 per game) are all averaging around one RBI per team game played.
Zaragoza has already registered 23 RBIs on the season. His career high prior to this year was 30 RBIs in 2019.
Thirty-two percent of Oklahoma's hits (90 of 251) have gone for extra bases. The Sooners have totaled 59 doubles, five triples and 26 home runs in 27 games, an average of 3.3 extra base hits per contest.
Pledged contributions for every home run that OU hits this season (26 so far) will go towards the stadium renovation project. For more information or to make a pledge, visit TheSoonerClub.com/LaunchPad.

Players Mentioned

Peyton Graham

Tyler Hardman

Conor McKenna

Justin Mitchell

Diego Muniz

Christian Ruebeck

Jason Ruffcorn

Brandon Zaragoza

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics