Sooners and Red Raiders to Meet in Amarillo

Oklahoma

⁷Texas Tech

Tuesday, May 4 / Amarillo, Texas / HODGETOWN

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Matchups
Game Time	TV	OU Projected Starter	TTU Projected Starter
Tuesday, 6 p.m.	Big 12 Now on ESPN+	RHP Christian Ruebeck	RHP Chase Hampton

First Pitch:
•   Oklahoma (22-20) will face Big 12 rival Texas Tech (30-11) in a neutral-site non-conference matchup on Tuesday at Hodgetown in Amarillo, Texas. Game time is set for 6 p.m. TTU will be the designated home team for this contest. Hodgetown is the home of the Amarillo Sod Poodles, Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
•   The Sooners and Red Raiders are scheduled to meet again in Norman May 14-16 for a regular three-game Big 12 conference series.
•   OU's last two scheduled midweek games of the season will be played as non-conference matchups against Big 12 foes at neutral sites (April 20 vs. Texas Tech in Amarillo and May 11 vs. Oklahoma State in Tulsa).

Watch/Listen/Follow:
•   The game will be broadcast via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ via the Sod Poodles and Texas Tech.
•   The radio broadcast will be carried on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (locally on SportsTalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF and via the TuneIn app anywhere) with Toby Rowland on the call.

Leading Off:
•   Tuesday's game will be Oklahoma's 10th contest this season at a professional ballpark. The Sooners played at Globe Life Field (Feb. 23-24), in the Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond (Feb. 26-28) and in the Frisco Classic Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas (March 4-7). OU is also slated to face Oklahoma State at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Okla., on May 11.
•   Jason Ruffcorn was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and Brett Squires was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday. Ruffcorn registered career highs of 10 strikeouts and 6.2 innings in OU's series-clinching win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. Squires batted .400 in the series and homered in each game, including the game-winning two-run home run in the seventh inning on Saturday.
•   Oklahoma ranks seventh nationally in hits (431), ninth in walks (221), 10th in doubles (89), 13th in runs (312), 21st in scoring (7.4 runs per game) and OBP (.400), 23rd in doubles per game (2.12), 27th in batting average (.296), 29th in slugging (.469), 30th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.2) and 39th in home runs (48).
•   OU leads the Big 12 in doubles per game, ranks second in hits and sacrifice flies (20) and third in batting average, doubles, runs, scoring and OBP.
•   Thirty-four percent of Oklahoma's hits (146 of 431) have gone for extra bases. The Sooners have totaled 89 doubles, nine triples and 48 home runs in 42 games, an average of 3.5 extra base hits per contest.
•   First baseman Tyler Hardman was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and recognized as a midseason All-American by D1Baseball. The fourth-year junior leads the nation in hits (71) and ranks third nationally in total bases (118), seventh in hits per game (1.69), 12th in batting average (.418) and 20th in on-base percentage (.507). He is the 43rd Sooner to register at least 100 hits (180), 100 runs (111) and 100 RBIs (104) in his career.

Series History:
•   This will be the 90th meeting between Oklahoma and Texas Tech. OU leads the all-time series 48-41-1.
•   Texas Tech won five of the last six games in the series, including all three in Norman in 2019 and two of three in Lubbock in 2018. The 2019 series represented OU's first series loss to TTU in Norman since 1999.
•   The Sooners and Red Raiders have met at a neutral site 13 times (11 of those meetings have come in the Big 12 tournament; the other two were played in El Paso, Texas, in 1991). OU is 9-4 all-time against TTU in neutral-site games.
•   Oklahoma and Texas Tech competed in the first Big 12 Conference Championship final 25 years ago (1997 in Oklahoma City). OU won that contest 19-17.

About the Sooners:
•   Over the last 12 games, the Oklahoma pitching staff has produced a 2.86 team ERA with 123 strikeouts and 53 walks in 103.2 innings.
•   Oklahoma has outscored opponents in the last two-thirds of games (innings four through nine) this season by a total of 200 to 142. In the first three innings of games, OU has outscored opponents 111 to 102 (allowed 2.4 runs in first three innings of games vs. 3.4 across last six innings).
•   The Sooners scored 28 runs in the series vs. OSU, and 23 of those runs were scored with two outs (14 on Friday night, final three runs on Saturday and final six runs on Sunday).
•   In OU's 5-4 loss at Oklahoma State on March 30, the Sooners were 0 for 17 with runners in scoring position. In last weekend's series vs. OSU, Oklahoma was 13 for 29 (.448) with RISP.
•   Oklahoma won the conference Bedlam series against Oklahoma State for the first time since 2016. The last time the Sooners won the first two games of the Bedlam conference series was 2009.
•   OU won 16-2 Friday night, its first victory against OSU in Stillwater since 2014 (12-9 in 18 innings in a midweek contest). The 14-run margin tied for the second-largest Sooners victory in Bedlam since 1962 (OU won 18-4 in 1976; also won 21-6 in the 2006 Big 12 tournament). Oklahoma's 16 runs were its most in a Bedlam regular season conference game since 1985 (21-8).
•   OU has scored at least seven runs in 21 games this season (averaging 7.4 runs per game overall), and notched double-digit hits in 20 games.
•   The Sooners are 5-9 in 14 games against ranked opponents so far this season.
•   All of Oklahoma's remaining scheduled games are against Big 12 opponents, including two non-conference midweek contests against Texas Tech (May 4) and Oklahoma State (May 11).
•   Oklahoma's first 24 games of the season were played against 15 different opponents. In that time, the Sooners faced only six teams – Omaha, UT Arlington, Arizona, Arkansas State, Houston and Texas – more than once.
•   OU is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson (third full year; the 2019 season ended after 18 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson has led the Sooners to a 107-72 record and an NCAA postseason appearance in 2018.

Key Player Trends:
•   Brett Squires homered in each of the three games this weekend. His two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning on Saturday gave OU a 4-3 lead. He also led off the fifth inning with a homer on Friday night and hit a leadoff homer in the second inning on Sunday.
•   The top four hitters in the OU lineup on Friday night (Peyton Graham, Jimmy Crooks, Tyler Hardman, Squires) combined for 10 of the team's 14 hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored in the series opener. Those four hitters were a combined 16 for 46 (.413) in the series.
•   Jason Ruffcorn registered career highs of 6.2 innings and 10 strikeouts in his relief appearance on Saturday to earn the win on the mound. Prior to Saturday his longest outing at OU was 3.2 innings, twice: 2019 at Baylor and last Sunday vs. Georgia Southern. He capped the outing by striking out the side in the ninth inning.
•   Graham and Crooks hit back-to-back homers for the second time this season on Friday. They also did so on March 14 vs. Arkansas State (Game 1 of doubleheader); that was also the last game prior to Friday in which OU hit four home runs.
•   Graham has reached base in 38 consecutive games. Over the last nine contests, he has batted .452 (14 for 31) with two home runs, four doubles, 10 runs scored and four RBIs (left Sunday's game after being hit by a pitch in his first at bat).
•   Squires has registered 33 hits in his 25 starts this season. Twenty of those hits have gone for extra bases (12 doubles, two triples, six home runs). He has a hit in 14 of his last 17 games. In that span since April 3, he has batted .359 (23 for 64) with 15 of his 20 extra base hits (eight doubles, one triple, six home runs).
•   Brandon Zaragoza has started in 224 consecutive games, dating back to the 2017 season. He ranks second in program history with his 237 games played (record is 239 by Max White [2010-13]), second with 589 career assists (record is 728 by Rich Hills [1992-95]), sixth with 839 career at bats, seventh with 117 career walks and 19th with 222 career hits.
•   Hardman continues to lead the nation in hits (71). He ranks third in total bases (118), seventh in hits per game (1.69), 12th in batting average (.418) 20th in OBP (.507), 36th in slugging (.694), 39th in runs (42) and 61st in doubles (13).
•   Hardman has notched multiple hits in 24 of OU's 42 games this season, and has at least one hit in 37 contests (a hit in all but five games). His batting average (.418) has been higher than .400 since March 14 (first game of the Arkansas State doubleheader when he hit for the cycle with five hits).
•   In his last five outings (three starts and two relief appearances), Wyatt Olds has posted a 2.01 ERA and struck out 25 batters over 22.1 frames (his appearance at Kansas State was a 5.1-inning relief outing and he pitched 1.0 relief inning on May 2 vs. Oklahoma State) while surrendering just 14 hits and two extra base hits (both doubles).
•   Hardman and Conor McKenna lead the Sooners with 12 multiple RBI games apiece while Crooks has nine multiple RBI contests. Hardman has registered a team-high 42 RBIs, while McKenna has 40 RBIs.
•   Zaragoza has already registered 31 RBIs on the season, a career high. His career high prior to this year was 30 RBIs in 2019.