OU Baseball Notebook May 3

Record: 22-20, 6-9 Big 12

LAST WEEK RESULTS: 2-1
W 16-2 at No. 18 Oklahoma State (Stillwater, Okla.)
W 5-3 home vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State (Norman, Okla.)
L 7-8 (12) home vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State (Norman, Okla.)

SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, May 4 vs. No. 8 Texas Tech – 6 p.m. (Amarillo, Texas) – ESPN+
Friday, May 7 at West Virginia – 5:30 p.m. CT (Morgantown, W.Va.) – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Saturday, May 8 at West Virginia – 3 p.m. CT (Morgantown, W.Va.) – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Sunday, May 9 at West Virginia – 10:30 a.m. CT (Morgantown, W.Va.) – Big 12 Now on ESPN+

KEY NOTES OF THE WEEK:
PLAYERS

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.
Peyton 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.
Tyler 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 Jimmy 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.

TEAM

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).
The Sooners scored 28 runs in the series, 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 this weekend's Big 12 conference series, Oklahoma was 13 for 29 (.448) with RISP.
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).
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.
Pledged contributions for every home run that OU hits this season (48 through 42 games) will go towards the stadium renovation project. For more information or to make a pledge, visit TheSoonerClub.com/LaunchPad.