OU Set for Series at West Virginia

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Friday-Sunday, May 7-9 / Morgantown, W.Va. / Monongalia County Ballpark

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Matchups
Game Time	OU Projected Starters	WVU Projected Starters
Friday, 5:30 p.m. CT	RHP Wyatt Olds	LHP Jackson Wolf
Saturday, 3 p.m. CT	LHP Jake Bennett	LHP Jake Carr
Sunday, 10:30 a.m. CT	LHP Braden Carmichael	LHP Ben Hampton

First Pitch:
• Oklahoma (22-21, 6-9 Big 12) travels to Morgantown, W.Va., for a Big 12 conference series against West Virginia (16-21, 6-12 Big 12) this weekend. Game times are 5:30 p.m. CT Friday, 3 p.m. CT Saturday and 10:30 a.m. CT Sunday.
• The Sooners are 3-4 in seven Big 12 road games (road series at Texas and Kansas State and one road Big 12 game at Oklahoma State). The Mountaineers are 3-6 in nine Big 12 home games this season (series against Kansas, Texas Tech and TCU).

Watch/Listen/Follow:
• The game will be broadcast via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ via West Virginia
• 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:
• 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 fourth nationally in hits (443), ninth in walks (223) and doubles (90), 15th in runs (316), 22nd in OBP (.399), 26th in scoring (7.3 runs per game), 27th in batting average (.297), doubles per game (2.1) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.3), 28th in slugging (.469) and 39th in home runs (49).
• OU ranks second in the Big 12 in hits, doubles per game and sacrifice flies (20), third in batting average, scoring, OBP, strikeouts per nine innings and triples (10).
• Thirty-four percent of Oklahoma's hits (149 of 443) have gone for extra bases. The Sooners have totaled 90 doubles, 10 triples and 49 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 (72) and ranks third nationally in total bases (119), sixth in hits per game (1.67), 13th in batting average (.414) and 23rd in on-base percentage (.505). He is the 43rd Sooner to register at least 100 hits (180), 100 runs (111) and 100 RBIs (104) in his career.

Series History:
• Oklahoma and West Virginia have played 25 times. OU leads the series 14-11.
• The Mountaineers won the last series between the teams, in Morgantown in 2019. OU won the opener 2-1, but WVU won 12-4 and 5-1 in the final two games.
• Those last two games in 2019 ended a six-game winning streak for the Sooners against West Virginia. OU won series in Morgantown in 2015 and 2017.
• The teams first met in 2012 at an early-season tournament in Eugene, Ore. (OU won 5-2), and have played each year since 2013 since West Virginia joined the Big 12 Conference.

About the Sooners:
• Over its last 10 weekend games, the Oklahoma pitching staff has produced a 3.21 team ERA with 105 strikeouts and 47 walks in 89.2 innings (3.79 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 111.2 innings over the last 13 games overall).
• Oklahoma has outscored opponents in the last two-thirds of games (innings four through nine) this season by a total of 204 to 148. In the first three innings of games, OU has outscored opponents 111 to 110 (allowed 2.6 runs in first three innings of games vs. 3.4 across last six innings).
• The Sooners have scored 32 in their last four games, and 25 of those runs have been scored with two outs (23 of 28 runs scored in the series vs. OSU with two outs).
• Last weekend, Oklahoma won its conference 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 has scored at least seven runs in 21 games this season (averaging 7.3 runs per game overall), and notched double-digit hits in 21 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 Tuesday's non-conference midweek contest Oklahoma State (OU's last midweek game of the season).
• 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 107-73 record and an NCAA postseason appearance in 2018.

Key Player Trends:
• Brandon Zaragoza has started in 225 consecutive games, dating back to the 2017 season. He ranks second in program history with his 238 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 842 career at bats, seventh with 118 career walks and tied for 19th with 223 career hits.
• Tyler Hardman continues to lead the nation in hits (72). He ranks third in total bases (119), sixth in hits per game (1.67), 13th in batting average (.414) 23rd in OBP (.505), 39th in slugging (.684), 41st in runs (42) and 64th in doubles (13).
• Hardman has notched multiple hits in 24 of OU's 43 games this season, and has at least one hit in 38 contests (a hit in all but five games). His batting average (.414) has been higher than .400 since March 14 (first game of the Arkansas State doubleheader when he hit for the cycle with five hits).
• Brett Squires homered in each of the three games vs. OSU last 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. He was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday
• The top four hitters in the OU lineup in last Friday's series opener at OSU (Peyton Graham, Jimmy Crooks, Hardman, Squires) combined for 10 of the team's 14 hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored in the game. Those four hitters were a combined 16 for 46 (.413) in the OSU 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. He was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
• Graham and Crooks hit back-to-back homers for the second time this season in last Friday's series opener vs. OSU. 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 his 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 26 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 18 games. In that span since April 3, he has batted .333 (23 for 69) with 15 of his 20 extra base hits (eight doubles, one triple, all six home runs).
• 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).
• Conor McKenna leads the Sooners with 13 multiple RBI games while Hardman has 12 and Crooks has nine multiple RBI contests. Hardman and McKenna have each registered a team-high 42 RBIs.
• Zaragoza has already registered 32 RBIs on the season, a career high. His career high prior to this year was 30 RBIs in 2019.