Sooners Host Shockers on Tuesday

Oklahoma

Wichita State

Tuesday, April 18 / Norman, Okla. / L. Dale Mitchell Park

SS.tv | Radio | Live Stats | Game Notes | Twitter

Matchups
Game Time	OU Projected Starter	WSU Projected Starter
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.	LHP Braden Carmichael	LHP Caden Favors

First Pitch

• Oklahoma (21-13) plays host to Wichita State (13-22) on Tuesday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
• This will be the second meeting this season between the Sooners and Shockers. OU defeated Wichita State 6-2 at Mitchell Park on Feb. 22.
• The third meeting, originally scheduled for March 22 in Wichita, Kan., was postponed by inclement weather, and will be played May 16 at Eck Stadium.

Watch/Listen/Follow

• The game will be televised via SoonerSports.tv with Chad McKee and George Frazier calling the action, and will be broadcast on the Sooner Radio Network (locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF, Sportstalk1400.com and the Varsity Network app anywhere), and streamed live on SoonerSports.tv, with Toby Rowland on the call.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Leading Off

• Through the first nine weeks of the season (34 games), the Sooners are 12-9 against the RPI top 100, including six top-50 wins (6-7) and six top-25 wins (4-5). OU's overall strength of schedule is ranked fifth in the country while its non-conference SOS is ranked 26th nationally.
• Oklahoma is hitting .289 as a team and averaging 6.6 runs, 9.4 hits and 2.8 extra base hits per game (61 doubles, 26 home runs). The pitching staff has compiled a 5.53 ERA, 300 strikeouts to 128 walks and 322 hits in 304.1 innings and has allowed a .270 opponent batting average.
• Wichita State is hitting .242 as a team (through 4/16). The Shockers average 4.9 runs, 8.4 hits and 2.6 extra base hits per game (47 doubles, 36 home runs). The pitching staff has compiled a 5.40 ERA, 313 strikeouts to 140 walks and 325 hits in 308.1 innings and has allowed a .268 opponent batting average. WSU plays Kansas State Monday night.
• Oklahoma is in its fifth season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson (including the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 133-93 record since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.

Tickets

• Tickets are available via SoonerSports.com. The L. Dale Mitchell Park ticket office and entrance gates will open 60 minutes prior to the scheduled game time. The ticket office and will call windows are located behind home plate, along W. Imhoff Rd.

Series History

• Oklahoma leads the overall series against Wichita State, 18-13. OU has won two straight in the series.
• The Sooners defeated the Shockers 6-2 earlier this season (Feb. 22) in Norman. OU won the last meeting prior to this season, 9-4 at Wichita State in 2019.
• Oklahoma has won eight of the last 10 meetings in Norman, dating back to the start of the 2006 season. WSU's only wins in Norman during that time were 4-2 in 2017 and 12-2 during the 2006 regular season.

#LaunchPad

• The #LaunchPad is back for 2022. For the second straight year, pledged donations to a customized dollar amount for every homer that OU baseball hits in 2022 will go towards the the stadium renovation project. For more information, visit TheSoonerClub.com/LaunchPad.
• All donations from the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign will be treated as charitable donations supporting either the OU Softball Stadium Project or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project and are tax-deductible.

Noting the Sooners

• During the first 10 games of the season, Oklahoma scored a total of 35 runs (average of 3.5 per game) and did not score more than six runs in any single game. The Sooners have scored 189 runs during the last 24 games (7.9 per game). OU has scored at least seven runs in 19 of those 24 games.
• OU is 58 for 74 on stolen base attempts in the last 24 games (average of 2.4 steals per game). Over the last 24 games, Peyton Graham leads the Sooners with 11 steals while Tanner Tredaway has nine steals.
• Blake Robertson leads the Sooners with a .358 batting average (44 for 123), 28 walks and 11 doubles. Graham has team bests of nine home runs and 33 runs scored while batting .311 (41 for 132) with 28 RBIs. Tredaway is batting .321 (43 for 134) with a team-high 30 RBIs, nine doubles, two homers and 24 runs scored and Jimmy Crooks is hitting .310 (36 for 116) with 25 walks, 19 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
• During a nine-game stretch over two weeks (March 29-April 12), the Sooners played eight games against opponents ranked among the top-8 nationally. OU went 5-4 overall during that stretch (4-4 vs. ranked foes Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech).
• During its 12-game homestand (9-3 record at L. Dale Mitchell Park from March 8-27), Oklahoma turned up the offense. The Sooners batted .336 with 40 extra base hits (average of 3.3 per game), 26 doubles, 12 home runs, 67 walks (5.6 per game) and 29 stolen bases. OU totaled 100 runs (8.3 per game) and registered 133 hits (11.1 per game).
• OU scored at least seven runs in eight straight games between March 8-19. The Sooners had a similar eight-game scoring run between March 9-21 of last season, but this was only the third occurrence in the last 11 years. Oklahoma opened the 2011 season by scoring at least seven runs in nine consecutive games.

Recapping the Last Week

• Oklahoma won three of four games last week, defeating Texas Tech 14-9, Pacific 7-3 and 10-2 and falling to Lamar 14-11.
• Cade Horton made his first career start in the weekend opener on Thursday, earning the victory. David Sandlin struck out five over 6.0 innings and earned the win vs. Pacific on Saturday. Braden Carmichael allowed just one hit and struck out three over 4.0 innings in the start vs. Texas Tech on Tuesday.
• Brett Squires led the Sooners in batting last week, going 8 for 14 (.571) with three home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs scored, a .667 OBP and a 1.214 SLG%. Jimmy Crooks hit .385 (5 for 13) with a homer, two doubles, five walks, six RBIs and four runs scored while Blake Robertson hit .375 (6 for 16) with seven RBIs, six runs, five walks, a double and his first home run of the season. Tanner Tredaway batted .350 (7 for 20) with one homer, two doubles and five RBIs.
• Oklahoma outslugged Texas Tech 14-9 on a windy Tuesday night in Amarillo, Texas. Squires and Robertson each notched five hits and OU blasted five home runs in the game, held at Hodgetown, home of the Amarillo Sod Poodles.
• Squires went 5 for 5 with four RBIs and two home runs while Robertson went 5 for 6 with three RBIs and a homer. Both players tallied their first homers of the season on Tuesday. Crooks also drove in four runs, going 2 for 4 with a home run and two walks. Graham hit his ninth home run of the season and scored three runs. The teams combined for 23 runs and 27 hits.

Base Snatchers

• The Sooners have registered 80 stolen bases in 102 attempts through 34 games this season. OU surpassed its total from all of last year (46 steals) in the 18th game of this season. The last time Oklahoma completed a season with at least 80 steals was in 2010 (98).
• Oklahoma ranks seventh nationally in stolen bases (80) and steals per game (2.4). Both figures rank second in the Big 12, only to West Virginia's 115 steals and average of 3.4 steals per game.
• OU's most steals over the last 12 seasons was 98, in 2010. Over the last 30 years (1993-2022), OU has finished a season with more than 80 steals nine times: 2010 (98), 2007 (96), 2006, (85), 2003 (91), 2000 (87), 1997 (86), 1996 (104), 1995 (93), 1993 (83).
• Peyton Graham leads OU with 14 stolen bases, while Tanner Tredaway and Kendall Pettis each have 13 steals. Blake Robertson has nine steals and catcher Jimmy Crooks has seven steals. The last time OU had at least one player with 13 steals at the end of a season was 2013 (16 by Craig Aikin and 13 by Matt Oberste). A total of 14 players have recorded at least one stolen base this season.
• Oklahoma has registered at least 10 steals in a game twice this season. OU went off for 11 steals against Wichita State on Feb. 22 and stole 10 bases on April 16 vs. Pacific.
• Three players — Graham, Pettis and Tredaway — each had three stolen bases in the Feb. 22 game vs. Wichita State. Graham notched three steals again vs. Texas on April 2. It was the fourth time a single player has registered three steals in a single game this season.
• Prior to Feb. 22, no single Sooner had stolen three bases in a game since Erik Ross against Hartford in 2012. Oklahoma (3-1) finished the Wichita State game one steal shy of the school record of 12, set in 1937 against East Central (Okla.) University.