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Post by Matt Meyer | @bluto51 on Twitter
Four weeks remain in the regular season for our state’s Big 12 baseball teams. One team is about where I thought they’d be, and the other is still trying to get there.
After a 5 game losing streak, Oklahoma State has righted the ship with 5 consecutive wins to improve to 28-13 and 11-7 in the Big 12. OSU has split their six conference series, but two of the three series victories have been sweeps. Cowboys are led by their offense, a very deep lineup with a lot of power, that currently sits in the top 10 nationally in HR’s and doubles. 2B Roc Riggio has 12 HR’s and 41 RBI’s, while 1B David Mendham has 11 HR’s and 42 RBI’s, and OF Nolan Schubart has added 9 HR’s and 40 RBI’s. DH Colin Brueggemann is hitting .372 and OF/P Carson Benge is hitting .351 to pace a lineup that has 6 regular contributors hitting over .300. The Pokes have scored 67 runs over their current 5 game winning streak, wins over West Virginia, Oklahoma, and a three game sweep of Kansas.
Other than Juaron Watts-Brown, the Cowboys’ starting pitching has struggled to find consistency. Hopefully Ben Abram and Benge can build on decent starts this weekend in Lawrence. The bullpen has several reliable options, among them Isaac Stebens, Ryan Bogusz, and injured closer Nolan McLean, another big bat the Cowboys could use back in the lineup. Solidifying the starting rotation after Watts-Brown and getting McLean back healthy are the two biggest keys for this team to make a run at the Big 12 Championship and in the NCAA Tournament.
In Norman, it’s been a rocky year for the Sooners coming off an NCAA runner up season a year ago, as OU is 22-19 and 7-8 in conference. Oklahoma lost their weekend rotation, closer, and several big bats off last year’s team, but the offense has been pretty good. Getting their leading hitter in SS Dakota Harris back healthy has helped the lineup and defense, and the Sooners are still waiting for C Easton Carmichael to get back after a bout with mono. Anthony McKenzie has played 1B, SS, and 3B this season and has probably been OU’s best all around offensive player, hitting .323 with 5 HR’s, 31 RBI’s, and a club leading 20 SB’s. Harris is hitting a team leading .369 and Carmichael is hitting .325, so missing those guys for a few weeks hasn’t helped. Neither did losing LF Kendall Pettis for a few games, as he’s hitting .312 and has added 12 SB’s. RF Bryce Madron leads the team with 8 HR’s, is tied with Carmichael and Jackson Nicklaus for the team lead in RBI’s with 34, and leads the country with 44 walks. The Sooners could use Nicklaus and CF John Spikerman to provide the consistency at the plate that made them all conference picks coming into their sophomore year.
The Sooners’ weekend rotation has solidified into a decent group in Braxton Douthit, Braden Carmichael, and James Hitt. The bullpen, on the other hand, has been a mess over the last few weeks. However, lefty Carter Campbell and righty Will Carsten’s relief work was a huge key to Oklahoma’s weekend sweep of Texas, the program’s first sweep of the Horns since 1998 and first sweep ever in Austin.
More consistent options out of the pen and more consistent defensive play, primarily on the infield, are the biggest keys to this team getting back into the Field of 64. Sooners still have a lot of work to do to get into the postseason, but the sweep of Texas has boosted OU’s RPI into the Top 50 and hopefully given the team a shot of confidence that they needed, coming off of a 4-8 start in Big 12 play and an embarrassing 19-8 loss in Stillwater on Tuesday.
Cowboys are a tournament team that would still like to host a regional, but they’ll need to remain hot to do so. Sooners need to remain hot just to make the tournament. There’s a lot left to be decided over the next four weeks, culminating with the Bedlam Series in Norman on the final weekend of the regular season.