Has Pete Hughes program improved enough to put last season's dismal effort aside? Was it just a by product of coaching turnover? Can the Sooners fan base expect a return to post-season play by seasons end?
To date a number of those questions have been left unanswered. Not on purpose because the answer isn't what you'll want to hear. But more due to the fact there simply isn't enough info to answer honestly.
That comes to an end Friday night as Oklahoma opens Big 12 play hosting No.10 Texas Tech. Let the data collecting begin.
Let's take a look at what we do know about Hughes' program, currently:
* Oklahoma enters Big 12 play with a 15-8 record overall. After taking three of four during a trip to Hawaii last weekend, Oklahoma has won three straight series and 11 of its last 15 games.
* Oklahoma is hitting .282 as a team and holds a 2.74 team ERA. The Sooners lead the Big 12 Conference with 22 home runs on the year. While the Sooners pitching staff leads the conference with 210 strike outs on the year.
* Sooners pitchers have struck out 10 or more 12 times this year; averaging 9.13 Ks per game ... that leads the Big 12 and ranks 21st nationally.
* Four Sooners are batting .300-or-better including junior CF Craig Aikin (.368). He leads the league in runs (25 - 11th nationally). Sheldon Neuse ranks fourth on the team in hitting (.318) but leads the league with 24 RBIs (20th nationally), while slugging .545 with a team-high five HRs. Kolbey Carpenter is batting .338 with four home runs and Anthony Hermelyn is batting .333.
* Oklahoma ranks 11th in the country in hits (210) ... that leads the Big 12.
* A big part of the pitching staff's strike out total has been the Friday/Saturday duo of Jake Elliott and Alec Hansen. Hansen leads the league with 37 Ks .... Elliott ranks fourth with 32. Better yet OU starting pitchers have lasted six or more innnings in 10 out of 23 starts this season, including seven of 7 innings or more.
Adam Choplick - 25 Ks/ 20.1 ip
Corey Copping - 24 Ks/21.0 ip
Robert Tasin - 20 Ks/ 20.0 ip
Jacob Evans - 20 Ks/15.1 ............ that's pretty salty
Jeffery Curran - 18 Ks/22.2 ip
* The curious case of Adam Choplick continues after throwing a gem in his last outing, throwing six innings and scoreless ball and striking out a career-high 10 batters only to take a no-decision vs. Oral Roberts. More important than anything else was the fact Choplick issued just one free pass vs. the Golden Eagles.
I imagine we see Choplick and Corey Copping continue to be guys that are in flux, going between spot weekend starts while sharing the midweek duties based on match-up (LHP vs. RHP).
Oklahoma travels to Baylor for a midweek party during the midweek.
* The bullpen has been strong ... Oklahoma is 12-1 when leading after the sixth inning. Oklahoma is 14-0 when leading after the 7th and 8th innings. We've also seen quite a bit of depth with twelve different players making appearances in relief.
Ralph Garza Jr. and Jacob Evans lead the team in appearances with nine. Robert Tasin comes next with eight (more on Tasin below ... really an interesting story). Keaton Hernandez (7) and Blake Rogers (6) follow Tasin.
LHP Shawn Hunter is developing an identity as a situational guy from the left side.
Sheldon Neuse has yet to give up a run in three appearances throwing 3.1 innings, picking up his first career save in the process.
* It's been night and day defensively ... at this point last season Oklahoma had committed 39 errors (.955 fielding percentage). This season Oklahoma has committed just 24 errors and currently have a .973 fielding percentage.
* After turning just 28 double-plays all season last year, Oklahoma has turned 24 double-plays so far this season and rank No.6 nationally.
WEEKEND PREVIEW
Rotation:
Friday - Jake Elliott (3-1 2.76 ERA 32.2 ip ... 32 SO/11 BB) - threw a career-high 8 innings in last start vs. Hawaii, retired 12 straight before allowing a solo HR to lead off Rainbow Warriors bottom of the eighth.
Saturday - Alec Hansen (2-2 3.81 ERA 26.0 ip ... 37 SO/14 BB) - After leaving the California Collegiate League this summer as the No.2 prospect Hansen is living up to his billing. He lives in the triple-digits and is striking out 12.81 batters per nine innings (18th nationally).
Sunday - Jeffery Curran (0-0 1.99 ERA 22.2 ip ... 18 SO/5 BB) - Hasn't received a decision in his last two starts but has given OU valuable innings starting from the left side. Perhaps what's given him the nod on Sundays over Choplick is the fact he has walked just five batters all season.
About Texas Tech:
After a school record 45 win season a year ago, which included a trip to Omaha, Tim Tadlock's Red Raiders rank amongst the top 15 in the country in virtually every collegiate baseball poll.
Designated hitter Corey Raley, brother of former Sooner Russell Raley, leads the Red Raiders with a .411 batting average and .548 slugging percentage. 1B Eric Gutierrez is hitting .329 with a team-high 21 RBI on nine doubles and two home runs.
Texas Tech heads to Norman after splitting a midweek two-game series with Oral Roberts.
TASIN THE (DESIGNATED) HITTER?
Junior Robert Tasin swung a hot bat upon arrival to the Hawaiian islands. Starting as the Sooners designated hitter he went 6-for-15 with two doubles and a RBI last over the four game series vs. Hawaii. In March, Tasin is hitting .353.
It's an intriguing storyline to follow as Tasin didn't even start swinging a bat until over the summer. He continued to work with hitting coach Mike Anderson over the winter and is now actually producing at the plate. We'll keep an eye on this as Oklahoma enters conference play and, of course, much better pitching.
RPI .. IT'S NEVER TO EARLY
Remember what we all said after an opening weekend series loss to Notre Dame? The Irish actually stand as one of the bigger surprises in college baseball with a 15-4 record. This past week the Irish checked in at No.5 in the RPI while making appearances in the middle of most top 25 rankings.
OU currently checks-in with at No.57 with number of extremely good opponents and opportunities ahead moving forward with conference play and midweek games ... here are some notable RPIs of opponents and teams that OU has already played:
Dallas Baptist (1)
TCU (2)
Notre Dame (5)
Arizona State (12)
Oklahoma State (16)
West Virginia (25)
Texas (29)
Oregon State (35)
C. Arkansas (46)
Texas Tech (47)
Kansas State (51)
Oral Roberts (60)
********************************************************************
To close ... this weekend is a test. I'm just as interested to see how it all plays out as you. This weekend's series will carry a little more clout than it did a season ago, when Oklahoma opened conference play taking two of three from Kansas State.
TV/RADIO
Friday - FOX College Sports - Pacific (6p)
Saturday - FOX Sports Southwest/FCS - Pacific (2p)
Sunday - FOX Sports Southwest/FCS - Central (1p)
- all three games can be heard on 1400 KREF/1560 AM
This post was edited on 3/20 3:31 PM by Eddie_Rado
To date a number of those questions have been left unanswered. Not on purpose because the answer isn't what you'll want to hear. But more due to the fact there simply isn't enough info to answer honestly.
That comes to an end Friday night as Oklahoma opens Big 12 play hosting No.10 Texas Tech. Let the data collecting begin.
Let's take a look at what we do know about Hughes' program, currently:
* Oklahoma enters Big 12 play with a 15-8 record overall. After taking three of four during a trip to Hawaii last weekend, Oklahoma has won three straight series and 11 of its last 15 games.
* Oklahoma is hitting .282 as a team and holds a 2.74 team ERA. The Sooners lead the Big 12 Conference with 22 home runs on the year. While the Sooners pitching staff leads the conference with 210 strike outs on the year.
* Sooners pitchers have struck out 10 or more 12 times this year; averaging 9.13 Ks per game ... that leads the Big 12 and ranks 21st nationally.
* Four Sooners are batting .300-or-better including junior CF Craig Aikin (.368). He leads the league in runs (25 - 11th nationally). Sheldon Neuse ranks fourth on the team in hitting (.318) but leads the league with 24 RBIs (20th nationally), while slugging .545 with a team-high five HRs. Kolbey Carpenter is batting .338 with four home runs and Anthony Hermelyn is batting .333.
* Oklahoma ranks 11th in the country in hits (210) ... that leads the Big 12.
* A big part of the pitching staff's strike out total has been the Friday/Saturday duo of Jake Elliott and Alec Hansen. Hansen leads the league with 37 Ks .... Elliott ranks fourth with 32. Better yet OU starting pitchers have lasted six or more innnings in 10 out of 23 starts this season, including seven of 7 innings or more.
Adam Choplick - 25 Ks/ 20.1 ip
Corey Copping - 24 Ks/21.0 ip
Robert Tasin - 20 Ks/ 20.0 ip
Jacob Evans - 20 Ks/15.1 ............ that's pretty salty
Jeffery Curran - 18 Ks/22.2 ip
* The curious case of Adam Choplick continues after throwing a gem in his last outing, throwing six innings and scoreless ball and striking out a career-high 10 batters only to take a no-decision vs. Oral Roberts. More important than anything else was the fact Choplick issued just one free pass vs. the Golden Eagles.
I imagine we see Choplick and Corey Copping continue to be guys that are in flux, going between spot weekend starts while sharing the midweek duties based on match-up (LHP vs. RHP).
Oklahoma travels to Baylor for a midweek party during the midweek.
* The bullpen has been strong ... Oklahoma is 12-1 when leading after the sixth inning. Oklahoma is 14-0 when leading after the 7th and 8th innings. We've also seen quite a bit of depth with twelve different players making appearances in relief.
Ralph Garza Jr. and Jacob Evans lead the team in appearances with nine. Robert Tasin comes next with eight (more on Tasin below ... really an interesting story). Keaton Hernandez (7) and Blake Rogers (6) follow Tasin.
LHP Shawn Hunter is developing an identity as a situational guy from the left side.
Sheldon Neuse has yet to give up a run in three appearances throwing 3.1 innings, picking up his first career save in the process.
* It's been night and day defensively ... at this point last season Oklahoma had committed 39 errors (.955 fielding percentage). This season Oklahoma has committed just 24 errors and currently have a .973 fielding percentage.
* After turning just 28 double-plays all season last year, Oklahoma has turned 24 double-plays so far this season and rank No.6 nationally.
WEEKEND PREVIEW
Rotation:
Friday - Jake Elliott (3-1 2.76 ERA 32.2 ip ... 32 SO/11 BB) - threw a career-high 8 innings in last start vs. Hawaii, retired 12 straight before allowing a solo HR to lead off Rainbow Warriors bottom of the eighth.
Saturday - Alec Hansen (2-2 3.81 ERA 26.0 ip ... 37 SO/14 BB) - After leaving the California Collegiate League this summer as the No.2 prospect Hansen is living up to his billing. He lives in the triple-digits and is striking out 12.81 batters per nine innings (18th nationally).
Sunday - Jeffery Curran (0-0 1.99 ERA 22.2 ip ... 18 SO/5 BB) - Hasn't received a decision in his last two starts but has given OU valuable innings starting from the left side. Perhaps what's given him the nod on Sundays over Choplick is the fact he has walked just five batters all season.
About Texas Tech:
After a school record 45 win season a year ago, which included a trip to Omaha, Tim Tadlock's Red Raiders rank amongst the top 15 in the country in virtually every collegiate baseball poll.
Designated hitter Corey Raley, brother of former Sooner Russell Raley, leads the Red Raiders with a .411 batting average and .548 slugging percentage. 1B Eric Gutierrez is hitting .329 with a team-high 21 RBI on nine doubles and two home runs.
Texas Tech heads to Norman after splitting a midweek two-game series with Oral Roberts.
TASIN THE (DESIGNATED) HITTER?
Junior Robert Tasin swung a hot bat upon arrival to the Hawaiian islands. Starting as the Sooners designated hitter he went 6-for-15 with two doubles and a RBI last over the four game series vs. Hawaii. In March, Tasin is hitting .353.
It's an intriguing storyline to follow as Tasin didn't even start swinging a bat until over the summer. He continued to work with hitting coach Mike Anderson over the winter and is now actually producing at the plate. We'll keep an eye on this as Oklahoma enters conference play and, of course, much better pitching.
RPI .. IT'S NEVER TO EARLY
Remember what we all said after an opening weekend series loss to Notre Dame? The Irish actually stand as one of the bigger surprises in college baseball with a 15-4 record. This past week the Irish checked in at No.5 in the RPI while making appearances in the middle of most top 25 rankings.
OU currently checks-in with at No.57 with number of extremely good opponents and opportunities ahead moving forward with conference play and midweek games ... here are some notable RPIs of opponents and teams that OU has already played:
Dallas Baptist (1)
TCU (2)
Notre Dame (5)
Arizona State (12)
Oklahoma State (16)
West Virginia (25)
Texas (29)
Oregon State (35)
C. Arkansas (46)
Texas Tech (47)
Kansas State (51)
Oral Roberts (60)
********************************************************************
To close ... this weekend is a test. I'm just as interested to see how it all plays out as you. This weekend's series will carry a little more clout than it did a season ago, when Oklahoma opened conference play taking two of three from Kansas State.
TV/RADIO
Friday - FOX College Sports - Pacific (6p)
Saturday - FOX Sports Southwest/FCS - Pacific (2p)
Sunday - FOX Sports Southwest/FCS - Central (1p)
- all three games can be heard on 1400 KREF/1560 AM
This post was edited on 3/20 3:31 PM by Eddie_Rado
