* No. 3 Oklahoma (32-25, 13-11) opens the Big 12 Tournament this afternoon vs. 6-seed Kansas State (26-28, 10-14). First pitch set for 4:00 p.m. in Tulsa at OneOK Field.
The 3-seed is OU's highest in the Big 12 Tournament since 2011 ... Overall Oklahoma is 32-29 in the Big 12 Championship. This season marks the fourth time the Sooners are the three seed. Oklahoma won the Big 12 Championship title in 1997 and 2013.
Oklahoma is 5-5 vs. it's side of the bracket: Oklahoma State (Lost 2 of 3), Kansas State (Won 2 of 3) & West Virginia (Won 2 of 3).
Wednesday starter: Jake Elliott (4-5 2.92 ERA) vs. Colton Kalmus (1-4 4.20 ERA)
-- Just two weeks ago Oklahoma took 2 of 3 from Kansas State after dropping the Friday night opener the Sooners won Saturday and Sunday contests by a run. Good news for Oklahoma is the fact they could be missing sophomore RHP Nick Griep ... Griep tossed a complete game shutout vs. Oklahoma in the Friday night opener.
* It's really pretty simple. Just win, baby. Oklahoma enters this weekend's Big 12 Tournament needing to be the final team standing Sunday afternoon to make the NCAA Tournament. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The coaches know it. The players know it. The fans know it.
* In seven career games, Craig Aikin is a .438 hitter in the tournament after two four-hit games last season. Anthony Hermelyn, a 2013 All-Tournament Team selection, is hitting .333 with five RBI in seven games. During the course of Hermelyn's current 10-game hitting streak he's hitting .404 (17-for-42) lifting his average to .316 on the year leading the team with 47 RBIs.
* It's going to come down to getting hot at the right time. Getting everything- hitting, pitching & fielding- rolling in the same direction. This means avoiding the error that allows the go-ahead run to score. This means avoiding the leadoff walk to the 9-hole. This means avoiding making the plays that get you beat.
* This season Oklahoma is 10-9 in 1 run games. A number of those 9 losses stand as reason why Oklahoma will be playing with its back against a wall this weekend in Tulsa. Go back and trace the reasons for those losses and it boils down to giving away free outs.
Errors and walks come around to haunt everytime. It's a rather simple game. It's been a season of taking two steps forward and then- about- 15 steps backs.
* When Oklahoma gets good pitching matched with good defense they can be a really good team. The Sooner pitching staff leads the Big 12 with 501 striketous; averaging 8.78 per nine innings. Sophomore RHP Alec Hansen leads all Big 12 pitchers with 93. Wednesday Sooners starter Jake Elliott ranks fourth in the league at 80.
-- OU pitchers have combined to strikeout 10-plus 26x this season.
* You look at the Big 12 First Team Selections that were announced yesterday and see the FOUR Sooners names on the first team. My first thought upon seeing that ... 'how the hell is this team going to miss the postseason?'
-- Take a step back and look at the errors committed by three of four 1st team performers ... In recent weeks Aikin has misplayed ball at Wichita State that led to a go-ahead run scoring ... Neuse is second on the team with five errors this season. Last week it was a throwing error on Friday night that opened the door for TCU ... Hermelyn threw a ball into centerfield on the same night ... those are the types of plays I'm referring to above.
It just can't happen if Oklahoma wants to win the tournament this weekend.
Weekend Schedule -
Wednesday
GM 1: No. 5 Texas def. No. 4 Texas Tech 2-1
GM 2: No. 8 Baylor vs. No. 1 TCU
GM 3: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Kansas State
GM 4: No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 West Virginia
- If Oklahoma wins on Wednesday they will play the winner of GM 4 at 7 p.m. Thursday
- If Oklahoma losses on Wednesday they will play the loser of GM 4 at 12:30 p.m. Thursday
* Can this team win the Big 12 Tournament? Yes. Will they need to put together its best 4-5 game stretch of the year? Absolutely much like they did in 2013 when they arrived in Bricktown losing 9 of 12 before getting on a role and winning the whole thing.
That doesn't happen - IMO - without an opening round victory today.
The 3-seed is OU's highest in the Big 12 Tournament since 2011 ... Overall Oklahoma is 32-29 in the Big 12 Championship. This season marks the fourth time the Sooners are the three seed. Oklahoma won the Big 12 Championship title in 1997 and 2013.
Oklahoma is 5-5 vs. it's side of the bracket: Oklahoma State (Lost 2 of 3), Kansas State (Won 2 of 3) & West Virginia (Won 2 of 3).
Wednesday starter: Jake Elliott (4-5 2.92 ERA) vs. Colton Kalmus (1-4 4.20 ERA)
-- Just two weeks ago Oklahoma took 2 of 3 from Kansas State after dropping the Friday night opener the Sooners won Saturday and Sunday contests by a run. Good news for Oklahoma is the fact they could be missing sophomore RHP Nick Griep ... Griep tossed a complete game shutout vs. Oklahoma in the Friday night opener.
* It's really pretty simple. Just win, baby. Oklahoma enters this weekend's Big 12 Tournament needing to be the final team standing Sunday afternoon to make the NCAA Tournament. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The coaches know it. The players know it. The fans know it.
* In seven career games, Craig Aikin is a .438 hitter in the tournament after two four-hit games last season. Anthony Hermelyn, a 2013 All-Tournament Team selection, is hitting .333 with five RBI in seven games. During the course of Hermelyn's current 10-game hitting streak he's hitting .404 (17-for-42) lifting his average to .316 on the year leading the team with 47 RBIs.
* It's going to come down to getting hot at the right time. Getting everything- hitting, pitching & fielding- rolling in the same direction. This means avoiding the error that allows the go-ahead run to score. This means avoiding the leadoff walk to the 9-hole. This means avoiding making the plays that get you beat.
* This season Oklahoma is 10-9 in 1 run games. A number of those 9 losses stand as reason why Oklahoma will be playing with its back against a wall this weekend in Tulsa. Go back and trace the reasons for those losses and it boils down to giving away free outs.
Errors and walks come around to haunt everytime. It's a rather simple game. It's been a season of taking two steps forward and then- about- 15 steps backs.
* When Oklahoma gets good pitching matched with good defense they can be a really good team. The Sooner pitching staff leads the Big 12 with 501 striketous; averaging 8.78 per nine innings. Sophomore RHP Alec Hansen leads all Big 12 pitchers with 93. Wednesday Sooners starter Jake Elliott ranks fourth in the league at 80.
-- OU pitchers have combined to strikeout 10-plus 26x this season.
* You look at the Big 12 First Team Selections that were announced yesterday and see the FOUR Sooners names on the first team. My first thought upon seeing that ... 'how the hell is this team going to miss the postseason?'
-- Take a step back and look at the errors committed by three of four 1st team performers ... In recent weeks Aikin has misplayed ball at Wichita State that led to a go-ahead run scoring ... Neuse is second on the team with five errors this season. Last week it was a throwing error on Friday night that opened the door for TCU ... Hermelyn threw a ball into centerfield on the same night ... those are the types of plays I'm referring to above.
It just can't happen if Oklahoma wants to win the tournament this weekend.
Weekend Schedule -
Wednesday
GM 1: No. 5 Texas def. No. 4 Texas Tech 2-1
GM 2: No. 8 Baylor vs. No. 1 TCU
GM 3: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Kansas State
GM 4: No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 West Virginia
- If Oklahoma wins on Wednesday they will play the winner of GM 4 at 7 p.m. Thursday
- If Oklahoma losses on Wednesday they will play the loser of GM 4 at 12:30 p.m. Thursday
* Can this team win the Big 12 Tournament? Yes. Will they need to put together its best 4-5 game stretch of the year? Absolutely much like they did in 2013 when they arrived in Bricktown losing 9 of 12 before getting on a role and winning the whole thing.
That doesn't happen - IMO - without an opening round victory today.
