The good news? Oklahoma won't have to do much scoreboard watching this weekend.
The only scoreboard that matters will be the one just past the left field wall at L. Dale Mitchell.
The Big 12 regular season champion will be crowned in Norman -- at some point this weekend. That could be Thursday night. It could be Friday night. Or it could be Saturday afternoon as Oklahoma enters the weekend in need of a sweep to earn its first regular season title. The Horned Frogs - winners of six straight - need just one victory to clinch.
Jake Elliott (4-5 2.81 ERA) takes the bump on Friday night for the 13th time this season. Looking for his second career conference win, the sophomore RHP has held opponents to a .219 clip this season, ranking 4th in the league with 75 strikeouts. TCU counters with RHP Alex Young (9-2 1.46 ERA). The junior RHP went eight-shutout innings in his last start at West Virginia (May 3).
Last season, Elliott threw five shutout innings vs. TCU returning to the mound after missing a month because of injury. OU eventually won the game 7-5 in 11 innings, but Elliott drew a no-decision.
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* On balls hit in play, Oklahoma is hitting .316, led by Kolbey Carpenter (.400) and Craig Aikin (.389). Anthony Hermelyn (.316) is toughest to strikeout in the Big 12 with one strikeout for every 11.3 at-bats.
-- Sheldon Neuse and Hermelyn are tied for the Big 12 lead with 39 RBIs.
* Freshman third baseman Kyle Mendenhall continues to make the most of his opportunities in the line-up. Making three starts last weekend in Manhattan Mendenhall went 5-for-9 at the plate, improving his batting average to .406 (13-for-32).
* Slowly but surely Alex Wise continues to work his way back into the OU line-up after a frustrating first year in Norman, being sidelined by injury twice. Wise entered Saturday's contest as a defensive replacement in left field.
* Of the 32 conference series played this season, only seven (22% have resulted in three-game sweeps with TCU the only team with multiple sweeps on the yeawr (vs. Baylor, vs. Texas, at West Virginia).
-- TCU enters the weekend on an eight-game Big 12 winning streak. In fact, since dropping a series to Kansas State three weeks ago, TCU has swept the last four weekend series and has won 14-of-15. The Horned Frogs lead the nation with a 2.10 ERA, allowing just one earned run in their last 37 innings pitched. Oklahoma's pitching staff enters the weekend ranking fourth in the league with a 3.33 ERA.
* Only once in the league's history have fewewr than four teams made a regional -- three teams made regionals in 2013. No team that has finished second or better in the conference has ever been denied a regional bid.
* Following a its third consecutive conference series road victory, Oklahoma has moved up 15 spots over the past seven days in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) entering the weekend No.69. TCU heads into the regular-season final series ranked No.7.
-- To feel confident about an at-large OU needs to gain about 20 spots in between now and Memorial Day when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. Two wins this weekend -- at the very least-- are imperative along with a quality run in next week's Big 12 Tournament. Simply put -- you better win as many games as possible down the stretch. A sweep this weekend is most recommended.
* Oklahoma enters the weekend with just one loss in conference play at home, where it is 5-1 against Big 12 opponents. TCU is just 3-12 against Oklahoma in Norman since 2004.
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Big 12 Schedule -
1.) TCU 15-5
2.) Oklahoma State 14-8
3.) Oklahoma 13-8
4.) Texas Tech 12-9
5.) Texas 9-12
6.) Kansas State 8-13
7.) Baylor 8-13
8.) West Virginia 7-12
9.) Kansas 7-13
Texas Tech at West Virginia (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) - Tech: 3rd or 4th depending on series at WVU & OU series vs. TCU; WVU: Half-game ahead of Kansas for final tournament berth and a game behind KSU and Baylor. Owns tiebreaker vs. KSU but loses tiebreaker to Baylor & Kansas.
Kansas State at Kansas (Friday/Saturday/Sunday)- KSU: Loses tiebreaker to Texas and win tiebreaker vs. Baylor; KU: Half-game back of West Virginia but holds tiebreaker over West Virginia.
Texas at Baylor (Saturday/Sunday) - Texas: Hold one game lead on Kansas State and Baylor for fifth, hold tiebreaker vs. KSU; Baylor: Lose tiebreaker to KSU but hold tiebreakers vs. WVU & Kansas.
Oklahoma State at Michigan (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) - OSU: With its Big 12 slate wrapped up the Cowboys will finish in second place unless Oklahoma sweeps TCU, then third.
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TV/RADIO BROADCAST INFO
Thursday/Friday/Saturday - FSSW/FCS-Central -- Chad Mckee/Mickey Tettleton
Thursday/Friday/Saturday - 1400 KREF/1560 AM -- Toby Rowland/Chris Plank
We'll get the LIVE game thread fired up around 5:45 this evening with first pitch set for 6p.
The only scoreboard that matters will be the one just past the left field wall at L. Dale Mitchell.
The Big 12 regular season champion will be crowned in Norman -- at some point this weekend. That could be Thursday night. It could be Friday night. Or it could be Saturday afternoon as Oklahoma enters the weekend in need of a sweep to earn its first regular season title. The Horned Frogs - winners of six straight - need just one victory to clinch.
Jake Elliott (4-5 2.81 ERA) takes the bump on Friday night for the 13th time this season. Looking for his second career conference win, the sophomore RHP has held opponents to a .219 clip this season, ranking 4th in the league with 75 strikeouts. TCU counters with RHP Alex Young (9-2 1.46 ERA). The junior RHP went eight-shutout innings in his last start at West Virginia (May 3).
Last season, Elliott threw five shutout innings vs. TCU returning to the mound after missing a month because of injury. OU eventually won the game 7-5 in 11 innings, but Elliott drew a no-decision.
******************************************************************************
* On balls hit in play, Oklahoma is hitting .316, led by Kolbey Carpenter (.400) and Craig Aikin (.389). Anthony Hermelyn (.316) is toughest to strikeout in the Big 12 with one strikeout for every 11.3 at-bats.
-- Sheldon Neuse and Hermelyn are tied for the Big 12 lead with 39 RBIs.
* Freshman third baseman Kyle Mendenhall continues to make the most of his opportunities in the line-up. Making three starts last weekend in Manhattan Mendenhall went 5-for-9 at the plate, improving his batting average to .406 (13-for-32).
* Slowly but surely Alex Wise continues to work his way back into the OU line-up after a frustrating first year in Norman, being sidelined by injury twice. Wise entered Saturday's contest as a defensive replacement in left field.
* Of the 32 conference series played this season, only seven (22% have resulted in three-game sweeps with TCU the only team with multiple sweeps on the yeawr (vs. Baylor, vs. Texas, at West Virginia).
-- TCU enters the weekend on an eight-game Big 12 winning streak. In fact, since dropping a series to Kansas State three weeks ago, TCU has swept the last four weekend series and has won 14-of-15. The Horned Frogs lead the nation with a 2.10 ERA, allowing just one earned run in their last 37 innings pitched. Oklahoma's pitching staff enters the weekend ranking fourth in the league with a 3.33 ERA.
* Only once in the league's history have fewewr than four teams made a regional -- three teams made regionals in 2013. No team that has finished second or better in the conference has ever been denied a regional bid.
* Following a its third consecutive conference series road victory, Oklahoma has moved up 15 spots over the past seven days in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) entering the weekend No.69. TCU heads into the regular-season final series ranked No.7.
-- To feel confident about an at-large OU needs to gain about 20 spots in between now and Memorial Day when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. Two wins this weekend -- at the very least-- are imperative along with a quality run in next week's Big 12 Tournament. Simply put -- you better win as many games as possible down the stretch. A sweep this weekend is most recommended.
* Oklahoma enters the weekend with just one loss in conference play at home, where it is 5-1 against Big 12 opponents. TCU is just 3-12 against Oklahoma in Norman since 2004.
********************************************************************************
Big 12 Schedule -
1.) TCU 15-5
2.) Oklahoma State 14-8
3.) Oklahoma 13-8
4.) Texas Tech 12-9
5.) Texas 9-12
6.) Kansas State 8-13
7.) Baylor 8-13
8.) West Virginia 7-12
9.) Kansas 7-13
Texas Tech at West Virginia (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) - Tech: 3rd or 4th depending on series at WVU & OU series vs. TCU; WVU: Half-game ahead of Kansas for final tournament berth and a game behind KSU and Baylor. Owns tiebreaker vs. KSU but loses tiebreaker to Baylor & Kansas.
Kansas State at Kansas (Friday/Saturday/Sunday)- KSU: Loses tiebreaker to Texas and win tiebreaker vs. Baylor; KU: Half-game back of West Virginia but holds tiebreaker over West Virginia.
Texas at Baylor (Saturday/Sunday) - Texas: Hold one game lead on Kansas State and Baylor for fifth, hold tiebreaker vs. KSU; Baylor: Lose tiebreaker to KSU but hold tiebreakers vs. WVU & Kansas.
Oklahoma State at Michigan (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) - OSU: With its Big 12 slate wrapped up the Cowboys will finish in second place unless Oklahoma sweeps TCU, then third.
********************************************************************************
TV/RADIO BROADCAST INFO
Thursday/Friday/Saturday - FSSW/FCS-Central -- Chad Mckee/Mickey Tettleton
Thursday/Friday/Saturday - 1400 KREF/1560 AM -- Toby Rowland/Chris Plank
We'll get the LIVE game thread fired up around 5:45 this evening with first pitch set for 6p.
