College Baseball Preview #17 Oklahoma At Dallas Baptist

After going 2-2 at the Nike Showcase over the weekend Oklahoma dropped one spot in the NCBWA and Coaches poll to #17. The Sooners will host Texas over the weekend to start Big XII conference play and their final tune up before playing conference teams they are traveling to Dallas Baptist this evening.

You may remember Dallas Baptist from last season. They are the team that bounced the Sooners from the FT Worth Regional. They return 17 players from last year's team that was 42-20 but have struggled to start 2012. A weekend sweep over Houston Baptist improved their season record to 9-6 but it should also be noted that the Patriots are 9-1 at home this season.

DBU will be throwing lefty Andrew Elkins at the Sooners. He is 1-0 on the season with a modest 2.00 ERA in five game appearances. The Patriots are led in hitting by RJ Talamantes and Austin Elkins who are both hitting .368 on the season.

Oklahoma will be throwing right-handed pitcher Jacob Rhame who is also 1-0 on the year but has a much higher ERA than his counterpart at 6.35. Rhame has given Oklahoma 5.2 innings of work over his three game appearances this season and has collected a save to go along with his one win. He has struck out three batters this season.

The Sooner offense continues to be a work in progress. Freshman Hunter Lockwood has cooled down a bit to a .278 batting average but Max White has elevated his average up to .345 and is just one RBI behind Lockwood who leads the team with 16. Lockwood's five home runs are still a team high as well.

First pitch in the DBU game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CST).