Sooners Sweep Double-Header Against Baylor To Take Series

Oklahoma certainly did their part to enhance their NCAA Tournament resume on Saturday by sweeping the Baylor Bears in a double-header. Regardless of what happens in tomorrow's game three the Bears will be limping home from their first conference series loss after coming to Norman with a perfect 18-0 record in Big XII play. The question now is, how much does this boost OU's RPI?

The Sooners came into the series with an RPI ranking in the high 60's but after winning a series against the second ranked team in the nation they can expect to see a jump of 15-20 spots. With a remaining schedule consisting of a mid-week game against TCU and a weekend series against Samford, Oklahoma could see themselves back in the low 40's which would get them into the dance. Keep in mind that the Sooners now have wins over Oregon, Arkansas and Baylor - all of them are Top 12 in the RPI.

Saturday's Big XII Baseball Scores

Texas 12, Texas Southern 3

Texas A&M 1, San Diego State 0

Oklahoma State 11, Alcorn State 2

Missouri 9, Memphis 1

Oklahoma 1, Baylor 0

Oklahoma 2, Baylor 1

After taking game one 1-0 by scoring in the tenth inning, the Sooners wasted no time getting on the board in the second game. Cody Reine tripled in the bottom of the first and then moved home when Max White singled as the next batter to give Oklahoma a 1-0 lead. Evan Mistich would then score in the bottom of the second on a Caleb Bushyhead sacrifice to put the Sooners up 2-0.

That would be all of the offense OU would need on the day as the Sooners' pitching delivered back-to-back great performances. After Jordan John help the Bears scoreless in the first game, Jonathan Gray struck out 9 of the 29 batters he faced in the second. He went a total of 7.1 innings, allowing one run to score off five hits. He didn't allow a base hit until the fifth inning.

Steven Okert relieved Gray in the seventh and finished the game with 1.2 innings of no hit relief. He ended the game by fanning Baylor's first three batters of the ninth on twelve pitches.

Saturday's wins guarantee Oklahoma a winning record in conference play.