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Oklahoma's Matt Oberste Eyeing History Heading Into TCU Series

Matt Oberste has been absolutely on fire for Oklahoma this baseball season. With a team-high .500 batting average, he leads the Big 12 in just about every batting category. He has knocked in 32 RBI this season with seven home runs while tallying up a total of 79 total bases. However, the number that has everyone's attention to this point is 26.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea - USA Today

Game 24 Friday, March 22, 2 p.m. CT
(TV: FOX Sports Southwest/FOX Sports Oklahoma)
Game 25 Saturday, March 23, 2 p.m. CT
(TV: FOX Sports Southwest Plus/FOX College Sports)
Game 26 Sunday, March 24, 1 p.m. CT
(TV: FOX Sports Southwest Plus/FOX College Sports)
Radio KREF 1400 & the Sooner Sports Network
Live Stats
SoonerSports.com

Dating back to last season, Oberste has hit safely in 26 consecutive games. By the end of the day on Saturday he could hold the longest hitting streak in Sooner baseball history. The Oklahoma record is a 27-game hitting streak by Marty Neff in 1991.

While the non-conference season hasn't been kind to TCU, the Frogs are still coming to Norman with the potential of upsetting the preseason conference favorites. TCU can be dangerous when they are in control on the mound and they will be throwing on of the Big 12's best against OU right from the start. Sophomore Preston Morrison will try to end Oberste's streak (as well as Oklahoma's seven-game winning streak) when he throws against OU on Friday night. He enters the contest with a 0.96 ERA and a 3-1 overall record. During his 37.2 innings of work this season he has fanned 26 batters and only walked five.

Where the Sooners may gain an advantage is later on in the weekend pitching rotation. The Horned Frogs will throw Brandon Finnegan (0-3) and Andrew Mitchell (0-1) on Saturday and Sunday. The two have combined for 49 strike outs and 19 walks this season but have always come up on the short end for one reason or another.

The TCU pitching staff will face a lineup that is boosted by Oberste and batting .292 as a team this season. Freshman Hector Lorenzana is batting .308 and has 12 RBI on the season. He's the second best average in a line up that can go yard from just about any spot. The Sooners have dinged sixteen home runs off the bats of six different players this year.

Oklahoma made a switch last weekend of putting Jonathan Gray on the mound Friday night and Dillon Overton on Saturday. The two responded by winning both of their games and Gray earning the Big 12's Pitcher of the Week award. Gray is 4-1 on the season with a 1.51 ERA. He has struck out 39 batters in 35.2 innings this year. Overton is 5-1 with a 3.13 ERA. Adam Choplick seems to have sown up the Sunday starter role with is 3-0 record and 2.45 ERA.

The Sooner hurlers will be facing a TCU lineup that is batting .245 as a team. The Frogs have three players batting .300 or better on the season, led by Dylan Fitzgerald (.348). Jantzen Whitte (.319) has team highs in both RBI (15) and home runs (3).

Oklahoma is 52-21 overall against TCU. The Frogs are 3-4 in away games this season. The two schools have played each other every year since 1991 and this is the first time they will meet as conference foes.