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Game 1 |
Friday, May 10, 7 p.m. CT | ESPNU |
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Game 2 |
Saturday, May 11, 2 p.m. CT | FSN |
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Game 3 |
Sunday, May 12, 1 p.m. CT | FS Southwest Plus |
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Location |
Game 1: Tulsa, Okla. | ONEOK Field |
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Radio |
Its a welcome bit of news for the Sooners, who have been sliding in recently. Dating back to April 28th, Oklahoma has lost four of their last five games, including two games in last weekend's series at West Virginia. The slide has dropped them into a three-way tie with Kansas State and the Mountaineers for the conference lead. Every game has supreme significance from here out, which is why the news of Overton's return was so vital.
Big 12 Baseball Standings
|
Big 12 |
Pct |
Streak |
Overall |
Pct |
Streak |
|
|
Oklahoma |
11-7 |
.611 |
L2 |
34-14 |
.708 |
L2 |
|
Kansas State |
11-7 |
.611 |
W1 |
34-15 |
.694 |
W1 |
|
West Virginia |
11-7 |
.611 |
W2 |
29-20 |
.592 |
W2 |
|
Kansas |
12-9 |
.571 |
W3 |
31-18 |
.633 |
W6 |
|
Baylor |
11-9 |
.550 |
L3 |
25-23 |
.521 |
L3 |
|
Oklahoma State |
9-8 |
.529 |
W2 |
34-12 |
.739 |
W2 |
|
TCU |
8-10 |
.444 |
W1 |
23-24 |
.489 |
W1 |
|
Texas Tech |
7-14 |
.333 |
L2 |
23-26 |
.469 |
W1 |
|
Texas |
6-15 |
.286 |
L1 |
24-22 |
.522 |
L1 |
With an 8-2 season record, Overton is tied with teammate Jonathan Gray and Oklahoma State's Vince Wheeland for the most wins in the conference. He's fanned 66 batters this season, while only allowing 16 batters to reach on walks, and has earned a 2.52 ERA. For most of the season he has worked in tandem with Gray to produce one of the best pitching duos in the country. Gray leads the Big 12 in strikeouts at 104 and has an ERA of just 1.20 to go along with his 8-1 season record. Head coach Sunny Golloway hinted earlier in the week that he may switch the rotation with Gray going on Saturday and Overton on Sunday. That leaves a mystery pitcher for tonight's game.
Sunny Golloway on @sportstalk1400 says he will likely shuffle OU's pitching this wknd for Bedlam w/ Gray on Sat & Overton on Sun. #Sooners
— Jordan Esco (@Jordan_Esco) May 6, 2013
The Cowboys are hoping to make a push in the conference standings to make things tighter in the next to last weekend of conference play. With a team batting average of .292, OSU is third in the conference in putting the ball in play. Tanne Krietemeier leads the Pokes with a .348 average. He has 36 RBI and 3 home runs on the season. His 63 hits this season are the fifth most in the conference and his 36 runs scored ranks him at 8th in the Big 12.
Zach Fish has left the yard seven times this season for OSU. He's also hit sixteen doubles and knocked in 39 RBI. Randy McCurry has also shown a knack for putting the ball in play this season and he has 15 doubles to show for it.
From the mound, Oklahoma State will come at the Sooners with aces Vince Wheeland and Jason Hursh. Wheeland is averaging 8.11 strikeouts per game and Hursh is averaging 7.13 Ks per appearance. They'll be going against a Sooner lineup that is batting .293 on the season. Led by Matt Oberste's .425 average, Oklahoma has the second highest percentage in the conference. Oberste leads the Big 12 in home runs (10), hits (79), doubles (18), RBI (50) and total bases (135). He literally is a one man wrecking crew but OU will need to give him some assistance this weekend by getting runners on base as well as scoring position.
Jack Mayfield is tied for the conference lead in runs scored, with a total of 44 this season, and he's second on the team in home runs with six. He'll need to play a huge role in the final Bedlam series of his Sooner career by giving Oklahoma a second big stick who can deliver in the clutch.
First pitch in Game 1 is scheduled for 7:00 tonight.