I know I keep saying this, but it is hard to believe we are through the halfway point of the 2024 season. For some schools they are closer to the end of their season than they are the halfway point.
This week we will be looking at four schools that are stepping up recently, another that has found something in the month of April, and another that is having a surprising season – the wrong way.
1. Sooners and Cowboys got the brooms out this weekend
Both OU and OSU had big home series this weekend. OU had lost three straight series and OSU was hosting a Cincinnati team that had won four straight including a sweep of TCU the previous weekend.
The Sooners welcomed and old “friend” in Pete Hughes back to Norman this weekend. Hughes and the Wildcats were wildly critical of OU making the NCAA Tournament in 2023 over K-State and Hughes has rubbed some people the wrong way over the years. So OU getting the sweep with the first two games not being that competitive had to have felt good.
The Cowboys were down three runs in the 8th, but tied it up and won game 1 in the 10th on a grand slam walk off. Games 2 and 3 weren’t as close as the Pokes handled business.
Currently, the Sooners sit in a tie for 1st place in the conference with West Virginia while the Cowboys are one game behind the Sooners and Mountaineers.
2. The Dale Pirates are on a heater
In the high school ranks, no team has had a better start to April then the Dale Pirates. The 2A school near Shawnee, has won 11 in a row with wins over North Rock Creek (4A), Mount St Mary (3A), Tuttle (4A), Piedmont (6A), and Elgin (5A) in the Bill Tipton Classic championship this past Saturday.
The Pirates came from not being ranked in the SSBR High School Dominant Dozen to jump in the rankings at #4.
3. MACU starts a new winning streak by sweeping #17 MNU
Last week the Evangels saw their 15 game winning streak snapped in their last game of their series vs SAGU.
This weekend the Evangels started a new one with a sweep over MidAmerica Nazarene who came into the weekend ranked at #17 nationally.
MACU set the tone with a decisive 8-1 win over the Pioneers behind another strong outing in a big game by Isaac Baez.
Baez’ line: (W), CG 7 IP, 6 H, ER, 2 K, 0 BB, 85 pitches
4. Redlands making a turn around in April
To say things had not gone well for the Redlands Cougars in 2024 would be a understatement. Coming into April the Cougars had won only 5 of their first 35 games.
Since the calendar flipped to April, however, Redlands has gone 8-2 in their 10 games and have won their two Region 2 series vs NOC Tonkawa and NOC Enid.
Over those 10 games the Cougars have averaged 8.2 runs/game while giving up only 5.5 runs/game.
They have a series with Carl Albert State this weekend and a series win would put RCC right back in the race for a spot in the Region 2 postseason tournament.
5. What is wrong with ORU?
After a magical season for the Golden Eagles in 2023, the 2024 season has been disastrous for ORU. They currently in last place in The Summit League (conf record of 4-10-1) after dominating that league for several seasons.
This past weekend was no different than the rest of the season so far. ORU got swept by St Thomas who had a 10-14 record coming into the weekend. )In fact, no team in The Summit League has an overall winning record.) The Golden Eagles only managed 9 runs the entire weekend while giving up 18.
At 12-23-1 overall, it has been such a disappointing season in Tulsa and the only way to make it to the NCAA tournament is by winning the conference tournament.
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