Oklahoma at Dallas Baptist Preview

The #13 Oklahoma Sooners head away from Norman tonight for their first true road test of the season. Their game at UTA (at Globe Life Field) was cancelled and their games against Minnesota, Oregon St, and Virginia were at a neutral site in Round Rock, TX.

Dallas Baptist is the host school tonight and they are going to be a formidable test for Skip and the boys. The Patriots are consistently one of the elite mid major schools in the country and they are a true top 25 program regardless of conference affiliation. DBU comes into to tonight’s game ranked #21 in this week’s D1Baseball.com Top 25.

On top of that, DBU hasn’t been a kind host to the Sooners as OU is 1-8 in their last 9 trips to Horner Ballpark. Overall OU leads the series 26-18, but they are 13-18 against the Patriots since 2004 and 1-4 in the last 5 games including 0-2 last year.

Let’s take a look at toady’s matchup.

Game Details

Where: Horner Ballpark, DBU Campus
When: 6:05 p.m.
Media: ESPN+/OU Radio: KREF 99.3/1400

Oklahoma Sooners (11-0)

Key Wins

Virginia, 5-4 (12 innings)
Oregon State, 8-4
Minnesota, 3-2

Sooners at the Plate

Team Slash Line (AVG/OBP/SLG): .330/.446/.531
HR: 11
RBI: 83
Runs: 94 (8.55/game)

Top Sooners Hitters (by OPS)

Sam Christiansen: G 11/GS 11, .357/.583/.643 (1.226), HR, 9 RBI, 2B, 2 3B, 17 BB
Jason Walk: G 10/GS 10, .421/.532/.632 (1.164), HR, 8 RBI, 5 2B, 9 BB, 7 SB
Dayton Tockey: G 11/GS 10, .406/.500/.594 (1.094), HR, 7 RBI, 2B, 3B, 7 BB
Easton Carmichael: G 11/GS 11, .2758/.400/.675, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 3 2B, 2 3B, 8 BB
Kyle Branch: G 11/GS 11, .415/.500/.594, HR, 11 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB

Coming into the season, all the talk was about the Sooners’ pitching staff (and it has lived up to the hype – they haven’t given up more than 4 runs yet in a game). However, the Sooners offense has been impressive. They are scoring at a clip of over 8 runs/game and it’s not just that they are hitting, it is when they are hitting. Skip Johnson has mentioned how they are getting the hit in a big spot.

It’s been announced that Cade Crossland will be the starter for the Sooners tonight. Although he hasn’t started for the Sooners yet, he is expected to be a starter for them. It seems the weekend starters are set with the Witherspoon twins and Cam Johnson, but don’t be surprised if Crossland makes a weekend start if needed. He had a tweak to start the season so he has been brought on slowly. In his 2 appearances, he’s thrown 5 innings giving up 2 hits, 2 ER with 4 BB and 6 K. The 2 runs came against Oregon State in his last appearance. Don’t expect Crossland to go deep into the game. He’ll probably be on a limited pitch count.

Dallas Baptist Patriots (8-3)

Key Wins

ORU, 6-1
ORU, 6-5
(Losses to UT Rio Grande Valley, #2 LSU, ORU)

Patriots at the Plate

Team Slash Line (AVG/OBP/SLG): .290/.399/.478
HR: 13
RBI: 80
Runs: 88 (8/game)

Top Patriots at the Plate (by OPS)

Grant Jay: G 11/GS 11, .425/.500/1.025 (1.525), 6 HR, 17 RBI, 4 2B, 3B, 5 BB
Joey Nerat: G 11/GS 10, .389/.476/.583 (1.059), HR, 8 RBI, 4 2B, 4 BB
Tom Poole: G 11/GS 11, .341/.471/.610 (1.081), 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 2B, 10 BB
Jake Bennett: G 9/GS 6, .238/.407/.571 (.978), 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2B, 4 BB
Nathan Humphreys: G 11/GS 11, .325/.440/.500 (.940), HR, 9 RBI, 4 2B, 9 BB

Can’t find if DBU has announced a starter for tonight’s game.

Outlook

Look it is hard to predict the winner of a midweek game, let alone the nature of baseball makes it so just about any team can beat the other on a given day. On paper OU is the better baseball team at this point.
1. They’ve played a better schedule and are undefeated.
2. They have better offensive stats than DBU.
3. They have better pitching state than DBU – OU’s team ERA is 2.49 vs 3.99 for DBU

Having said that, there is something about this Sooners team. They put the nation on notice with the 3 wins in Round Rock (don’t discount Minnesota) and their pitching will keep them in games. This game may be the toughest test they’ve had to date this season with it on a campus site. OU scores a couple late to go ahead and Crooks closes it. OU wins 4-2.

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