SoonerSports.com: Baseball on national TV twice against TCU
By Athletics Communications
University of Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. – The Oklahoma baseball team visits TCU this weekend for a three-game, Big 12 series. Game one from Lupton Stadium is scheduled for a 7:00 pm start; nationally televised on FS1.
Oklahoma has won seven of its last nine games dating back to a 5-2 win over Little Rock (3/29) that ended a 10-game road swing. The Sooners are 18-15-1 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12 after taking two of three from Baylor (4/8-10) last weekend.
The Sooners are led offensively by junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse, whose slash-line ranks in the top three of each category in the Big 12. Neuse is batting .385 with a .493 on-base percentage and .689 slugging percentage. He has nine doubles, six home runs, five triples and 24 runs batted in. Senior left fielder Hunter Haley and junior infielder Jack Flansburg, who each have four home runs, are tied with Neuse for the team lead in RBI at 24. Haley is on a tear hitting .473 (9-for-19) with 13 RBI over the last five games and was named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on Monday. Flansburg is hitting .286 with a team-leading 24 runs scored. Junior first baseman Austin O’Brien is second on the team with a .303 batting average and .487 slugging percentage. …
No. 7 TCU is 24-8 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12 following a series win over Kansas and a midweek loss to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday. Right-hander Luken Baker (2-1) gets the ball for the Horned Frogs on Friday night. He owns a 1.79 ERA and has struck out 34 in 40.1 innings of work. Baker, a two-way player, is also hitting .336 with a team-high 32 runs driven in. The TCU pitching staff is holding opponents to a .238 average, while Frog hitters are hitting at a combined .312 clip. Third baseman Elliott Barzilli leads the Big 12 at .436 with five home runs and 29 RBI. Catcher Evan Skoug is one of five regulars hitting over .300 with a .308 average, five home runs and 30 RBI.
Weekend Pitching Match-Ups
Friday
RHP-Ryan Madden, Fr. (1-2, 3.60, 11 K)
RHP-Luken Baker, Fr. (2-1, 1.79, 34 K)
Saturday
RHP-Chris Andritsos, Fr. (4-2, 2.70, 25 K)
LHP-Daniel Horton, Fr. (5-0, 2.08, 22 K)
Sunday
TBA
RHP-Brian Howard, Jr. (4-1, 3.27, 40 K)
Weekend Series Captains
Sheldon Neuse and Hunter Haley were elected team captains by their teammates for this weekend’s series at TCU. It is the beginning of a new tradition for the Sooners to identify to captains prior to a weekend series. Oklahoma does not elect its season captains prior to the season, but rather at the end. In 2015, OU players voted Jacob Evans and Anthony Hermelyn after the season as the two players who, throughout the entire season, embodied the ultimate leader and teammate.
The 2016 Sooners vs. the Frogs
Since the 2013 season, senior left fielder Hunter Haley has played in 11 games against TCU with a .267 (12-for-45) batting average. Junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse is hitting a team-best .312 (10-for-31) in eight games against the Frogs with a .421 OBP and .500 slugging percentage. He homered at TCU (5/11/14) as a freshman. Neuse also earned an extra-inning win (5/10/14) and took an extra-inning loss (3/24/15) in two pitching appearances against the Horned Frogs. Sophomore infielder Kyle Mendenhall chipped in with a .286 (4-for-14) season against TCU last year with two two-hit games.
All-Time vs. TCU
Oklahoma leads the series against TCU with a 57-29 all-time record. Since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2013, the Horned Frogs hold a 5-4 advantage in league games and 6-5 overall. Ten of the last 13 games between the two teams have been decided by one or two runs, including two extra-inning games. Oklahoma hosted TCU at the 2006 Norman Regional. The Horned Frogs opened with a 6-5 win over the Sooners before OU eliminated TCU, 15-6, on the way to advancing to the Houston Super Regional.
Triple Nation
Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 and 57th in the NCAA with 10 triples. Sheldon Neuse is the team leader at five. He is first in Big 12 and fifth in the country. He recorded the 15th of his career against Baylor (4/9). Neuse has the fifth most career triples among active players in the NCAA and is now tied for fourth all-time at OU with Bill Severns (1972-75) and Baine Brooks(1986-87). His 15 are the most at OU in the Big 12 era.
#YardWork
Oklahoma posted its best home run total since 2011 with 39 in 2015. The Sooners hit a season-high four in a 7-6 win over Baylor (4/10). It was the most since OU went yard four times against Purdue (3/8/15). Sheldon Neuse is OU’s active career leader with 19, which is second among active Big 12 players, followed by Hunter Haley at 16.
Up Next
Bedlam comes to Norman next Tuesday night. Oklahoma hosts Oklahoma State at on April 19 for a 6:00 pm first pitch. The Sooners will remain at home the following weekend against West Virginia.