Sooners Sweep DH & Series vs Baylor: Offense leads way w 27 runs

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners swept the Saturday DH with scores of 12-3 and 7-4 in the two wins. That followed the 8-1 win in OKC on Friday. Oklahoma's offensive performance is the reason as they scored 27 runs in the 3 games in 16.1 innings of hitting. The Baylor pitching staff came north for the series with a 2.08 ERA and a Slug% of .284 and having only allowed 60 runs in their 25 games for 2.4 run per game. The Sooners averaged 9 runs a game and hit .364 with a Slug% of .779 for the weekend. Baylor's pitchers will want to forget this weekend as the Sooners pinned an 11.57 ERA in the Bears this weekend.

In Game 1 at 2 PM on Saturday, the Sooners won 12-3 as they scored in 4 of the 5 innings against Baylor with a 7 run 5th inning with just one out as the run-rule game ended suddenly on an Ella Parker Grand Slam to LF. It was the fourth HR of the game for Oklahoma as Jayda Coleman, Alyssa Brito and Riley Ludlam also hit HRs. Parker had 5 RBIs (SFLY also) with Coleman, Brito and Ludlam adding 2 RBIs each. Brito and Rylie Boone had 2 hits in the game. In the circle, Nicole May got the win as she opened with three shutout innings. She was touched up by 2 HRs that plated 3 runs in her last two innings but the score was still 5-3 after the top of the 5th. OU's 7 runs in the bottom of the 5th put the game away for a run-rule win.

In Game 2 at 5:30 PM on Saturday, the Sooners won 7-4 in 7 innings. OU scored in 5 of the 6 innings in which they hit. OU had 9 hits with 6 EBH. Jayda Coleman had 2 doubles, Brito had 2 hits with a HR and 3 RBIs. Torres had 2 hits and a HR for 2 RBIs. Tiare Jennings had a double and a HR in the game for her 60th double of her career and her 85th HR of her career. In the circle, Kierston Deal pitched the first four inning with 3 scoreless and a solo HR allowed. OU lead 3-1 after the HR allowed. Karlie Keeney pitched the 5th and the first two outs of the 6th allowing no base runners. Kelly Maxwell was brought in to finish the game and ran into a bit of trouble in the 6th getting that last out as she allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and a HB. But OU still lead 6-4 after the top of the 6th inning. OU's run in the bottom of the 6th made the score the final, 7-4. Maxwell pitched a 1, 2, 3 inning in the 7th. I will add that I thought Deal did a good job getting out of the jam (not of her own making) in the 2nd inning by stranding 3 runners on base with no outs. Deal got a shallow fly out, a K and a ground out to keep Baylor off the board. In the 3rd, with a shrinking, changing strike zone, Deal walked three but finished with a looking K to end the inning. Deal is tough when it counts.

The Sooner offense cannot be talked about enough. The Team is now hitting .394 BA, .493 OB% and a .733 Slug% while scoring 9.125 runs per game and 11.55 runs per 7 innings. those numbers rank above the 2022 and 2023 seasons trailing only the Sooners juggernaut 2021 season. The Sooners have 62 doubles and 68 HRs. As of right now before Sunday's games, OU has those 68 HRs, Miami of OH has 77 and VA Tech has 67. Yep, Miami has slowed down a bit and OU has passed VA Tech.

Oklahoma has 6 primary players with a BA of .417 or better (Boone .463, Jennings .438, Parker .436, Brito/Coleman .432 and Torres .417). Five other Sooners are hitting .339 or better. Nine Sooners have over a .500 OB%. The Sooners have six hitters with 6 HRs or more (Jennings/Brito with 12, Sanders with 10, Hansen with 7 and Parker/Torres with 6).

In the circle, the Sooners did not have a shutout for the first time this weekend. the last time that happened was against Clemson in the Supers last year and for three games it was the OSU series in Stillwater last year. The Sooners allowed 8 runs, all earned. Okay, Baylor did not come into the weekend with a great offense but they did do okay this weekend mainly due to Emily Hott, the LF for Baylor. For the weekend Hott was 'Hot' as she was 5 for 8 (.625 BA) with 4 RS, 2 RBIs, 2 doubles and 2 HRs with a HBP and a walk. that is pretty good as she produced 50% of the Baylor offense. Oklahoma's ERA bumped up a little to 1.39 and the BAA bumped up to .185. But Oklahoma allowed 4 runs in a game for the 3rd time this year in their 32 games. IMO, there is no reason to be concerned as Baylor simple maybe woke up a little this weekend. They were due to have a good weekend against someone.

Oklahoma still has six pitchers with an ERA of less than 1.83. All six are pitching well enough for OU to win games, bunches of games. IMO the Sooners are pitching about the way they probably will pitch in 2022. The only number that is a bit of a concern to me is the number of EBH being allowed with 30 of the 127 hits being EBH. That is 23.6%. If they are solo or maybe 2 run HRs, it is probably okay. But as a comparison, the Sooners' EBH on offense is 42% of their hits. Baylor's EBH equals 30% of their hits.

Probably someone will mention the Sooners LOB numbers from yesterday. In the DH'er, OU left 13 of 30 runners on base for 43%. For the season the LOB % is 36.5%. For me, this is not a concern I am worried about as Baylor picked a few more Ks against OU than normal on Saturday with 11 instead of the normal 5 Ks in two games.

I think Ludlam has done a very good job at catcher the last 7 games filling in for Kinzie Hansen. She blocked many balls yesterday in the dirt and kept runners where they were. She is playing with an injury and it is affecting her hitting I think, but she is still helping the team. I think Hansen will play again this weekend in Kansas.

The Sooners will be off the road at Wichita State on Tuesday for a single game, it will be cold and windy, and then at Kansas for three on Thursday thru Saturday. The weather in Lawrence should be good this weekend. Kansas is 8-1 in their last 9 games and have one game left with Houston today as they look for the sweep of the Cougars.

Good luck this week to the Sooners on the road.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]