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Writer's pictureSteve Parkhurst

Big 12 Notebook: March 21, 2024



Recapping the Midweek

No. 20 Oklahoma was shut out by Dallas Baptist 6-0.

TCU defeated UT Arlington 7-3 on Tuesday in Ft. Worth.

Kansas defeated Missouri 4-3 in Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas State won 8-6 at Wichita State.

Oklahoma State won 13-4 over Missouri State Tuesday night at O’Brate Stadium.

Texas Tech beat Abilene Christian 9-4 in Lubbock on Tuesday.

Baylor was rocked by Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas 18-3. The Bears gave up 12 runs in an inning and that was the ballgame.

UCF defeated Florida Atlantic 3-2.

BYU traveled to St. George, Utah to face Utah Tech and won the game 11-6.

West Virginia shutout Marshall 15-0 in Morgantown.

Houston swept Rice on back-to-back days, 4-1 and 4-2, to claim the Silver Glove Series.

Cincinnati topped Miami (Ohio) on the road in Oxford, 11-3.

Texas hosted Air Force for a pair of midweek games. The Longhorns walked-off the Falcons on Tuesday, 6-5 in 10 innings and then had an easier time of things on Wednesday taking a 12-3 victory for the midweek sweep.


Weekend Schedule

BYU (10-8, 3-3) at Texas Tech (15-6, 2-4) (Thur - Sat)

West Virginia (12-9, 2-1) at No. 20 Oklahoma (13-7, 6-0)

TCU (16-5, 1-5) at Oklahoma State (13-8, 1-2)

UCF (13-5, 2-4) at Kansas (11-8, 3-3)

Kansas State (14-6, 2-1) at Houston (14-6, 4-2)

Baylor (7-13, 2-4) at Texas (13-8, 2-1)


Cincinnati does not play a Big 12 opponent this weekend.


League Notes

Texas Tech announced an alteration to their starting rotation this weekend when they host BYU, a series which begins on Thursday. Freshman Mac Heuer will start Thursday's first game so that ace Kyle Robinson can make his usual Friday start. The Red Raiders have not yet announced a Saturday starter for the series finale.


Oklahoma State ranks second in the Big 12 with a team ERA of 4.09. Six Cowboys pitchers have an ERA under 3.00. Right-hander Brian Holiday ranks fourth in the conference with a 1.83ERA.


Logan Maxwell has reached safely in 21 straight games for TCU dating back to last season. Maxwell's .403 batting average ranks third in the Big 12.


Houston right-hander Duncan Howard has not allowed a walk in four starts this season. Hunter is the only pitcher in Division I that has not allowed a walk this season.


Third baseman Easton Jones leads BYU this season batting .377 with 23 hits, four doubles, six home runs, and 13 RBI. Jones enters the weekend ranked second in the Big 12 in slugging percentage at .738.


John Spikerman leads No. 20 Oklahoma with a .394 batting average and Michael Snyder leads the Sooners with nine home runs.


Matt Prevesk leads UCF with a .370 batting average, which includes six extra-base hits, 15 runs scored, and 15 RBI.


Texas ace Lebarron Johnson Jr., ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 with 26 1/3 innings pitched, a 3.08 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and a .207 batting average against.


Kansas State second baseman Brady Day, a 12th round draft pick in the 2023 MLB Draft who chose to return to school, leads the Wildcats in eight offensive categories: average (.392), slugging percentage (.734), on-base percentage (.515), OPS (1.250), hits (31), RBI (30), home runs (6), and total bases (58).


Baylor is the definition of a youth movement. True or redshirt freshmen have accounted for 46% of innings pitched on the mound for the Bears this season (79 1/3 of 174 innings). In addition, 59% of Baylor's offense (101 of 170 hits) has been produced by underclassmen or players in their first season at Baylor.


Kansas is the only team with three pitchers ranked in the top 10 in ERA in the Big 12. Dominic Voegele with a 2.08 ERA is fifth in the league, Patrick Steitz is sixth with a 2.31 ERA, and Reese Dutton is seventh at 2.57. The Jayhawks trio has started all five weekends to this point and have a combined 2.33 ERA, earning eight wins in their 15 starts.


Cincinnati leads the Big 12 and ranks 12th nationally in walks with 172. The Bearcats have three players inside the top 10 in the conference in free passes. Kerrington Cross has have been walked 24 times so far this season, which leads the conference and ranks eighth nationally.


Quoted

“If we play our style of baseball—where we pitch and defend at a high level, and get creative on offense—we can play with anybody in the country, anywhere,” UCF head coach Rich Wallace said. “I want to see us take what we do here and take it up there. I’m looking forward to the weekend.”


Round Numbers

The Houston program sits at 1,999 wins in its history. The next win for the Cougars will be No, 2,000.

 

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