Big 12 Notebook: March 28, 2025

Arizona and Kansas State sit atop the Big 12 with 5-1 records.

Kansas leads the Big 12 in team base hits with 279, and UCF is right behind the Jayhawks with 276. UCF leads the Big 12 in batting average at .332 with Baylor in second with a .308 average.

UCF also opens the weekend with the lowest team ERA at 3.18. Arizona pitching has allowed the fewest home runs in the Big 12 limiting the opposition to just 11. Houston has allowed the next fewest at 16.

Weekly Awards

Big 12 Players of the Week

Player: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU

Pitcher: Colter McAnelly, Utah

Newcomer: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU

Weekend Matchups

West Virginia (20-3, 2-2) at BYU (13-9, 3-3)

UCF (17-7, 3-3) at Cincinnati (13-11, 1-5)

Oklahoma State (12-10, 1-3) at Kansas (20-6, 3-3)

Texas Tech (8-13, 4-2) at Kansas State (16-8, 5-1)

TCU (19-7, 3-3) at Houston (14-10, 2-4)

Arizona State (16-9, 4-2) at Utah (13-10, 2-4)

Baylor (17-7, 2-4) at Arizona (19-5, 5-1)

League Notes

Arizona

Garen Caulfield has hit safely in 13 straight games, the longest active streak on the team and the longest on the team this season. During that streak, Caulfield has hit .333 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs, and 18 RBI. During a 16-inning marathon win against West Virginia last weekend the Wildcats pitching staff tallied a program-record 29 strikeouts. Collin McKinney has allowed the fewest earned runs in the Big 12 at four.

Arizona State

Arizona State has scored at least three runs in 28 innings this season, 10 innings with four or more runs, and seven innings with 5 or more runs. The Sun Devils have scored 57 runs over their past five Big 12 games (11.4 rpg). On the bump, Jack Martinez has given the Sun Devils some much-needed longevity in his three starts this season, tossing a team-best 33 2/3 innings. Martinez leads in the Big 12 with 48 strikeouts this season and his 12.83 K/9 is second in the league while his 5.33 strikeout to walk ratio is third in the Big 12.

Baylor

Baylor has scored at least nine runs in each of its last six wins and seven of its last eight victories. Hunter Simmons and Pearson Riebock lead the Baylor offense, hitting .420 and .419, respectively. The Bears are 11-2 this season when the pitching staff allows two walks or less. Will Glatch has not allowed a run to score in 14 innings pitched over eight appearances.

BYU

Bryker Hurdsman leads BYU with a .388 batting average while Cooper Vest has a team-high nine home runs and 30 RBI. Garrison Sumner, who has been the third starter each weekend, is 3-1 and coming off a win at Cincinnati where he allowed just one run in six innings while striking out a career high nine batters. Sumner leads the Cougars with 26 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to an average of .241.

Cincinnati

Entering play this weekend, 10 pitchers have made at least six pitching appearances for Cincinnati this season. Only two of those 10 pitchers pitched an inning for the Bearcats last season. 73.1% of the 206+ innings thrown by Cincinnati pitchers this season have been from players who did not appear in a game for Cincinnati last season.

Houston

Houston left-hander Antoine Jean leads Big 12 pitchers with the lowest opposing batting average of .163, the next closest average is .183. Jean's 47 strikeouts is second in the Big 12, trailing the leader in the conference by just one strikeout. On the road at UCF last Friday, Jean pitched five scoreless innings out of the bullpen and struck out 11 Knights batters in the win.

Kansas

The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in five offensive categories with 52 home runs, 180 walks, 279 hits, a .556 slugging percentage, and 245 runs scored. The program record for home runs in a season is 75. Kansas has an 18-2 record this year when hitting a home run.

Kansas State

After starting the season 1-4, Kansas State is 16-3 in the month of March, which includes a season-long six-game win streak. The Wildcats are hitting .296 as a team and are second in the Big 12 with 43 home runs. Maximus Martin leads Kansas State in eight offensive categories, including a slash line of .413/.489/.888 with 33 hits and 35 RBI. Martin's .888 slugging percentage leads the Big 12.

Oklahoma State

Nolan Schubart is hitting .448 with runners in scoring position for the Cowboys. Brayden Smith is batting .459 during his current nine-game hitting streak. Kollin Ritchie, having missed 10 games to open the season, has returned to the lineup for the Cowboys and hit two home runs against West Virginia last Sunday.

TCU

Sawyer Strosnider was named both the Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week for last week after going 10-for-20 with three home runs and eight RBI. Strosnider is batting .358 with 34 base hits with 27 RBI this season. Chase Brunson has reached safely in all 25 games he's played this season for the Horned Frogs. Nolan Traeger is working on a 13 game hitting streak as the weekend series opens.

Texas Tech

Logan Hughes continues to hit well for Texas Tech as he is 17 for his last 41 overall with a pair of doubles, two triples, and four home runs. With TJ Pompey out with an injury, freshman Coleman Ryan has started the last three games at shortstop for the Red Raiders. Ryan has raised his average to .308 and is 6 for his last 11 at the plate with five walks and two RBI.

UCF

Edian Espinal continues to hit well for the Knights, leading the Big 12 in batting average (.461) and ranking second in on-base percentage (.567). On the mound, Wiley Hartley is sixth in the Big 12 in ERA (2.70) and is one of six qualified starting pitchers with an ERA below 3.00.

Utah

Colter McAnelly tied the Utah single-game record with 12 strikeouts in a combined shutout last Friday night against Oklahoma State. The performance earned McAnelly the Pitcher of the Week honor in the Big 12. At the plate, Core Jackson hit .429 last weekend with two home runs as the Utes’ two-hole hitter has hit safely in 17 of Utah's last 18 games.

West Virginia

West Virginia is currently eighth in the country with a 3.29 staff ERA, which includes seven pitchers with an ERA under 3.00. Skylar King has become a defensive star in center field, but he is also the Mountaineers batting average leader with a .411 average and 30 base hits. Sam White leads the team with 32 hits and is second behind King with a .400 average.

Quoted

"A 6:30 Friday night baseball game has found Saturday morning." - West Virginia television broadcaster Lanny Frattare in the 16th inning of Friday night's game against Arizona.

"We try really hard to give them 27 outs and no more," Utah head coach Gary Henderson said about his pitching and defense, "It's especially hard to put a crooked number up."

"Get going ball, get going ball." - Baylor head Mitch Thompson during an in-game television interview while Wesley Jordan hit a home run.

"I think it's really really just intent to catch the baseball." Utah outfielder Kaden Carpenter on the great defensive play by the entire team.

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