The Big 12 sees a logjam at the top than it did a week ago as 10 of the 13 teams maneuvers for a spot in the Phillips 66 Championship in Arlington, Texas later this month. No. 18 Oklahoma is in front in the league right now with a 18-6 record, Three teams occupy the second spot with 15-9 records: No. 21 Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Texas. If the Championship started today, Baylor, BYU, and Houston would be left out of the field.
Recapping the Midweek
Tuesday
BYU defeated Utah Valley 4-2.
UCF topped North Florida 7-4.
Houston walked-off Nicholls 5-4.
Baylor defeated Tarleton 11-4.
Wednesday
West Virginia thumped Penn State 18-7.
Cincinnati and Kansas had their midweek games cancelled.
TCU, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Texas Tech did not play a midweek game.
Weekend Schedule
Baylor (21-26, 9-15) at No. 18 Oklahoma (29-17, 18-6)
Texas Tech (30-17 12-12) at No. 21 Oklahoma State (32-16, 15-9)
Texas (30-19, 15-9) at UCF (30-15, 11-12)
Kansas State (28-19, 12-12) at West Virginia (29-18, 15-9)
Houston (24-24, 6-17) at Kansas (27-17, 13-11)
Cincinnati (27-21, 13-11) at BYU (19-26, 6-18)
TCU does not play a Big 12 opponent this weekend.
League Notes
Kansas is the only team in the Big 12 that ranks in the top three in both hitting and pitching. The Jayhawks are first in the Big 12 (eighth nationally) in doubles (116), tied for first (13th nationally) in double plays turned (44), second (22nd nationally) in ERA (4.38), and batting average (.301), and runs per game (7.5). Kansas also has the fewest strikeouts offensively in the Big 12.
Oklahoma left-hander Braden Davis was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (for the second week in a row) for his Friday night performance at Texas Tech in an 8-0 Sooners victory. Davis is 5-1 with 62 strikeouts in Big 12 play. Davis is the only Big 12 pitcher to earn the weekly honor twice this season, also becoming the first to win it in consecutive weeks.
Cincinnati is averaging 7.4 runs per game and ranks 16th in the nation in walks (278) and 18th in stolen bases (96) and lead the Big 12 in HBP (80) and sacrifice flies (26). The ability of the Bearcats to get on base, take extra bases, and bring those runners home has helped Cincinnati reach double digits in runs scored 15 times this season and post three run-rule victories.
Kuhio Aloy picked up BYU's first weekly Big 12 baseball honor with the league's Newcomer of the Week award for his performance last week. Aloy totaled 10 hits on 17 at bats (.588), two RBI, two home runs, and four runs scored, with multiple hits in each of the Cougars' four games last week. Aloy leads BYU in batting at .301 with 24 runs scored on 50 hits, seven doubles, eight home runs, and a team-leading 36 RBI.
Kansas State ranks second in the Big 12 and ranks 24th in DI with a 2.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio while posting the third fewest walks allowed per nine innings (3.80). Reliever-turned-starter Jackson Wentworth (3-3, 3.83 ERA), is fifth in the league with 82 total strikeouts and will make the Saturday start again this week.
The TCU bullpen has surrendered just 14 earned runs in its last 73 2/3 innings of work (1.71 ERA) spanning 13 games. Reliever Ben Abeldt became the first TCU pitcher since 2014 to tally three saves in a series last weekend at Baylor.
Texas relievers Gage Boehm and Andre Duplantier II have both been reliable arms at the back-end of games this season. The Longhorns duo has accounted for eight of the team's nine saves, while both sport an ERA under 3.00. Over Boehm's last 12 outings (since March 19), he has allowed just four runs and struck out 27 batters in 25 innings pitched. Duplantier has pitched 14 times and struck out 25 batters in 23.1 innings with two saves and a win over the same span.
Oklahoma State is second in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally with a 4.38 team ERA; six Cowboys own an ERA of 3.98 or under, with Brian Holiday (3.70) and Sam Garcia (3.98) ranking in the top 10 in the Big 12. The Cowboys' pitching staff has tossed three shutouts and is fifth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.26).
Baylor ace Mason Marriott turned in a career outing last Friday night against TCU, tossing eight innings allowing just two earned runs on four hits, striking out five. Ethan Calder pitched a career-high 6 2/3 innings in relief on Saturday in the extra-innings loss. The Bears offense racked up 13 hits in Sunday's series finale and had five players record multi-hit games..
Texas Tech was swept last weekend in Lubbock by No. 18 Oklahoma, marking the first time since the 2007 season that the Red Raiders swept at home, also by Oklahoma. The 2007-2024 stretch spanned 68 series.
Houston's Cary Arbolida has hit multiple home runs in three different games this season. Arbolida is on a seven-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .462 with 12 hits, five home runs, 11 RBI, and seven runs scored. Arbolida delivered a walk-off single against Nicholls on Tuesday night in a 2-for-4 performance.
JJ Wetherholt leads West Virginia with a .368 batting average while Reed Chumley has a team-high 13 home runs and 38 RBI. Brodie Kresser is coming off a four-hit midweek performance and currently leads the team with 11 stolen bases.
The UCF bullpen has been key during their current four-game winning streak, as it has allowed just one earned run (three total) on 10 hits over 17 1/3 innings while striking out 24 batters. The Knights bullpen has also posted a 3-0 record with four saves and an impressive 0.52 ERA during that stretch. Kris Sosnowski, Dominic Castellano, Tyler Kozera, and Najer Victor have all posted perfect 0.00 earned run averages.
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