History within reach for Oklahoma baseball
When Oklahoma baseball welcomes Baylor to L. Dale Mitchell Ballpark this weekend, it will do so in trying to accomplish something that hasn’t been done in the previous 28 years of membership in the Big 12 Conference: winning the regular season title.
Skip Johnson’s club heads into the final two weekends of Big 12 play with a three-game lead over Oklahoma State, Texas and West Virginia.
A regular season title is a reality with just six conference games left. With two wins over the final two weekends, Oklahoma would set the school record for conference wins in a season. Oh, and there’s also that whole hosting a regional thing of which would end a 13-year drought in Norman.
To say Oklahoma has a lot to play for would be an understatement.
Fridays are for Braden Davis
It’s common for the Friday night starter role to be reserved for a team’s best arm. Being tabbed as a Friday night starter is something of a badge of honor for pitchers. It still means something.
Highly recruited guys. Top draft pick types. Oklahoma fans have enjoyed a nice run of Friday night starters turned big league arms.
Which makes Braden Davis’ journey from the Sam Houston State bullpen to Oklahoma’s premier Friday night role that much more captivating. To say it’s surprising would be too dramatic. But it certainly wasn’t a given. Regardless, his starts on Friday nights have been a sparkplug to the weekend where the Sooners have done most of their damage this season.
“It’s nice to get off to a 1-0 start, but really whether it’s like last year and I was in the bullpen or this year being the Friday night guy. It’s the same mentality, just trying to dominate,” said Davis.
And dominate he has. Davis has won four consecutive starts, improving his conference record to 5-1, earning Big 12 Player of the Week honors following his last two outings in wins over Texas and Texas Tech in which he allowed just a single run over 13 innings with 17 strikeouts.
“I’d say the change up. It’s been coming along. Breaking balls, I had kind of been struggling earlier in the year but I’ve found my rhythm with those and it’s helped set up the other stuff,” said Davis.
Bullpen to Starter Ain’t Easy
Learning and adjusting on the fly isn’t easy. Making the transition from the bullpen to a starter role isn’t easy. You wouldn’t have noticed with Davis. The stuff is good. He ranks second in the conference in strikeouts (62) and opponent batting average (.183).
“I think it’s the mentality. He’s very competitive. He’s in control of himself. I think those are deals he’s going to continue to grow in. He just started doing this,” Johnson said. “It’s not like he’s been doing it for three years.
“Braden has had to learn a lot in a short period of time and that just tells you what his aptitude is like. I think that’s the biggest thing going forward from that.”
‘Long overdue’ recognition ahead for Enos Semore
Skip Johnson said it best on Thursday. Perhaps this is long overdue. Oklahoma will retire legendary head coach Enos Semore’s No. 24 jersey on Saturday before the start of the second game of the series.
Semore, the winningest coach in OU baseball history, with a record 851-370-1 (.697), led Oklahoma to five consecutive College World Series appearances from 1972-76, winning seven Big Eight Conference titles.
“He was one of the icons. I’m kind of glad it’s happening under my watch. Is it long overdue? Probably so but that’s not my choice,” Johnson said. “I’m excited from our standpoint so our kids can see the man that built this program.
“We try to carry that torch. I know that I try to carry that torch in how he went about the business and how our kids act on a daily basis whether it’s getting on a plane, going into a restaurant, taking your hats off and doing the things that, that guy set the example for us a long time ago. And then playing on the field and playing the game the right way.”
But the stat that made my jaw drop? Don’t forget I’m still – sort of, self-proclaimed to be a young! Semore’s teams finished third or higher in the Big Eight standings in 19 of his 22 seasons in Norman with no team finishing lower than fifth.
News & Notes
* Senior Day festivities will take place Sunday afternoon with Oklahoma honoring its nine seniors during a pregame ceremony: Carson Atwood, Jason Bollman, Carter Campbell, Will Carsten, Jett Lodes, Anthony Mackenzie, Bryce Madron, Kendall Pettis and Michael Snyder.
* Bryce Madron needs just eight walks to move into the top 10 for career walks all-time. He’s drawn 97 walks in just two seasons, most of those coming a year ago when he set the Sooners single season record for free passes with 61.
* Michael Snyder has reached base in 11 straight games. He leads the team with 48 RBIs and 18 doubles
Weekend Schedule
Friday (6:30 p.m.) – LHP Braden Davis (6-3, 4.43 ERA, 65.0 ip, 34 BB, 84 SO) vs RHP Mason Marriott (3-5, 5.01)
Saturday (4:00 p.m.) – RHP Kyson Witherspoon (5-3, 4.19 ERA, 58.0 ip, 24 BB, 66 SO) vs LHP Ethan Calder (4-2, 2.91)
Sunday (2:00 p.m.) – To be announced vs RHP Collin McKinney (3-5, 6.46)
