Sooners baseball begins important stretch, three-game set vs. KSU
Oklahoma Sooners baseball opens a three-game series against Kansas State this weekend in what is the start of a rather important stretch for Skip Johnson’s club.
Remember the Alonzo Mourning gif? That’s me when trying to describe the Sooners season is as discussed on this week’s Stickball Report.
On one hand, you have a team that has lost three consecutive weekend series.
The bad within the last three weekends has been cataclysmic – at times. See last Sunday’s seventh inning. The better part of the Lamar series two weeks ago was spent trying to find answers on the mound where everyone has taken a turn in shouldering the blame.
The other side of it is a reality that Oklahoma heads into the weekend still in a tie for first place in the conference.
There’s positive momentum offensively. See the 12-home run outburst last weekend in Stillwater. Oklahoma is scoring just under 10 runs a game over the last two weeks. The ugly three-week stretch can’t be blamed on the Sooners offense.
And that’s the tricky part. It hasn’t all been bad. Last weekend was a step in the right direction for Oklahoma starting pitching. Braden Davis, Kyson Witherspoon and Grant Stevens appear to be the answers Friday through Sunday moving forward. It’s the bullpen where Skip Johnson has decisions to make. More specifically, in the late stages. Think seventh, eighth and ninth.
SPIKERMAN SET FOR RETURN?
It’s hard to imagine, but John Spikerman could be returning to the Sooners line up this weekend. Just 24 days ago he was recovering from hamate bone surgery in his hand. Fast forward to Thursday morning? Skip Johnson gave an update on the senior centerfielder during a weekly radio appearance on The Franchise Morning Show.
“Yeah that’s the biggest thing is just a pain tolerance deal now. He’s got to take it day-by-day,” said Johnson. “He’s actually played catch at 220 feet the other day. He’s been swinging the bat. Hasn’t really taken batting practice, he’s just swinging a bat. So the next thing is how much pain can he take when he’s swinging and the ball actually hits the bat, ya know?”
Despite not playing since March 16, Spikerman still leads the team with a .394 batting average and nine stolen bases (tied with Bryce Madron).
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday (6:30 p.m.) – Braden Davis (2-3, 6.30 ERA, 40 ip, 24 BB, 49 SO) vs. RHP Josh Wintroub (2-1, 6:61 ERA)
Saturday (4 p.m.) – Kyson Witherspoon (2-2, 3.03 ERA, 35.2 ip, 14 BB, 39 SO) vs. LHP Owen Boerema (3-2, 5.08 ERA)
Sunday (2 p.m.) – Grant Stevens (5-0, 3.49 ERA, 28.1 ip, 14 BB, 28 SO) vs. RHP Blake Dean (2-3, 4.50 ERA)
