The Big 12 sees less of a logjam at the top than it did a week ago as 10 of the 13 teams jockey for a spot in the Phillips 66 Championship in Arlington, Texas in late May. No. 21 West Virginia and Oklahoma are tied at the top at 11-4, with No. 15 Oklahoma State a game back at 10-5. Texas is in the fourth spot at 9-6 and Baylor is in fifth place at 8-7.
Recapping the Midweek
Tuesday
No. 15 Oklahoma State dropped a midweek matchup against No. 22 Dallas Baptist, 8-7.
No. 21 West Virginia defeated Pitt 6-3 in Morgantown.
Texas lost at home to UTRGV 17-9.
BYU topped Utah Tech 8-2 in Provo.
Baylor traveled north and defeated UT Arlington 3-1.
UCF defeated North Florida 10-3
TCU lost to Abilene Christian, 8-3.
Wednesday
Kansas State was shutout by UConn 4-0 on Tuesday night. Then the Wildcats edged out Northeastern in 11 innings, 9-8 in Brookline, Mass.
Texas Tech lost back-to-back midweek games at No. 3 Arkansas, 9-8 and 5-4.
Houston run-ruled Houston Christian 10-0 in eight innings on Tuesday. The Cougars then run-ruled Southern 25-0 in seven innings on Wednesday.
Cincinnati run-ruled Eastern Kentucky 12-2 in eight innings on Tuesday. The Bearcats then lost to Xavier 6-4 on Wednesday.
Kansas had its midweek game cancelled due to weather.
Oklahoma did not have a midweek game scheduled.
Weekend Schedule
No. 15 Oklahoma State (25-12, 10-5) at Kansas State (22-14, 7-8)
No. 21 West Virginia (23-13, 11-4) at Texas Tech ( 26-13, 9-9)
Oklahoma (21-14, 11-4) at BYU (15-18, 6-12)
TCU (22-13, 7-11) at Texas (22-16, 9-6)
Kansas (19-14, 7-8) at Baylor (17-18, 8-7)
Houston (19-18, 5-13) at Cincinnati (21-17, 7-8)
UCF will not play a Big 12 opponent this weekend.
League Notes
Kansas outfielder John Nett was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for his performance last week. Nett was 10-for-17 with four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, nine runs scored, and three walks in four games last week. Nett had multiple hits, at least one RBI and at least one run scored in all four games.
Texas Tech has the top offense in the conference as they lead the Big 12 in batting (.322), scoring (9.6), doubles (96), on-base (.431), and slugging (.548). Damian Bravo leads the Red Raiders with a .420 batting average and is third in the country with 19 doubles.
Michael Snyder leads Oklahoma with 41 RBI and 14 doubles. Snyder and Jackson Nicklaus each have seven home runs this season to lead the Sooners. Bryce Madron has drawn a team-best 30 walks and leads the Big 12 with 45 runs scored.
Texas sluggers Jalin Flores, Rylan Galvan, Will Gasparino, and Max Belyeu have all hit grand slams this season.
West Virginia's Reed Chumley is batting .318 on the season and leads the team with 10 home runs. Sam White, Logan Sauve, JJ Wetherholt, and Brodie Kresser are all hitting above .300 on the season for the Mountaineers.
Kansas State left-hander Owen Boerema (3-3, 5.59 ERA) will make his first Friday start since the season opener. Jackson Wentworth (2-1, 3.24 ERA), who has served in the reliever role all season, will make his first start of the season on Saturday.
Last weekend, the TCU pitching staff held Texas Tech, which had been averaging over 10 runs per game, to just 12 runs over the weekend.
Baylor has won nine out of its last 10 games and five of its last seven weekend series. Enzo Apodaca was the Big 12 Player of the Week for last week. Apodaca leads the Bears offense with a .368 batting average and 31 RBI, and he reached base in 12 of 18 plate appearances in a road sweep of BYU, including going 5-for-5 in Saturday's final game.
Houston has scored five or more runs in nine straight games and have recorded 10 or more hits in nine of the last 10 games. The Cougars have hit multiple home runs in eight of their last nine games.
BYU catcher Collin Reuter leads the Cougars with a .323 batting average, while infielder Easton Jones leads the team with nine home runs. Mason Olson leads the BYU pitching staff with 47 strikeouts.
Cincinnati is 13-4 in 17 home games this season. The Bearcats are hitting .304 at home and outscoring opponents 148-77. All three of Cincinnati's run-rule wins this season have come at home, including two of the last three home games entering play this weekend.
Oklahoma State’s Robert Cranz was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after a pair of relief appearances to help lead the Cowboys to a series sweep of Cincinnati. Cranz picked up the win in the series opener with four shutout innings and a career-best eight strikeouts. In a team-high 19 appearances this season, Cranz is 2-1 with a save and a 1.50 ERA, and he has notched 34 strikeouts over 30 innings of work.
Over the last five games for UCF, AJ Nessler leads the Knights with a .353 batting average and six runs scored to go with two doubles and three RBI. Jack Zyska is next with a .350 batting average, six runs scored, and five RBI, while Andrew Williamson is batting .333 with a team-leading seven RBI.
Big Numbers
Baylor’s 18-17 win over BYU on Saturday featured the Big 12’s highest combined runs scored (35) and triples recorded (3) in a game this season. The two teams also combined for 39 base hits.
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