Big 12 Notebook: April 18, 2025

West Virginia now sits alone atop the Big 12 standings at the halfway point in the conference schedule.

Weekly Awards

Big 12 Players of the Week

Player: Logan Sauve, West Virginia

Pitcher: Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma State

Newcomer: Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma State

Weekend Matchups

Thursday - Saturday

TCU (28-10, 11-4) at UCF (20-16, 4-11)

Arizona (26-10, 10-5) at BYU (18-18, 5-10)

Utah (15-17, 4-11) at Baylor (23-13, 6-9)

Cincinnati (21-15,8-7) at West Virginia (31-4,10-3)

Texas Tech (11-21, 7-8) at Arizona State (23-14, 9-6)

Friday - Sunday

Houston (20-17, 5-10) at Oklahoma State (16-18, 5-8)

Kansas State (23-14, 10-5) at Kansas (28-10, 9-6)

League Notes

Arizona

Arizona currently leads all Division I programs with 26 triples, seven of which have been hit by the middle infield duo of Mason White (4) and Garen Caulfield (3). With 35 double plays turned this season, the Wildcats defense currently leads the Big 12 and is tied for sixth nationally.

Arizona State

Matt King has recorded a career high 14-game hitting streak. In that 14-game hitting streak, King has recorded multiple hits in 10 games. Cole Carlon has struck out 54 batters in just 33 2/3 innings of work this season, a total good for seventh in the Big 12. Carlin’s 54 strikeouts are the most for any player in the country with under 34 innings pitched and of the 132 players in the nation with 50+ strikeouts, he is one of just two with less than 34 innings to his credit.

Baylor

Wesley Jordan became the 10th Bears hitter all-time with a three home run game when he did it at Texas Tech last Saturday. Jordan now leads Baylor with nine home runs, tying his entire output from the 2024 season. Over the last 10 games, Tyriq Kemp (18-for-40) and Travis Sanders (16-for-39) have been red hot at the plate, combining for 11 extra-base hits and 11 RBI.

BYU

Prior to the series-opener this weekend against Arizona in Provo, BYU announced a change in their weekend rotation. Justis Reiser will make his first start of the season on Thursday night and his first start since March 29, 2022. As a team, BYU is in the top five in the Big 12 in doubles (82) and RBI (257). Defensively the Cougars are top five in fielding percentage (.979) and runners caught stealing 12).

Cincinnati

Cincinnati took two of three against Arizona State at home last weekend. Kerrington Cross continues to impress at the plate for the Bearcats and he leads the Big 12 with a .417 batting average. On the bump, Nathan Taylor leads the pitching staff with a 4-0 record and 2.70 ERA while striking out 52 batters in 46 2/3 innings.

Houston

Houston is hitting .252 as a team and averaging seven runs per game. Xavier Perez leads UH with a .331 batting average, nine doubles, and 36 RBI to go along with seven homers. Houston's pitching staff has 363 strikeouts and 169 walks in 329 innings. Left-hander Antoine Jean struck out 13 batters in five innings in two games of relief work against Baylor last weekend. Jean ranks second nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (16.47) and 10th in total strikeouts (72) while his 0.44 ERA in Big 12 games leads the league.

Kansas

Kansas entered last weekend as the top team in the Big 12 before being swept at TCU. Kansas bounced back into the win column with a 18-12 win against Wichita State to snap a four-game losing streak in its midweek. The Jayhawks offense is led by Brady Ballinger, who is hitting .387 with 11 doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs. Dariel Osoria is second on the team with a .347 batting average, while Jackson Hauge leads the league with 16 home runs and ranks third overall in the country.  Hauge also has an active 24-game on-base streak. Alex Breckheimer has a team-leading 18 relief outings and Eric Lin has a team-high three saves in 16 outings.

Kansas State

Kansas State has won four of their first five conference series. The Wildcats are hitting .275 in Big 12 play, averaging 6.7 runs on 8.9 hits per game. Keegan O’Connor leads the way for the Kansas State offense, hitting .370 with eight doubles and four home runs in Big 12 games.

Oklahoma State

Harrison Bodendorf won both of the Big 12 Weekly Honors for Newcomer and Pitcher after his Friday night outing at Arizona. Bodendorf pitched a complete 10 inning game against the Wildcats in which he allowed just one run on three hits while striking out 10 batters on 125 pitches. Colin Brueggemann leads the Cowboys in batting average, home runs, and RBI.

TCU

Sawyer Strosnider is hitting .393 which is good for fifth in the Big 12, sixth nationally among NCAA freshmen. Strosnider has 55 base hits which leads the Big 12. Chase Brunson has reached safely in all 37 games this season for TCU. Kade Eudy is tied for sixth nationally among freshmen with four saves.

Texas Tech

Jack Cebert, a former weekend starter at USF, has turned into a valuable weapon out of the bullpen for Texas Tech. Since making a pair of starts early in the season, Cebert has made the transition to the bullpen look seamless. Cebert co-leads the Big 12 with 4 victories in Conference Only games with Tommy LaPour, the Friday starter for TCU. Cebert pitched 6 1/3 one-run innings and earned the victory in both Texas Tech wins last weekend against Baylor, Cebert lowered his Big 12 only ERA to 1.40, the second-lowest ERA in Conference only games in the league. After appearing in just one game per weekend, Cebert made his first Friday/Sunday appearance of the season. Cebert is now holding league batters to a .198 batting average against him.

UCF

Last weekend at Kansas State, UCF recorded 20 base hits on the way to defeating the Wildcats 15-3 in the opener before falling in games two and three by scores of 3-1 and 8-6. In the Friday opener, UCF’s 20 hits and 15 runs both marked the most by the Knights in a Big 12 Conference game. In that contest, Chase Krewson led the way by going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate. Aris Rivera followed by going 4-for-6.

Utah

After dropping the series-opener last Thursday night at home, the Utes rallied back to take the next two games and the series. Austen Roellig went 5-for-10 in the series with five RBI as his hitting streak was extended to 10-straight games. Santino Panaro went 6-for-9 with a triple, raising his batting average by 35 points. Panaro’s defensive prowess was the real highlight of his weekend after a snow cone catch in the series opener was featured on SportsCenter Top 10.

West Virginia

The Mountaineers swept a road series at Houston last weekend and looked great doing it. West Virginia is one of just 10 Division I teams to reach the 30-win mark so far this season. West Virginia leads the Big 12 in stolen bases (88) and ranks second in both runs scored (317) and batting average (.317). On the mound, their team ERA of 3.75 is best in the Big 12.

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