Sooners baseball hosting Texas for first time since 2018

There’s no way around it for Sooners baseball. This weekend is massive. The Red River Rivalry weekend series with Texas comes with plenty of storylines. Four series separate Oklahoma from claiming its first regular season title. They’ve come a long way, huh? 

Heading into the weekend three game set, Oklahoma plays host while on its longest winning streak (eight games) since 2017. They lead the conference by three games following a school-record fourth conference sweep last weekend in Provo. Hosting a regional in Norman for the first time since 2010 is becoming a very real possibility. 

TL;DR: It might not be Paycom Center/Thunder level vibes quite yet, but OU is playing extremely well at the right time. 

BACK TO THE FUNDAMENTALS

It might come as a surprise Oklahoma heads into this weekend with a three game lead in the conference standings. “That f-er came out of nowhere” kind of thing. Simply put, Oklahoma is executing from a fundamental standpoint quite well. It’s no secret that clean, fundamental baseball goes hand-in-hand with tally marks in the win column. 

For perspective, feast on this. 

Oklahoma committed eight errors that led to 15 Lamar unearned runs when the Cardinals swept through Norman. They issued 30 (!) free passes during the Bedlam series in Stillwater, lowlighted by eleven walks in the Sunday series decider. The Sooners have committed *at least* one error in 12 of their 14 losses this season. They’ve committed four errors in a game twice in losses to Pittsburgh and Lamar. 

In contrast, during the recent eight game surge, they’ve committed just four errors. Only one of those was made by a positional player; a ninth inning Jaxon Willits fielding error last Thursday in Provo. 

There’s a comfort in the Sooner defense. Just as much as there is confidence in a bullpen that continues to trend in the right direction.

“Yeah, I think so. Getting more comfortable. Getting more games under their belt. They’ve been in some different situations. I think all of those things contribute to the good defense,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson. 

Most importantly? Oklahoma pitchers are throwing strikes and the walk numbers are down. A simple yet sometimes complex concept in the world of college baseball.

“They don’t have to sit out there and fall asleep when you’re walking people either. That creates some bad defense as well. We went through that for a period of time where we’re afraid of the strike zone,” said Johnson. “We try to challenge hitters, but you start walking people and you fall asleep and you’re not attentive to one pitch at a time. You’re not present on that pitch. I think that’s the biggest difference is making sure you’re present. Making sure you’re there with your first step. It’s about the fundamental things and dealing with it one pitch at a time.” 

A trend that will need to continue to progress as the stakes are raised in the high leverage spots of postseason baseball where every weakness is exposed.

SPIKERMAN TALKS RETURN 

Over the last month, John Spikerman has learned more about the recovery process from hamate bone surgery than he probably ever hoped or expected to. Following a procedure to remove the hamate bone in his right hand, the junior outfielder missed 20 games. It’s been a process to get back on the field.  

First, the surgery. Then came a hard cast. Then a splint. Soft toss into a net followed when he could finally grip a bat and eventually leading to live batting practice.

While the return has been a build-up on the slower side of things, it’s also been calculated. Three innings on the backend of last weekend in Provo, five innings and a return to the starting line up on Tuesday and what Oklahoma hopes to be a full game appearance in the series opener Friday.

“They did a good job of making sure I wasn’t overdoing it. We talked about it beforehand and I knew that I was only playing half of the game (on Tuesday), and it felt good enough to practice yesterday and carry that into the weekend,” said Spikerman.

The toughest part moving forward will be pain management that comes with playing just over a month removed from his hand being sliced open to remove the loose bone in his hand.

“Pain is pain. It’s all about pain tolerance,” Spikerman said. “I can’t hurt it anymore, so if stuff like that happens and it does end up being painful, it’s just how it’s got to be.” 

At the time of the injury, Spikerman led the Oklahoma offense from the pole position, hitting a team best .394. Finding rhythm at the plate again could take time. It’s something Spikerman understands as he jumps back in to conference title race and massive rivalry weekend.

“I think just not being result-oriented. I think as long as I stick to the steps and the process and day-by-day, the results will come if I do,” said Spikerman. “I’m not worried about not performing because I got eight other guys on the field that can pick me up. If I’m not able to be out there, I know there’s other guys that can come in and do a great job.

WALK IT OUT

A player that took advantage of Spikerman’s absence was freshman outfielder Jason Walk. He’s seen his batting average rise from .176 the day after Spikerman’s injury in Fort Worth to .253 entering this weekend, collecting a hit in 14 of his last 16 games. He’s reached base in 16 consecutive games.

“Yeah, it’s been pretty cool. They’ve done a great job dominating their role picking guys like me and JNick up. It’s been huge obviously for the success of this team recently. I can’t say how proud of them I am because it’s hard as a freshman, especially when you’re not expecting to play,” said Spikerman, who has served as a mentor for the freshman outfielder.

How Oklahoma will go about getting Walk at bats along with fellow freshman Isaiah Lane is yet to be seen and something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

HOW ‘ONE PITCH AT A TIME’ CAME TO BE 

Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson has seen the other side of the OU-Texas rivalry. He’s lived it, serving as the Longhorns assistant head coach and pitching coach for a decade under the legendary Augie Garrido. 

Three years ago I asked Johnson what kind of advice the late Guarrido would give him on the eve of the Sooners College World Series opener in Omaha. 

On Thursday, I asked him if he’ll think of the former Longhorn coach and mentor when Texas arrives this weekend for the first three-game series in Norman since 2018. 

“No, I think about Augie weekly. What I’ve learned from him about environments and how to try to get our kids to perform in environments. He was the best — probably — college baseball coach to teach you how to play in environments,” said Johnson. “I learned a lot from that. I learned a lot from how he handled the media. To be truthful. And to talk about the fundamentals and one pitch at a time.” 

“My high school coach taught me how to be patient. How to understand the game. My junior college coach taught me how to be tough in the game. I thought my four-year coach – Coach Treadaway and Coach Ogletree – taught me how to really understand the game and help teach the game and be patient in teaching the game. And I thought Coach Garrido – God let me go there – to understand the environment. I really thought I knew what I was doing when I was there and all of the sudden there was peaks and valleys. I started simplifying. Just trying to simplify the process. Taking it one pitch at a time. 

“Moving on as a coach, I wanted to carry on his tradition of one pitch at a time and the tradition of how you play the game. That’s really the genius in the game is trying to make sure you’re present in that one pitch. It’s 100 percent of what you got to get to the next pitch on the mound and control yourself. So I think that’s what I’ve done as a coach.” 

Doing the little things right. Pitch by pitch. A foundational bedrock of Johnson’s program since day one of the Johnson era in Norman.

“We need to focus on winning moments,” said Spikerman. “We’re not going to get there if we don’t take it day by day. Just taking it step by step just like we have been and I think results have been pretty good so far. I think if we keep that up, then we’ll be in a good spot when all of that comes around.”

And ‘all of that’ isn’t too far off as Oklahoma heads into the final month of the regular season.

WEEKEND ROTATION

Friday (6:30 p.m.) – LHP Braden Davis (4-3, 5.37 ERA, 52.0 IP, 29 BB, 67 SO) vs. RHP Max Grubbs (4-3, 3.61 ERA, 47.1 IP, 9 BB, 33 SO)

Saturday (4 p.m.) – RHP Kyson Witherspoon (4-2, 3.72 ERA, 46.0 IP, 17 BB, 53 SO) vs. LHP Ace Whitehead (4-0, 3.32 ERA, 43.1 IP, 12 BB, 33 SO)

Sunday (2 p.m.) – LHP Grant Stevens (5-0, 4.72 ERA, 34.1 IP, 17 BB, 36 SO) vs. RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (2-3, 5.03 ERA, 48.1 IP, 30 BB, 56 SO)