Big 12 Baseball Week Review (Week ending Monday, April 30th)

Big 12 Baseball Week Review (Week ending Monday, April 30th)

Big 12 Rankings this Week
USA Today/ ESPN Coaches' Poll: Texas, 4th; Texas A&M, 12th; Oklahoma State, 19th; Missouri, 24th
Baseball America Top 25: Texas, 5th; , Texas A&M, 13th; Oklahoma State, 20th
Collegiate Baseball Top 25: Texas, 7th; Missouri, 21st, Oklahoma State 22nd; Texas A&M, 25th

Big 12 Weekly Awards
Jacob Priday, Missouri and Blake Stouffer, Texas A&M - Co-Players of the Week
Austin Wood, Texas - Pitcher of the Week It was Stouffer's second such award this season.

Baylor

1-2

Tue., Apr. 24 Baylor 13, Texas State 4 Wed., Apr. 25 Baylor 4, Prairie View A&M 2 Fri., Apr. 27 Texas A&M 12, Baylor 7 Sat., Apr. 28 Texas A&M 5, Baylor 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Baylor 16, Texas A&M 12

Baylor saved themselves from a sweep by pulling out a seven-run ninth inning on Sunday. The win kept them from the basement of the Big 12, but check this out - it was Baylor's first win over a ranked team on the road since the beginning of the 2006 season. Didn't Baylor used to be one of the best teams in the Big 12?

Baylor has TCU (RPI:39) mid-week, then doesn't play again until Texas Southern comes to Waco on May 9th.

Kansas

2-1

Fri., Apr. 27 Oklahoma 8, Kansas 0 Sat., Apr. 28 Kansas 6, Oklahoma 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Kansas 9, Oklahoma 4

Kansas wins a series over Oklahoma to pull themselves out of the basement. It was the Jayhawks' first conference series win of the season. What has happened to the Sooners?

Kansas plays Bethany mid-week, then hosts the Kansas State Wildcats at home next week.

Kansas State

2-2

Tue., Apr. 24 Kansas State 2, Wichita State 1 Fri., Apr. 27 Nebraska 4, Kansas State 3 Sat., Apr. 28 Nebraska 6, Kansas State 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Kansas State 8, Nebraska 2

Kansas State pulled off a very nice win against highly ranked Wichita State last week, then came to Lincoln and darned near got swept (more on that later). The Wildcats are in seventh place in the conference,

The Wildcats get Chicago State (RPI:291 - they are ahead of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Coppin State) at home, then play Kansas this coming weekend in conference play.

Missouri

3-0

Fri., Apr. 27 Missouri 10, Texas Tech 4 Sat., Apr. 28 Missouri 12, Texas Tech 7 Sun., Apr. 29 Missouri 6, Texas Tech 5

The Tigers sweep the Red Raiders for their first conference sweep of the season. Sunday's game was won in wild fashion (check the linked article), with the winning run coming in on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jacob Priday was named co-Big 12 player of the week for the Tigers, driving in nine runs and scoring six times in the series.
Missouri's RPI is now at 23.

Mizzou gets Missouri State (RPI:98) at home, then gets to go to Austin and take on the red-hot Longhorns. Yay for them!

Nebraska

2-1

Fri., Apr. 27 Nebraska 4, Kansas State 3 Sat., Apr. 28 Nebraska 6, Kansas State 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Kansas State 8, Nebraska 2

Nice series win over Kansas State - the Huskers take Friday and Saturday games to put themselves into position to sweep. On Sunday, they're in the 10th inning, Kansas State has two outs, and the Huskers suddenly give up seven runs. Seven. Talk about a horrible ending to a great weekend. The Huskers look like the pitching is coming around, the offense is picking up some (could be more, Kansas State has given up massive amounts of runs at times this year).
Nebraska's RPI is at 20, despite being one game under .500 in conference. This comes from playing a tough schedule and being in the best conference in college baseball.

Nebraska welcomes Coastal Carolina to Lincoln (RPI:11) this coming weekend. This should be a great series - we'll have more on it later.

Oklahoma

1-2

Fri., Apr. 27 Oklahoma 8, Kansas 0 Sat., Apr. 28 Kansas 6, Oklahoma 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Kansas 9, Oklahoma 4

Remember the Sooners that started out the year getting themselves a decent ranking? Where the heck did they go? They lose this series to Kansas, and they drop below .500 in conference play, dropping behind Nebraska and into sixth place. Oklahoma's RPI is 28.

Oklahoma goes to Texas-Arlington (RPI:180) mid-week, then things don't get any better for them as they get the big offense Oklahoma State Cowboys next weekend.

Oklahoma State

0-3

Fri., Apr. 27 Texas 3, Oklahoma State 2 Sat., Apr. 28 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 2 Sun., Apr. 29 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 0

And then there's Oklahoma State. Just when you think someone might be able to reel the Longhorns back to earth, Oklahoma State loses three games in a row for the first time in Reynold's stadium's history, dating back to April, 1981. That's pretty impressive for both teams. The sweep pushed Oklahoma State into third in the Big 12 - behind Missouri.
Oklahoma State's RPI is at 60 (Boyd's Nation) while their NCAA RPI is at 59, yet their record stands at 31-13, and they're above .500 in conference with a 10-8 record. Must be lousy scheduling, right?

Oklahoma State has no mid-week games this week. They then take on Oklahoma next weekend in a series they should win as the Sooners freefall continues.

Texas

4-0

Tue., Apr. 24 Texas 11, UTPA 1 Fri., Apr. 27 Texas 3, Oklahoma State 2 Sat., Apr. 28 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 2 Sun., Apr. 29 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 0

Texas continues to roll. They've still won all their conference series. They're clearly in firm control of the Big 12. Texas pitcher Austin Woods got his Big 12 award from his performance in Sunday's 7-0 win over the Cowboys, a pretty impressive performance blanking an Oklahoma State team that's third in the nation in slugging percentage. Kyle Russell still leads the nation in homers with 24, and he's tied for third in RBI's at 63.
Texas' RPI is at three. This is a team that should have no problem getting to the CWS, and they've been there enough times that a national title is within reach. Rivals has them listed as the top national seed.

Texas gets to pummel Missouri at home next weekend. Perhaps the Tigers will surprise them. Probably not.

Texas A&M

2-2

Wed., Apr. 25 Texas A&M 6, SFA 0 Fri., Apr. 27 Texas A&M 12, Baylor 7 Sat., Apr. 28 Texas A&M 5, Baylor 3 Sun., Apr. 29 Baylor 16, Texas A&M 12

The Aggies win another conference series over lowly Baylor. They remain in fourth place in the Big 12. Pitcher Kyle Nicholson continues to impress, getting a career-high 10 K's on Friday evening, while Big 12 Co-player of the week Blake Stouffer hit a pair of homers.
Texas A&M is interesting in that their RPI is very high at eighth (Boyd's world) or sixth (NCAA). Rivals has them listed as hosting a regional.

Dallas Baptist (RPI:105) comes to town for a Thursday-Saturday series against the Aggies.

Texas Tech

0-4

Wed., Apr. 25 TCU 8, Texas Tech 6 Fri., Apr. 27 Missouri 10, Texas Tech 4 Sat., Apr. 28 Missouri 12, Texas Tech 7 Sun., Apr. 29 Missouri 6, Texas Tech 5

Texas Tech - well, someone has to be at the bottom, and it might as well be the Red Raiders. They were swept by Missouri this weekend - Sunday's loss being decided in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. That had to suck.

Tech gets Dallas Baptist (RPI:105) mid-week, then doesn't play again 'til May 8th.