Big 12 Baseball Weekly Review - April 27th, 2008
by corn blight
on Apr 27, 2008 8:14 PM CDT
in Baseball
In the Big 12 this week:
- Texas A&M sweeps Missouri, including a 15-0 rout on Saturday- Nebraska wins their first series ever in Waco
- Oklahoma State sweeps Kansas
- Texas wins the rubber match today to win their series against KSU
You remember the beginning of the Big 12 season, where I said that the Big 12 was evenly matched and that it would be a tough conference, every game would count, blah blah blah, insert your cliche here.
Well. Here we are and the top three teams in the conference- Texas A&M, Nebraska and Oklahoma State have combined for a 47-15. There's a couple things that happened no one expected... well, except for Nebraska coach Mike Anderson.
Nebraska is really good. Texas is, well, not good. That's a huge difference in the wins and losses in conference. On to the week!
Big 12 Baseball Weekly Review - April 21st, 2008
| Big 12 National Rankings | |||
| National Collegiate Baseball Writers | April 21st | TexasA&M, 6th; Missouri, 9th; Nebraska, 13th; Oklahoma State 14th; Texas, 25th; Baylor, 29th | |
| Baseball America Top 25 | April 21st | Missouri, 4th; Nebraska, 8th; Oklahoma State, 13th; Txas A&M, 18th | |
| Collegiate Baseball Top 25 | April 21st | Texas A&M, 8th; Nebraska, 10th; Missouri, 11th; Oklahoma State, 18th | |
| ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll | April 21st | Texas A&M, 6th; Nebraska, 8th; Missouri, 10th; Oklahoma State 14th | |
| Record Last Week | Results | Upcoming (RPI) | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Baylor |
2-3 | Tue., Apr. 22 Texas 8, Baylor 2 Wed., Apr. 23 Baylor 25, Texas State 13 (8) Sat., Apr. 26 Nebraska 6, Baylor 4 (10) Sat., Apr. 26 Nebraska 14, Baylor 1 (7) Sun., Apr. 27 Baylor 8 Nebraska 3 |
@UT- Arlington (105) Sam Houston State (97) Texas (34) @Texas |
| Baylor lost a series against the Cornhuskers for the first time in history. Friday's game was delayed by weather, so the teams played a Saturday double header. The first game was very close. Baylor tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, but in the tenth Husker DJ Belfonte hit a two-out 0-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run win. In the next game, Nebraska scored seven runs in the first inning on their way to a 14-1 in seven innings. Sunday, Baylor scored four runs in the first inning, accumulating 16 hits and winning the game 8-3. By winning Sunday, the Bears stopped a five-game losing streak at home - worst since 1994. |
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 Kansas |
0-4 | Tue., Apr. 22 Wichita State 6, Kansas 4 Fri., Apr. 25 Oklahoma State 6, Kansas 1 Sat., Apr. 26 Oklahoma State 10, Kansas 3 Sun., Apr. 27 Oklahoma State 8, Kansas 3 |
Missouri (41) Oklahoma (44) |
| Kansas - oy vey. Stillwater is tough and the Jayhawks are not. They're at the bottom of the Big 12 now, not a place where anyone expected them to be. This is the third series sweep against them this season, the other two coming against Nebraska and Texas A&M. They've been p0wned by the best. Let's just say that seven runs in three games isn't going to get it done against anyone and go with that. |
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 Kansas State |
2-3 | Tue., Apr. 22 UC Irvine 4, Kansas State 3 Wed., Apr. 23 Kansas State 9, UC Irvine 7 (11) Fri., Apr. 25 Texas 6, Kansas State 5 Sat., Apr. 26 Kansas State 4, Texas 1 Sun., Apr. 27 Texas 7 Kansas State 4 |
@Wichita State (24) @Missouri (41) |
| At least Kansas State won a game and forced Texas to win the rubber match to take the series. That win also kept Texas below .500 in conference. | |||
 Missouri |
1-4 | Tue., Apr. 22 Missouri 8, Eastern Illinois 5 Wed., Apr. 23 Southern Illinois 2, Missouri 1 Fri., Apr. 25 Texas A&M 9, Missouri 8 Sat., Apr. 26 Texas A&M 15, Missouri 0 Sun., Apr. 27 Texas A&M 3, Missouri 2 (10) |
Kansas (118) Kansas State (62) |
| I keep hearing this stuff about how Missouri has the best pitching in the conference from BA, but let's get this straight. They're ranked higher than they should be because their offense isn't that good. And they go into College Station this weekend and get swept? You just don't do that, and you don't lose on a Saturday 15-0. The Aggies scored in every inning but the first. A rare Sunday extra innings game determined the sweep. Fact is, the Tigers ran into a hot buzzsaw this weekend. It was the first sweep against them since they were swept by Texas Tech in 2006. They're even in Big 12 at 9-9 which is good enough for fourth place and with Kansas State coming at home they should pick up a series win. The midweek game against Kansas is not an official Big 12 game. Maybe they play each other to determine who's town gets burned down. |
|||
 Nebraska |
4-1 | Tue., Apr. 22 Nebraska 4, Creighton 3 Wed., Apr. 23 Nebraska 16, Creighton 7 Sat., Apr. 26 Nebraska 6, Baylor 4 (10) Sat., Apr. 26 Nebraska 14, Baylor 1 (7) Sun., Apr. 27 Baylor 8 Nebraska 3 |
Western Illinois (264) Louisiana-Lafayette (110) |
| The Huskers have had offensive problems, but not this week. Against Creighton on Wednesday, the Cornhuskers had a 13-run inning. Then they went into Baylor and pulled off enough scoring to win their first series ever in Waco. This is what huskers.com says about Saturday: "first-ever Big 12 road twinbill sweep and first sweep on the road against a conference foe since 1994." What the hell does that mean? Saturday Nebraska pounded Baylor ace for seven runs in the first inning - he lasted only .2 innings, which is pretty surprising. Sunday - Nebraska lost the series because Baylor scored four runs in the first inning. Aaron Pribanic has to figure out how to start pitching well at the beginning of a game instead of waiting until the third inning to get in gear. That's not being negative, that's the way it is. The guy is young, but I hope he improves quickly before we hit the NCAA's. Nebraska's last two Big 12 series are against Texas A&M (home) and Missouri (road). Next weekend is Lousiana-Lafayette. More on that later. Nebraska has now matched it's win total from last season. |
|||
 Oklahoma |
2-3 |
Tue., Apr. 22 Oklahoma 11, TCU 6 Wed., Apr. 23 Southern Nazarene 8, Oklahoma 4 Fri., Apr. 25 Oklahoma 12, Texas Tech 7 Sat., Apr. 26 Texas Tech 6, Oklahoma 2 Sun., Apr. 27 Oklahoma 3, Texas Tech 2 |
Wichita State (24) @Kansas (118) |
| Oklahoma showed some grit going into Lubbock and taking a series from the Red Raiders. Friday's win was their first road win in conference play. This makes the second series the Sooners have won - the other coming against Baylor at home. |
|||
 Oklahoma State |
5-0 | Tue., Apr. 22 Oklahoma State 10, Mid-America Christian 4 Wed., Apr. 23 Oklahoma State 5, Wichita State 3 Fri., Apr. 25 Oklahoma State 6, Kansas 1 Sat., Apr. 26 Oklahoma State 10, Kansas 3 Sun., Apr. 27 Oklahoma State 8, Kansas 3 |
Utah Valley State (265) |
| The Cowboys have two series losses this season - both on the road, one against Baylor, the other against Kansas State. They get a nice midweek win against Wichita State, then sweep Kansas, which isn't entirely unexpected as they're now 20-2 at home They're on a nine-game winning streak and with Utah Valley coming next weekend, there's no reason to expect that to end. (I assume they mean Utah Valley State.) |
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 Texas |
3-2 | Tue., Apr. 22 Texas 8, Baylor 2 Wed., Apr. 23 Texas-San Antonio 7, Texas 1 Fri., Apr. 25 Texas 6, Kansas State 5 Sat., Apr. 26 Kansas State 4, Texas 1 Sun., Apr. 27 Texas 7 Kansas State 4 |
Texas State (101) @Baylor (47) Baylor |
| Texas salvaged their season this weekend by the narrowest of margins. The game came down to Sunday and as usual, the Longhorns jumped out to an early lead. The difference this time is that they didn't surrender it. |
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 Texas A&M |
4-0 | Tue., Apr. 22 Texas A&M 14, Texas State 11 Fri., Apr. 25 Texas A&M 9, Missouri 8 Sat., Apr. 26 Texas A&M 15, Missouri 0 Sun., Apr. 27 Texas A&M 3, Missouri 2 |
@TCU (33) Dallas Baptist (39) |
| How good is Texas A&M? The only series they've lost has been against Oklahoma State in Stillwater and this weekend they pull off a sweep against a very good Missouri team - their first ever sweep against Missouri in Big 12 play, and the first since 1990. Add to that it's their fifth conference sweep in a row. I thought for sure that the Tigers would at least end the winning streak, but what the hell do I know? |
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 Texas Tech |
3-2 | Tue., Apr. 22 Texas Tech 12, New Mexico St. 2 Wed., Apr. 23 Texas Tech 16, New Mexico St. 10 Fri., Apr. 25 Oklahoma 12, Texas Tech 7 Sat., Apr. 26 Texas Tech 6, Oklahoma 2 Sun., Apr. 27 Oklahoma 3, Texas Tech 2 |
@Dallas Baptist (39) @Oklahoma State (5) |
| Texas Tech is no longer last in conference because they won one game against Oklahoma while Kansas got swept. Uh.... yay? |
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Big-12 Standings
Yeah, it was a tough week for the Hawks. But they are poised to make a late season run. I still expect them to make the conference tournament. I am a bit depressed right now, but will be fine in a few days.
I'll copy below my conferenc standing post from RCT....
A&M has now won a record fifteen straight conference games and look poised to claim the regular season title. Oklahoma State is also scorching hot but I can't see them overtaking both the Aggies and the Huskers in the last few weeks. Missouri's slump continues and they are now out of the running. The Tigers will be thinking of how best to position themselves for a tournament run from here forward. Texas took two of three in Manhattan, steadying their season to a degree. Baylor is most probably now on the sad side of the NCAA tournament bubble. The Bears will need a strong finish. Oklahoma climbs from ninth to seventh this week by taking two of three at TTU. K-State owns the last conference tournament invite seed as of this week. The Red Raiders and Jayhawks are tied in the basement.
| Team | Big-12 record |
Overall record |
|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M | 18-3 | 37-7 |
| Nebraska | 15-5-1 | 32-8-1 |
| Oklahoma State | 14-7 | 32-11 |
| Missouri | 9-9 | 29-14 |
| Texas | 10-11 | 26-18 |
| Baylor | 9-12 | 25-20 |
| Oklahoma | 6-11-1 | 28-17-1 |
| Kansas State | 6-12 | 20-23 |
| LINE OF SORROW | ||
| Texas Tech | 6-15 | 25-22 |
| Kansas | 5-13 | 25-22 |
The top of the conference has pretty well settled down now. A&M, NU and OSU have separated themselves from the second tier, MU, UT and BU.
The most interesting part of the endgame will be the fight between the final four teams for the last two conference tournament invitations. OU has an edge now but must still travel to KU and OSU as well as host KSU. Kansas State will be on the road for seven of its nine remaining games, traveling to OU and MU, and playing a home and home with KU. TTU only has six games remaining, three at OSU and then hosting Baylor for three. I'd say the Red Raiders face the toughest home stretch. Kansas probably has the easiest remaining schedule. The Jayhawks host OU, MU and then play the split series with K-State, giving Kansas home field advantage for seven of their final nine games.
by James Quinn on Apr 28, 2008 9:08 AM CDT 0 recs
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