Big 12 Baseball Round Up: And Then There Was One

The gauntlet of the Big 12 college baseball slate is taking a toll on all of its contenders. Just one team remains in the national top 25, and it's the team no one expected.

The Big 12 Conference slate is taxing. Typically one of the college baseball powerhouses, this year's crop beat each other up in the early schedule and eliminated every team from the Top 25 rankings... except one, that is. At this juncture, we'd expect it to be TCU, Texas, Oklahoma State, or even Texas Tech. It's actually the UCF Knights.

But UCF (18-7) stands 6-6 in the league, good enough for just seventh. So that might not tell the entire story. What happened with the Big 12 Conference on the baseball diamond this week and what's setting up for the next two months?

Four Wide Out Of The Gate

In NASCAR, cars running four across on a super speedway makes for thrilling racing. But it also usually ends up in a massive wreck. Currently, 4.5 games separate first place (Oklahoma) and last place (BYU, Houston). Just two games separate first and sixth (West Virginia). And above all, overall records do not match the conference standings.

The Oklahoma Sooners (7-2 Big 12) lead the way, but stand just 15-12 overall. While not an in-league game, OU took one on the chin and was swept by Lamar (22-5). After 10 straight victories, the Kansas State Wildcats (18-8, 6-3 Big 12) dropped two of three against Texas, including a 21-11 slugfest on Saturday. The series win brought the Texas Longhorns (17-11, 6-3) back into second place.

The TCU Horned Frogs (20-7, 5-7) rattled off a three-game sweep of Houston to climb back into contention after a massive stumble out of the gate. They and the Texas Tech Red Raiders (20-9, 5-7) remain the cars riding the drift of teams ahead of them and remain dangerous contenders.

All that is to say it's anyone's game. Oklahoma's 3.5 game lead on TCU and Texas Tech could flip in a weekend. We're in for a sprint the last two months of the season.

About Those UCF Knights

The Knights kicked their season off with wins over Miami and Florida, both of which flew largely under-the-radar due to their weeknight nature. When UCF was swept by Oklahoma in Norman, those wins were waved off as inspired weeknight flukes. But there's no denying it any futher – UCF is a very good baseball club.

Since the sweep, UCF won three straight series over Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas Tech. In that stretch, they allowed 4.1 runs per game; remove a 16-10 loss to the Pokes and a 13-3 loss to the Jayhawks, and that total comes down to just two runs per game over 10 games. They smothered the Hurricanes and Gators, allowing three and six runs, respectively.

Relief pitching is the team's biggest strong suit. Eight different pitchers have a win under their belt on the young season and nobody with over an inning thrown this year allows a .300 opposing average. Senior Kyle Kramer (4-0, 2.37 ERA) and closer Chase Centala (3-0, 2.55, six saves) lead the bullpen. But UCF has four rock-solid relievers at their disposal.

But it's not all relief pitching. UCF leads the Big 12 in fielding (.981). Run prevention has been the name of the game for the Knights, who pose a threat to anyone in the conference.

D1Baseball placed them inside its Week 7 top 25, bringing up the final spot.

Team That Impressed Me The Most

Tired of UCF baseball talk? Unfortunately, you're not getting reprieve here. The UCF Knights aren't just the Big 12's lone representative in the national rankings, but they picked up what I believe to be the most impressive series win on the weekend. They held Texas Tech – one of the nation's former top-10 scoring offenses – to eight total runs, including just four on Saturday and Sunday.

On Thursday, outfielder Jack Zyska (.315 average) delivered a game-tying RBI double in the bottom of the ninth. Although he was thrown out at the plate later in the inning, Tech hit outfielder Andrew Williamson with a pitch and the bases loaded to send the winning run home.

Friday's superstar was junior Dom Stagliano (2-1, 3.14). The righty worked 6.1 innings and held the Red Raiders to a single earned run, setting up Centala for his sixth save on the year. Unfortunately, run support wasn't there for the Knights in the series finale and they missed a clean sweep, 3-2. UCF put one on the board in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't deliver a winning run.

The manner in which UCF won its games this weekend earns them the top spot.

Notable Performances

Jalin Flores, SS, Texas: The sophomore notched seven hits this weekend, five of which went for extra bases (12 at-bats). He drew an additional walk, struck out no times, and drove seven runners in. While not all-time numbers, Flores delivered an efficient weekend in Austin.

Louis Rodriguez, RHP, TCU: Slotted newly into a weekend role, Rodriguez rung up 10 Houston batters Thursday night. He allowed three hits and no runs in eight innings of work, coming dangerously close to a complete game shutout. He breathed new life into a TCU starting rotation that's largely failed to hit its rhythm early in the year.

Peyton Tolle, LHP, TCU: The highly-anticipated Wichita State transfer has turned in two gems in a row. On Friday, Tolle rung up another 13 batters, following up a 15K complete game shutout last weekend. This weekend, he went 8.2 innings and allowed a pair of runs, but few arms are dealing at the level Tolle is the past two weekends.

Special notes to Kansas' Reese Dutton, Baylor's Collin McKinney, and Oklahoma State's Sam Garcia, all of whom struck out 10+ batters and allowed no more than one run in their outings this weekend. Typical criteria for landing on the list, but this weekend delivered a glut of pitching notables.

Big 12 College Baseball Standings

Rankings courtesy of D1Baseball. Records accurate as of Tuesday.

1. Oklahoma Sooners (15-12, 7-2 Big 12)

T2. Kansas State Wildcats (18-8, 6-3)

T2. Texas Longhorns (17-11, 6-3)

4. Kansas Jayhawks (15-10, 7-5)

T5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-10, 5-4)

T5. West Virginia Mountaineers (16-12, 5-4)

7. #25 UCF Knights (18-7, 6-6)

8. Cincinnati Bearcats (16-13, 4-5)

T9. TCU Horned Frogs (20-7, 5-7)

T9. Texas Tech Red Raiders (20-9, 5-7)

T9. Baylor Bears

T12. Houston Cougars (15-12, 4-8)

T12. BYU Cougars (11-14, 4-8)

Upcoming Weekend Series

Conference Play

BYU at Texas: Disch-Falk Field (Austin, TX, THU-SAT)

Houston at Texas Tech: Rip Griffin Stadium (Lubbock, TX)

Oklahoma at Oklahoma State: O'Brate Stadium (Stillwater, OK)

TCU at Cincinnati: UC Baseball Stadium (Cincinnati, OH)

Kansas State at UCF: John Euliano Park (Orlando, FL)

West Virginia at Kansas: Lawrence, KS

Non-Conference Play

Incarnate Word at Baylor: Baylor Ballpark (Waco, TX)

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