College baseball notebook: Sooners’ regular-season conference title is their first since 1995

By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer

For a program with such a proud history, it seems almost unfathomable Oklahoma hadn’t won a regular-season conference championship in nearly 30 years.

The Sooners checked that box over the weekend, sweeping Baylor for their first title since Larry Cochell’s 1995 squad won the second of two straight in the old Big Eight.

Oklahoma (32-17, 21-6) led the Big 12 from start to finish and wrapped it up with wins in six straight conference games and in 13 of the last 15. The Sooners can win the title outright with one win in their final Big 12 series this week at Cincinnati or an Oklahoma State loss at Houston.

OU ranks among the top 20 programs in all-time wins and is assured of making its 41st NCAA Tournament appearance. The Sooners will be bidding for their second College World Series appearance in three years and 12th overall.

The Sooners had been stymied in the Big 12 as TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State won multiple titles the past decade.

They outscored Baylor 47-15 over the weekend, and they lead the conference with a .311 batting average and 8.4 runs per game. Leadoff man John Spikerman (.407), who missed five weeks following hand surgery, is 12 for his last 19 with a grand slam against Baylor on Saturday. Easton Carmichael (.360, 54 RBIs), Michael Snyder (.350, 20 doubles, 9 homers) and Jackson Nicklaus (.336, 8 homers) are the team’s other top threats.

Braden Davis (7-3, 4.84, 90 strikeouts) and Kyson Witherspoon (6-3, 3.88) have held down the top two spots in the weekend rotation since midseason, and the bullpen has been solid with 16 wins, five saves and a 4.64 ERA.

“The accomplishment belongs to the players,” coach Skip Johnson said. “The coaches, we try to set the standard and make sure there is a structured plan going in. But it really belongs to the players, and it’s pretty awesome.”

IN THE POLLS

Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas are the consensus top three teams this week by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.

Tennessee (42-10) took two of three from in-state rival Vanderbilt and has won back-to-back series in Nashville for the first time since winning three series in a row in 1990, 1993 and 1995.

Kentucky (37-11) won two of three at Florida and has 20 SEC wins for the second time in program history. Arkansas (33-18) won its series over Mississippi State.

PAC-12 GOING OUT STRONG

The final Pac-12 regular-season race will come down to the final week with Oregon State (39-12, 17-9) visiting Arizona (32-18, 19-8) in a matchup of top-15 teams.

The Beavers enter Thursday’s series opener 1 1/2 games behind and coming off a sweep of UCLA. The Wildcats followed their sweep of Stanford with a series win at Utah.

WAKE UP

Wake Forest (36-16, 15-12 ACC) is playing its best ball of the season and back in contention for a home regional in the NCAA Tournament. The Demon Deacons are averaging 12.2 runs per game and batting .344 during their nine-game win streak. They became the first team this season to sweep Clemson, which was ranked as high as No. 2 last week.

CELEBRATING MAZEY

West Virginia honored coach Randy Mazey in a ceremony before Sunday’s game against Kansas State. Mazey, 57, will retire after the season.

Mazey is 367-268 with the Mountaineers and has had winning records in 11 of his 12 seasons. He led the team to NCAA regionals in 2017, 2019 and 2023. He also was head coach at East Carolina and Charleston Southern and has 553 career wins. That ranks eighth among active coaches who have fewer than 20 years as a head coach.

CLEANUP SPOT

Defending national champion LSU’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament took a hit with losses in two of three games at Alabama. The Tigers (33-20, 10-17) host Mississippi in their final regular-season series this week. … Jac Caglianone came out of the weekend on a Florida record-tying 30-game hitting streak after going 2 for 4 in a loss to Kentucky on Sunday. … Nebraska took two of three from Indiana in Lincoln, the Hoosiers’ first series loss since mid-March. … Carter Garate nearly became the first Oregon player to hit for the cycle since 2010. He was thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple in the ninth inning of a 13-6 win at Washington.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports