Another Big 12 baseball season is upon us and though some conference games have been played already, everyone gets in on the fun this upcoming weekend. Currently three conference teams are in this week's Baseball America poll. Texas leads the way as they are ranked 5th, Texas A&M 8th, and the Oklahoma Sooners come in 9th. Florida is the top ranked team, with an 18-2 record.
Of the local teams, Kansas State is 12-7, Missouri is 11-10, while Kansas is an even 10-10 thus far. The full conference standings are below. Conference records are in italics-
Texas 3-0 15-5
Texas A&M 2-1 16-5
Texas Tech 2-1 15-7
Kansas 2-1 10-10
Oklahoma 1-2 17-5
Oklahoma State 1-2 15-5
Baylor 1-2 15-5
Nebraska 0-0 16-7
Missouri 0-0 11-10
Kansas State 0-3 12-7
Kansas State was swept in Austin last weekend by the Longhorns, while Kansas took 2 of 3 at home against Oklahoma State.
Upcoming weekend series -
Oklahoma at Missouri
Texas at Oklahoma State
Kansas at Texas A&M
Nebraska at Texas Tech
Kansas State at Baylor
Mizzou has been lead thus far by senior outfielder Jonah Schmidt . Schmidt leads the Tigers with 6 doubles, 14 RBI, and a .474 slugging percentage. Starter Rob Zastryzny and closer Phil McCormick have been the stability on the Tigers pitching staff to this point, Zastrynzy, a freshman from Texas, is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 5 starts so far and leads the team with 25 strikeouts against 8 walks. McCormick is also 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA over 19.2 innings pitched, with 2 saves. He also is second on the team with 24 strikeouts, but leads the team with batters hitting just .213 against him.
In yesterday's 5-3 win against Arkansas-Little Rock, Kansas coach Ritch Price picked up his 500th victory, as the Jayhawks won their third game in a row. Kansas's top win thus far was a win at #14 TCU opening weekend. Kansas features a balanced offense with Jake Marasco leading the way with a.356 average, the only KU starter batting above .300. Starter Tanner Poppe has just a 1-2 record, but carries a 2.22 ERA on the season, with hitters batting .217 at the plate against Poppe.
Junior outfielder Nick Martini leads the Kansas State Wildcats with a .358 average and .478 slugging percentage, while relief pitchers Evan Marshall and James Allen are the pitchers to watch out for thus far. The duo has given up just 6 earned runs thus far through 34.2 innings.