Around the Big 12 in Baseball: Sadness and Sweeps

Last week I wrote that the Baylor series would be pivotal for the TCU Horned Frogs.

And let the record show — I was right. I just wish I wasn’t.

TCU got swept, in case you hadn’t heard, losing the last two games 15-2 and 12-1. Jim Schlossnagle is using phrases like “horrible” and “the basement” to describe his team’s season. The Frogs are now out of the NCAA Tournament in D1 Baseball’s latest projection, and they’re one game away from being tied for dead last in the Big 12.

Things, in other words, are not going well.

But enough about our own miseries in Fort Worth. Let’s take a look around the Big 12, starting with the team in first place, which, it pains me to type, is...

Baylor (30-12, 12-5 Big 12): The Bears ran through TCU like a drunk college student runs through a door on a dare — violently, and with damage that will resonate for a few weeks. Baylor’s sweep gives the Bears a 1.5-game lead over Texas Tech in the Big 12 standings with two series remaining.

Baylor checks in at No. 16 in D1 Baseball’s rankings. The Bears get an average Kansas State team at home this weekend before closing out the season with a road trip to Oklahoma State.

This is also a good time to bring up that the official Baylor Baseball account has me blocked on Twitter, for reasons I cannot determine. @BaylorBaseball, I just wanna talk, man.

Texas Tech (29-13, 11-7 Big 12): Tech is the hottest team in the Big 12, sweeping Oklahoma State last weekend and taking two off Baylor in the series before that. The Red Raiders were really never in danger of losing against the Cowboys — Tech won 12-4, 10-2 and 5-2.

The No. 11 Red Raiders will travel to Oklahoma this weekend, play a doubleheader against Florida International on Tuesday at home (two games for the price of one, their website advertises!) and close out the season with a homestand against TCU.

West Virginia (26-15, 10-8 Big 12): West Virginia hasn’t been blowing teams out or sweeping series, but the Mountaineers have remained consistent. They’ve won two games over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Kansas and Texas so far this season. They’re doing just enough to stay alive in the Big 12 race and stay around No. 17 in the rankings, but their sweep at the hands of Baylor earlier this year is looking ever more costlier.

West Virginia will host TCU this weekend, and close out its Big 12 schedule at Kansas State next week.

Oklahoma State (25-16, 10-8 Big 12): The Cowboys were dominated last weekend by Texas Tech and dropped out of the D1 Baseball rankings. Those three losses also dropped Oklahoma State from first to fourth in the Big 12 standings. It was a bad week in Stillwater, is what I’m saying.

The Cowboys are off in Big 12 play this week, but that doesn’t mean they have an easy road — they’re off to Corvallis, Oregon, to take on No. 3 Oregon State. Oklahoma State returns to play Oklahoma in a three-game series next week.

Oklahoma (30-15, 8-7 Big 12): The Sooners took two out of three games over Kansas State last weekend to climb above .500 in the Big 12. Oklahoma was projected to make the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament before taking that series, so it stands to reason the Sooners only helped themselves.

But the rest of the way will be tough — Oklahoma welcomes in the red-hot Red Raiders for a three-game series starting Friday, and has Oklahoma State and Texas to finish out the season.

TCU (23-19, 6-9 [nice] Big 12): TCU is having a decidedly not-fun season. Melissa wrote about it much better than I could.

The Frogs travel to Morgantown to play West Virginia this weekend. A series next week against Kansas should be a welcome respite for TCU — but then a trip to play Texas Tech closes out the season.

Kansas State (21-24, 6-9 [nice] Big 12): Kansas State needed to win its series against Oklahoma in order to make some moves in the Big 12 standings. But that didn’t happen, and now the Wildcats have a very difficult stretch ahead.

KSU will travel to play Baylor this weekend before hosting West Virginia next week. In case you weren’t paying attention earlier, those are the two of the top three teams in the conference.

Texas (25-21, 6-11 Big 12): The Longhorns have lost five of their last six Big 12 games and are fighting hard to make the NCAA Tournament. Losing two out of three to West Virginia last week didn’t help.

Luckily for Texas, the Longhorns have perhaps the easiest remaining schedule of any Big 12 team. They’ll travel to Kansas this weekend, and then host Oklahoma on May 16-18 in the final series of the season. Texas pretty much has to sweep Kansas and win two over Oklahoma.

Kansas (22-20, 5-10 Big 12): Kansas played Furman in a three-game series last week for reasons lost to history, winning two games and losing one. The Jayhawks also have two games against Air Force this week, which makes me wonder if Kansas understands that conference play has started.

KU will host Texas this weekend in a matchup of the two worst teams in the conference. The Jayhawks travel to TCU the next week, and then close out their season in the Sunflower Showdown at home against Kansas State.