OU Named in Baseball America's 'Eight for Omaha'

Originally Published: Jul 6, 2010 6:45 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – Despite recently making their first trip to the College World Series in 15 years, Baseball America predicted Tuesday that the Oklahoma Sooners will repeat the feat next season.

OU is one of the teams Baseball America named in its “Eight for Omaha 2011” watch list, and the Sooners are joined by Big 12 rival Texas. The other schools included were UCLA, Florida, Stanford, TCU, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

The Sooners had one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the nation this season and proved capable of beating teams with both their speed and power. They led the Big 12 in runs (525), hits (725), and home runs (105), and finished third in the conference in stolen bases (98) and team ERA (3.76).

OU made a strong run to Omaha, but its season ended thanks to a walk-off hit against South Carolina. The Gamecocks went on to win their first national championship in program history.

The Sooners will only lose two major components of their successful season, pitcher Jeremy Erben and infielder Danny Black. Black finished third on the team in RBIs and Erben led OU in ERA, so both players will be missed. But the Sooners will still have the majority of their dangerous lineup, including standout Garrett Buechele.

Texas will lose a significant portion of its dominant starting rotation, which could make OU the team to beat in the Big 12 next season.