Prater turns lessons from teammates into dominance
NORMAN — Oklahoma's recent trip to Texas paid dividends.
Not only on the field — the Sooners went 2-2 during the week, including a series win over Rice — but in residual effect as well.
The most notable part of it has been Levi Prater's dominance.
In his last two outings — a 6-0 win at Rice to end that series and a 6-1 win over Missouri State last weekend — Prater has been nothing short of dominant.
He's combined for 15 innings, allowing just four hits, two walks and one run — on a wind-aided home run that was the only ball to leave the infield against Missouri State.
Heading into this weekend's Big 12 opening series at L. Dale Mitchell Park against Kansas, the sophomore who starred at Byng High School is second in the conference with a 1.14 ERA.
For Prater, it was lessons he took away from that trip that included a loss at Dallas Baptist and the 2-1 series win over Rice that have helped take him from very good to dominant in his last two outings.
First, there was a series of conversations with Saturday starter Nathan Wiles that centered around Prater's changeup.
“I was cutting it, hitting people with it,” Prater said. “Then me and Wiles worked with it a little bit before Rice and figured it out a little bit.”
In those last two starts, Prater's changeup command has been a big key.
Instead of running inside to hitters, often hitting them and more often not drawing a swing, the pitch started fooling hitters and drawing swing-and-misses and soft contact.
“It was just playing catch, working with grips, changing my grips a little bit,” Prater said. “I was a little too much in the center of the ball. I got a little bit more off the side so it's falling out more.”
Prater's changeup was effective at times last year, but this year, it's a much better pitch with more downward movement.
The lessons from Friday starter Cade Cavalli were more indirect.
Cavalli struggled in his outing at Rice, not making it out of the fourth inning in an 8-1 loss.
“I think Levi learned a lot from Cade's outing,” Sooners coach Skip Johnson said. “He was trying to make those guys swing and miss and he got out of control.
“He learned from that and he took it into the game, which was really fun to watch.”
Prater is expected to start Sunday's series finale against the Jayhawks against a familiar face.
Former Shawnee star Eli Davis is scheduled to be on the mound for Kansas.