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Kyler Murray leads Oklahoma in home runs while battling for starting QB role

Sam Cooper
College football writer
Kyler Murray (1) is considered by many to be the favorite to succeed Baker Mayfield as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback in 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Kyler Murray (1) is considered by many to be the favorite to succeed Baker Mayfield as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback in 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Friday was a really busy day for two-sport athlete Kyler Murray.

Murray is expected by many to emerge as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback this fall. And while he battles to secure that spot for the Sooners during spring practice, he has also been starring for OU on the baseball field.

Murray began Friday with an early morning football practice before driving a few hours south to Fort Worth for OU’s baseball game against TCU. All he did in that game was belt two home runs and drive in four runs in an 8-5 Sooners victory.

After the conclusion of Friday night’s game, Murray was on a flight back to Norman for the football team’s Saturday morning scrimmage.

The second game of OU’s series with TCU was scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night, but was postponed due to weather. Murray was expected to be in the lineup, too. Now the series will conclude Sunday with a doubleheader at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. The OU football team does not have practice scheduled for Sunday, so expect Murray to be in the lineup once again.

After Friday night’s performance, Murray, a redshirt sophomore who starts in centerfield, leads the team with five home runs while batting .303 with 25 runs batted in. He is also tied for the team lead with five stolen bases and two triples.

Murray, as Baker Mayfield’s backup in 2017, completed 18-of-21 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 142 yards. He started against West Virginia after Mayfield was disciplined for his actions against Kansas.

Murray, a highly-touted recruit out of Allen, Texas, started his career at Texas A&M before transferring to OU. As a true freshman in 2015 for the Aggies, Murray made three starts and threw for 686 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 59.5 percent of his passes. He added 335 yards and a touchdown rushing.

At Oklahoma, head coach Lincoln Riley said Friday that Murray’s competition with Austin Kendall is pretty close.

Murray or Kendall could potentially gain some separation in OU’s spring game next Saturday.


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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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