Apr. 28—During Oklahoma’s practice Wednesday, OU coach Skip Johnson had his pitchers throw against live hitters.

One of the Sooners’ pitchers was finding success with a slide step pitch, striking out batter after batter. But he changed up his approach on one pitch, winding up this time before throwing a ball.

Johnson called a timeout and went up to the pitcher and asked him a question.

Who’s the best hitter on the team?

“Blake Robertson,” the pitcher responded.

Why?

“He’s really consistent.”

It’s that consistency that’s helped Robertson become not just one of the best hitters on the team, but one of the best in the Big 12. He’s started all 39 games for the Sooners this season, ranking fourth best in the conference in batting average (.386), second best in on-base percentage (.519) and tied for sixth in hits (56).

For Robertson, it comes from his preparation before he steps up to the plate.

“It’s a lot of visualization,” Robertson said. “I try to get good patterns and feel good about my swing when I get loose in the cage. If I know we’re seeing a left handed or right handed (pitcher), I’ll try to visualize it, track the ball. It helps a lot with my approach and simplifies my swing so when I get in a game, those high-intensity situations, I’ve already kind of run through it in my head.”

The redshirt sophomore first baseman originally went to Oklahoma State but didn’t appear in a game before COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season. He then transferred to Cowley College before the 2021 season, which Robertson said gave him a lot of reps and helped him find confidence at the plate.

But he’s continued to grow in his first season with the Sooners. He leads the team in hits and doubles (17), and he’s third in RBIs (34).

“I think the one thing that Blake does is he sticks with his approach at the plate and never wavers from it,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that has a lot of confidence. He just doesn’t give at-bats away. [I’m] not saying he doesn’t get out, but he’s going to grind... The more he sticks with his approach, the more confident he’ll be. You see how he’s growing as the season goes because he’s stuck with the same approach and now he can see the confidence start to come.

“Then you’ll see the power. He’s strong, he’s physical. He’s a baseball player. He loves to practice and he loves to play. In today’s world, that’s big.”

Robertson was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Monday after recording 11 hits and 11 RBIs in the Sooners’ three-game sweep of Kansas last weekend. It’s that kind of production that’s coming at the right time for the Sooners.

“I feel like I’m in a pretty good rhythm,” Robertson said. “My main goal is to get on base and have my teammates get me in. It definitely puts more pressure on the opposing pitcher when he has runners on. So I just try to do my job to get on base whether that’s with a walk or hitting the ball hard into play.”

The regular season is winding down for the Sooners (25- 14, 7-5), who have just four more three-game conference series before the conference tournament next month. They won five games in a row before Tuesday’s tough loss at Oral Roberts and have won seven of nine entering this weekend’s home series with Kansas State.

They’re currently fifth in the Big 12 standings, and the focus now is to keep their momentum heading into the stretch run.

“I think [the conference] is still wide open,” Robertson said. “ You never know what can happen. I think if we have a good couple of weeks and end on a good note, you never know. I think if we keep playing good getting into the Big 12 Tournament, anything can happen.”