Oklahoma Sooners
Baseball
Tyson Seng |
Baseball Welcomes No. 11 Missouri
| No. 11 Missouri (26-9, 7-5) at OU (24-13-1, 3-8-1) | |
| Game 39 | Friday, April 18 - 6:35 p.m. |
| Game 40 | Saturday, April 19 - 2 p.m. |
| Game 41 | Sunday, April 20 - 1 p.m. |
| Location | Norman, Okla. | L. Dale Mitchell Park |
| Radio | Sooner Sports Radio Network |
| Online | Live Video and Audio in All-Access |
| Live Stats | SoonerSports.com / GameTracker |
| Promotions | 250 foam schooner hats | 1,000 trading cards |
| Game Info | Game Notes (PDF) | OU Media Guide |
NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma Sooners (24-13-1 overall, 3-8-1 Big 12) return home this weekend to host No. 11 Missouri (26-9, 7-5) for a three-game set at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners are seeking their first conference series win since defeating Baylor, 2-1, at the end of March.
The Sooners and Tigers will begin the series on Friday, April 18 at 6:35 p.m. Game two is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and the series finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
RADIO BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three games of the Missouri series will be broadcast live on the Sooners' flagship station, KOKC 1520 AM, with Chuck Kelly and DeWayne Vaughn providing the on-air talent. Sunday's game will be aired over the Sooner Sports Radio Network, enabling fans to listen across the state of Oklahoma.
Live audio will also be available on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access, SoonerSports.com's premium site.
MORE OKLAHOMA BASEBALL ONLINE
WEB CAST: A live web cast for all three of this weekend'sgames will be available on Oklahoma All-Access (paid site).
LIVE STATS: Live stats are available for all games on SoonerSports.com.
UPDATING THE SOONERS
OU dropped all three games at then-No. 11 Texas A&M last week. The Sooners lost an 8-7 game on Friday night, as Texas A&M plated the game winner in the ninth inning. The Aggies then cruised past the Sooners in games two (10-3) and three (12-2) to complete the series sweep.
The Sooners rebounded earlier this week with a pair of victories. OU traveled to Fort Worth on Tuesday and topped TCU, 5-4, after 12 innings and four hours of baseball. On Wednesday, the Sooners remained perfect in mid week games (13-0) after topping visiting Southern Nazarene, 15-3, at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPs
Game 39: Friday, April 18
MU: Aaron Crow | RHP | Jr. | 8-0, 2.05 ERA, 57.0 IP, 71 K, 13 BB
vs.
OU: Jeremy Erben | RHP | So. | 1-0, 4.61 ERA, 41.0 IP, 31 K, 21 BB
Game 40: Saturday, April 19
MU: Kyle Gibson | RHP | So. | 6-0, 2.63 ERA, 51.1 IP, 59 K, 14 BB
vs.
OU: Andrew Doyle | RHP | So. | 5-3, 3.07 ERA, 58.2 IP, 43 K, 21 BB
Game 41: Sunday, April 20
MU: Ian Berger | RHP | Jr. | 3-2, 1.99 ERA, 49.2 IP, 42 K, 11 BB
vs.
OU: TBA
TICKET INFORMATION
Seats remain for this weekend's games and gates will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch. Tickets are available at the gate, online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU. Single-game ticket prices are $10 for reserved seats and $7 for general admission. Youth and senior citizens single game general admission tickets are $5.00.
PROMTIONS
Friday, April 18
First 250 fans receive free foam schooner hat
1/4 lb. hot dogs
Saturday, April 5
First 1,000 fans receive a free OU baseball trading cards
Team autographs after the game
1/4 lb. hot dogs
Sunday, April 6
Inflatable games
Kids run the bases following the game.
1/4 lb. hot dogs
SOONER TO WATCH - TYSON SENG
The freshman has the longest current hitting streak on the club with hits in the last eight games and a .375 clip and six RBIs in that span. Seng has also hit safely in 18 of the last 21 games, driving in 13 runs off 16 hits (two homers and four doubles).
UP NEXT
The Sooners will continue the current six-game home stand next week and host TCU and Southern Nazarene in mid week action. OU and TCU will begin Tuesday's game at 7 p.m. and Wednesday's game against the Crimson Storm is set for 3 p.m. Following the two non-conference contests, OU returns to Big 12 play at Texas Tech (17-21, 4-11).
SCOUTING MISSOURI
Record: 26-9 overall, 7-5 Big 12
Ranking: USA - 11, BA - 6, CB - 11, NCBWA - 10
Overall Series: OU leads 120-78 since 1942
The Tigers enter this weekend ranked as high as No. 6 in the Baseball America poll and are coming off a 2-1 series victory over Texas last weekend. Missouri defeated William Woods 16-8 on Tuesday and is 6-4 in its last 10 games.
Offensively, Missouri is hitting .305 as a team and ranks fourth overall in the conference. However, the Tigers' Big 12 batting average (.303) is the second best in league play. Senior Jacob Priday, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, leads the Tigers with a .391 average and 48 RBIs. His 13 home runs leads the Big 12 Conference.
On the mound, Missouri has posted a 4.00 ERA after 35 games and a 4.30 ERA in conference games. The Tigers will start one of the nation's best hurlers in the series opener in Aaron Crow. The junior leads the nation with eight wins and has not lost a game this season, including a 4-0 mark in Big 12 play. Crow owns a 2.05 ERA and he has 71 strikeouts and 13 walks in 57 innings pitched.
MORE ON THE OU-MISSOURI SERIES
The Sooners dropped the last series meeting, 2-1, in Columbia last season. The two also met in the Big 12 Championship, with the Sooners posting a 7-2 victory.
- OU leads 120-78 since 1942
- OU leads Big 12 meetings, 22-10
- The Sooners have won seven of the 11 Big 12 series
- The home team has won the last six series meetings and is 9-2 overall since Big 12 play began in 1997
- 8 of the 11 series have been decided after two games
- 37 of the games in the series have been decided by one run with OU holding a 20-17 edge. Nine of the meetings since 1997 have been one-run games (OU 6-3)
- Since 1997, the team that wins the series opener has won nine of the 11 series meetings
- The Sooners have swept last four series in Norman and have not lost a Big 12 series to the Tigers at home
- OU is 14-1 in Big 12 games against Missouri at home (52-17 overall)
SOONER HOME RUNS BY THE NUMBERS
18 Number of OU home runs with zero runners on base
20 Number of homers allowed by OU pitchers, fourth fewest in Big 12
9 OU has led off an inning six times with a HR, including Mike Gosse, who led off the Houston game and the second game against WIU on March 8 with a homer
8 Number of OU home runs hit with two outs
8 Five Sooners have homered on the first pitch
7 OU has four multi-homer games this season, including a season-high four against Western Illinois and Houston
SCORING FIRST
The Sooners are 14-4-1 this season when scoring first, suffering losses to Texas A&M (GM1&2), Baylor (GM3) and Nebraska (GM1). The Sooners have struck first in six of their 12 Big 12 games. OU has also scored in the first inning on 16 occasions and holds a 11-4-1 record in those contests with losses to Texas A&M (GM1&2), Baylor (GM3) and Washington State (GM1).
MARCH MADNESS
The Sooners finished the last weekend of March by playing in games 22,23 and 24. OU was 17-6-1 in games played in March, with nine of the games played on the road (6-2-1). The Sooners are playing more games this season in the beginning of the year with the uniform start date across collegiate baseball. In comparison, OU played 15 games during the 2007 season in March and 15 in 2006.
SUCCESS IN THE FOURTH
The Sooners have found offensive success in the fourth inning this year. The Sooners' top totals this year have come in the fourth frame, including a .385 batting average, 45 runs scored, 62 hits, 41 RBIs and nine homers.
OU UNDER GOLLOWAY IN EXTRA INNINGS
The Sooners have had success early on with games played in extra innings. OU is 4-0-1 this season with wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, Houston, Baylor, TCU and a tie at Nebraska. In his fourth season at OU, head coach Sunny Golloway is 12-0-1 when his Sooners play in extra frames.
10 OR MORE IS A PLUS
OU has 10 or more hits in 20 games this season owns a 14-5-1 record in those contests. The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs on eight occasions and are undefeated in those contests. In comparison, opponents have connected for 10-plus hits in 16 games (8-7-1 record). In addition, OU is 0-4 when opponents score 10 or more runs.
MID WEEK SUCCESS
Oklahoma is undefeated in its 13 mid week games this season, topping the opposition by an average of 5.8 runs. The Sooners are averaging 8.8 runs per game and hitting .334 as a team. In addition, the pitchers have held their own, posting a 2.35 earned run average. OU is the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference in mid week play.
FREEMAN NAMED A FINALIST FOR LOWE'S AWARD
OU senior Jarod Freeman was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2008 Lowe's Senior Class Award on April 17. Freeman's selection marks the second consecutive year that a Sooner has appeared on the finalist list (Aaron Ivey - 2007). The 10 student-athletes were chosen from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete. These four primary areas of criteria include: classroom, community, character and competition.
The 10 finalists will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award baseball ballot for a nationwide vote beginning April 17 and concluding June 2. Fan balloting, available on the award's official website www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award.
QUALITY STARTS AND RELIEF
The Sooners have found success on the mound early as a result of quality starts by their pitchers. Only 10 starts have been under five innings and 12 have lasted six or more innings (OU 9-3 in those games). Of the three regular starters on the weekend, Jeremy Erben receives the most run support at four runs per game in five starts. Andrew Doyle has received 3.5 runs per game in his eight starts (only 1.75 in Big 12 games) and Michael Rocha has received 3.4 runs per game in seven starts.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Sooners have are 4-9-1 so far this season against ranked competition with wins against then-No. 1 UCLA, then-No. 20 Baylor (2) and then-No. 14 Texas. OU also lost to then-No. 9 Rice, then-No. 22 Nebraska (2), Texas (2) and then-No.11 Texas A&M (3). OU still has seven combined games remaining against teams ranked in the top 25 this week; 1 vs. Wichita State (No. 6), 3 vs. Missouri (No. 11) and 3 vs. Oklahoma State (No. 18).
MCCARTER ON NCBWA STOPPER LIST
Jake McCarter is one of 45 relievers to appear on the midseason watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of they Year, awarded to the nation's top closer. McCarter was not originally on the preseason watch list but leads the Big 12 with nine saves. He is one of four Big 12 relievers on the most recent listing, which was released on April 17.
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