May 21, 2012
THE MATCHUP
• No. 4 seed OU (35-21, 13-10 Big 12) opens the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (32-23, 13-11).
• Wednesday’s double-elimination opener between OU and OSU is set for 9 a.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The winner of Wednesday’s game will play the winner of the No. 1 Baylor and No. 8 Kansas State game at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The losers of the two games will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
• The Sooners have won 20 of the last 27 games and are ranked No. 25 in Collegiate Baseball’s poll, No. 28 in the NCBWA poll and receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll. OSU is not ranked and is 5-5 in its last 10 games.
• The Sooners return five position starters from the 2011 squad that finished 41-19 overall and third in the Big 12 (14-11).
• Oklahoma State returns 14 letterwinners from the 2011 team that was 35-25 overall and fourth in the Big 12 at 14-12.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
• The OU radio broadcast with play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland and Ross Hubbard and Chris Plank can be heard throughout the tournament on the Sooner Sports Network (KREF 1400 AM in Norman/OKC). Live internet audio is on SoonerSports.com.
• Live stats and a webcast are available throughout the tournament on the championship central page on Big12Sports.com.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Oklahoma: LHP Dillon Overton (5-3, 3.35 ERA) vs. Oklahoma State: LHP Andrew Heaney (8-1, 1.63 ERA)
PLAYER TO WATCH - DILLON OVERTON
Dillon Overton is coming off his third complete game of the season after zero earned runs and five strikeouts against No. 20 TCU last Tuesday. Overton gave up six hits and zero walks. The Weatherford, Okla., native is making his fifth appearance against Oklahoma State Wednesday and third start. He lost on May 6 to the Cowboys in Bricktown in just 2 2/3 innings. He has 16 career strikeouts against OSU in 13 innings pitched with a 1-0 record and a 3.46 earned run average.
2012 Season Stats: 5-3, 3.35 ERA, 94 strikeouts, 96.2 IP
BEDLAM SERIES
- OSU leads all-time series 144-135 since 1942.
- Oklahoma State won this year’s series, 2-1, and has won nine of the 16 Big 12 series. OSU also won in a non-confer- ence meeting in Stillwater on April 24. The third straight year to meet in a non-conference game on a campus site.
- Since 1997, 37 of the 58 games have been decided by three runs or less (OU leads 20-17). Nineteen of those games were one-run decisions where OU is 10-9.
- Sunny Golloway has coached in 56 Bedlam games as an assistant coach and head coach (OU is 24-32 in those games). Golloway is 12-15 as OU head coach (2005-2012)
- OU and OSU have seven times previously in the Big 12 tournament with the Sooners coming out on top each of the seven games (1997, OU 10-5; 1998, OU 9-4; 2000, OU 9-8; 2002, OU 11-3; 2003, OU 4-2; 2006, OU 21-6; 2007, OU 9-8)
SOONERS IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
- OU is 25-25 in the Big 12 Championship and has posted a 2-1 mark in three out of the last five years.
- The Sooners were seeded third last season and dropped the opener to Kansas State. OU topped Texas Tech in the second game but again fell to KSU in the elimination round.
- The Sooners were seeded second in 2010 and 2009.
- OU is 9-8 in the tourney in head coach Sunny Golloway’s seven full seasons. The Sooners were 0-2 with Golloway as the interim in 2005.
- Prior to 2011, OU had won four straight tournament openers and is 7-8 all-time in the first game played. The last time OU opened with OSU was in 2002 (Sooners won 11-3).
- In addition to winning the inaugural tournament in 1997,OU also won Big Eight postseason titles in 1977 and 1979.
COWBOYS IN THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
- OSU is 13-25 all-time in the Big 12 Championship
- The Cowboys are 8-11 under head coach Frank Anderson.
- OSU won the title in 2004.
May 20, 2012 | Sooners Face Cowboys in Big 12 Champ.
View video below as Golloway and the Sooners talk about finishing the season strong and moving to postseason play.
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
Seniors Caleb Bushyhead (communication) and Erik Ross (multi-disciplinary studies) were named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team. It marked the third career honor for Bushyhead and his second straight appearance on the first team. Ross made his first career appearance on the academic team. Redshirt-sophomore Jordan John (energy management major) rounded out the 2012 honorees with his selection, a career first, to the second team. Oklahoma has had at least two honorees on the academic all-conference team since 1993.
ON DECK
The Sooners await their NCAA postseason fate as the selection show airs on Monday, May 28 at 11 a.m. on ESPNU. OU has made 34 NCAA tournament appearances, including each of the last four years.
LAST WEEK
Oklahoma finished the regular season with a 2-2 mark last week, including a series win over Samford at home. OU dropped the opener 4-2, but rebounded with a 6-2 win in game two and a 13-3 victory in the finale. On Tuesday, the Sooners dropped a 1-0 game to No. 20 TCU.
BIG 12 SERIES WINS
The Sooners posted five series wins in 2012, topping the three recorded in 2011 (tied Mizzou). OU’s five series wins (5-3) rank third in the Big 12 behind Baylor (6-1) and Texas A&M (6-1). OU has won at least four Big 12 series in four of Sunny Golloway’s seven full seasons at OU. In addition, OU has recorded a Big 12 record over. 500 in each of the last four years. In 2012, the Sooners (13-10) were one win off of last year’s mark (14-11).
FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
The Sooners are 31-8 on the season when holding opponents to five runs or less and 3-13 when the opposition scores six or more. OU has limited the opposition to five or less runs in 31 of the last 36 games and hold a 23-13 record in that span.
ONE-RUN GAMES UNDER GOLLOWAY
The Sooners are 10-9 in one-run games in 2012 after going 4-9 a season ago. OU is 77-44 (.636) in one-run games under head coach Sunny Golloway. OU has won double-digit games in that situation in 2006 (15), 2007 (11), 2009 (10) and 2010 (14).
DOUBLE DIGITS
The Sooners are 18-5 when collecting 10 or more hits in a game. OU is also 5-0 when scoring double-digit runs with victories over Hartford (Feb. 25), New Mexico (March 3), MACU (April 30), Baylor (May 13) and Samford (May 19). OU is 1-3 when allowing 10-plus runs against Pepperdine (2/18), UTA and Oregon State. The Sooners are 9-13 when giving up 10 or more hits.
SOONERS AND THE LONGBALL
OU is tied for second in the Big 12 with 28 home runs on the season, including a league-best 11 dingers from freshman Hunter Lockwood. The Sooners are 17-4 when they hit a home run in a game this year and 3-1 with multiple longballs (Feb. 24 vs. Hartford, April 14 vs. Missouri and May 19 vs. Samford). The Sooners have ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the Big 12 each of the last three years, including a league-best 105 in 2010 and 91 in 2009.
PITCHING IMPRESSIVE DURING EIGHT-GAME STREAK
OU allowed 13 earned runs and posted a 1.60 earned-run average during their longest winning streak of the year, eight games. The Sooners topped then-No. 9 Arkansas (April 10) to start the streak and also beat Oral Roberts in a midweek game while recording three-game sweeps over Missouri and Alabama State. OU posted three of its four shutouts on the season in the winning streak with a 4-0 win over Arkansas and two shutouts over Alabama State (7-0 and 5-0). The Sooner hurlers allowed just over six hits per contest in that span and opponents were hitting .202.
TIME FOR A RALLY
In the 35 victories in 2012, OU has come from behind in 17 of those contests. Of Sunny Golloway’s 296 wins at OU, 149 (.503) have been in come-from-behind fashion, including 18 last year (22 in 2010).
BIG 12 SOONERS OF THE WEEK
Steven Okert - Big 12 Newcomer - May 14
- Posted a win and a save in doubleheader sweep of No. 2 Baylor
Max White - Big 12 Player - April 30
- Hit .444 (8-for-18) with four multi-hit games and nine RBI.
Damien Magnifico - Big 12 Newcomer - April 16
- 8 2/3 scoreless innings in first win over then-No. 9 Arkansas.
Hunter Lockwood - Big 12 Player/Newcomer - April 2
- Batted .429 (6-for-14) with 2 homers, 8 RBI, and a 1.000 slg %.
Dillon Overton - Big 12 Pitcher - March 12
- Went 2-0 with wins over UAPB and West Virginia (CG).
Jonathan Gray - Big 12 Newcomer -March 12
- 10 strikeouts in seven-inning win at then-No. 9 Oregon.
Jordan John - Big 12 Pitcher - March 5
- 5 1/3 scoreless innings for a save and win at New Mexico.
GOLLOWAY GETS WIN No. 600
On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, the Sooners recorded an 8-3 victory, marking the 600th in head coach Sunny Golloway’s career. At OU, Golloway has won 296 games, the third most in school history. In his 14 full seasons as a DI head coach, Golloway’s teams have averaged over 40 wins per year.
OU PICKED THIRD IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
The Sooners were picked to finish third in the 2012 Big 12 Coaches’ Preseason Poll on Feb. 14. It marks the fourth straight year that the Sooners were picked in the top four spots in the preseason poll.
Texas A&M was selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2012 Big 12 baseball regular season title, followed by Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma State,Texas Tech, Kansas and Kansas. A complete poll is listed on page 5.
PRESEASON TOP 25 POLLS
Oklahoma is ranked in the top 25 preseason polls for the fourth straight year, with its highest recognition coming from the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) at No. 14. OU is also ranked No. 15 by the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ poll, No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 19 by Baseball America. Turn to page four for all the preseason listings.
WHO’S BACK
The Sooners return 15 letterwinners and seven starters (five position players, two pitchers) from the 2011 team. In the offseason, the coaching staff signed a class of 21 players that were ranked as high as No. 4 (Collegiate Baseball) in the recruiting rankings. View the listing of each player on page 3.
2011 DRAFT RECAP
OU will feature some new faces in 2012 as 11 Sooners were drafted last June, a mark that led the Big 12 and marks the most taken in program history, topping the 10 selected in 1998 and 1995. The 11 selections ranked in a tie for second place in the nation behind Vanderbilt (12). Arizona State, Florida and South Carolina also had 11 while Texas was eighth with nine selections. The most players drafted in the Sunny Golloway era was nine, accomplished twice in 2009 and 2006. Overall, 43 Sooners have been drafted on Golloway’s watch, including at least four in every season but one. In addition, 22 of the players came to Norman undrafted in their careers. Of the 11 Sooners taken in 2011, eight were selected for the first time and two others improved their draft status by at least four rounds.
DRAFTED PLAYERS ON 2012 ROSTER
Below is a look at the nine players taken in the Major League Baseball Draft on the current roster. It spans the last three years and includes seven players taken a year ago, including two-time draftees Jonathan Gray and Steven Okert.
Chris Burgess (2011 - 30th round - Tampa Bay)
Adam Choplick (2011 - 17th round - Arizona)
Jonathan Gray (2011 - 10th round - NY Yankees and 2010 - 13th round - Kansas City)
Jordan John (2011 - 28th round - Houston)
Hunter Lockwood (2011 - 17th round - LAA Angels)
Damien Magnifico (2009 - 5th round - NY Mets)
Steven Okert (2011 - 33rd - Milwaukee and 2010 - 43rd round - Milwaukee)
Dillon Overton (2010 - 26th round - Boston)
Drake Roberts (2011 - 49th round - Minnesota)
BREAKDOWN OF 2012 SCHEDULE
- 30 home games, including four Big 12 series
- Home Big 12 series with Texas, KSU, Missouri & Baylor
- Non-conference home games vs. Oral Roberts, Air Force, Arkansas, DBU and TCU
- Other key non-conference games vs. Pepperdine, New Mexico, Connecticut, Oregon, West Virginia, Oregon State and Oklahoma State.
- Bedlam Series in Tulsa and OKC, May 4-6
- 12 opponents from 2011 NCAA Tourney (28 games)
- 8 teams that finished 2011 ranked in top 25
- Seven foes with 40-plus wins a year ago
- Two 2010 CWS participants (Texas & Texas A&M)
- Three other Super Regional teams (DBU, Oregon State and Connecticut)
- First time opponents in Oregon, Connecticut, West Virginia, Alabama State, Hartford and Samford
BASEBALL ON KREF 1400 AM IN 2012
The 2012 season marks the second with KREF 1400 AM serving as the flagship station of Sooner baseball. The partnership provides expanded coverage for OU fans to listen to 50-plus regular season games live over the air and extends into postseason play.
Additionally, 18 of the 24 Big 12 games are set to be carried on the Sooners Sports’ Network, enabling fans to listen to OU baseball on various stations across the state starting on March 30 against Kansas State. Overall, 23 games will be carried on the network with non-conference games against Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts and TCU.
The entire 56-game regular season schedule will also be broadcast live on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access, OU’s premium content site.
2012 TELEVISION SCHEDULE
The University of Oklahoma announced the television schedule for the 2012 Sooner schedule and 16 baseball games produced by the Sooner Sports Network will be televised in the state of Oklahoma on Cox Communications Cable (Cox Ch. 3/703 HD). Six of those same games will be carried nationwide on DirecTV via Fox College Sports (Ch. 617 or 623).
Each of the games will be televised live from Norman with local sports personality Chad McKee calling the play-by-play and additional contests will be added throughout the season. Please check your local cable or satellite provide for coverage in your area.
The Sooners are also scheduled to appear in two games on Fox Sports Southwest. The first of the two nationally televised games will be played on Friday, May 4 in Tulsa, Okla., for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Bedlam Series. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa. The second game comes during the final Big 12 series of the year against Baylor. The Sooners and Bears will tangle at 2 p.m. on Saturday May 12 on FSN.
Sooner Sports Network-Cox Ch. 3 in OKC/Tulsa)
March 16 - Texas (6:30 p.m.)
March 17 - Texas (2 p.m.)
March 18 - Texas (1 p.m.)
March 20 - Air Force (6:30 p.m.)
March 30 - Kansas State (6:30 p.m.)
March 31- Kansas State (2 p.m.)
April 10 - vs. Arkansas (6:30 p.m.)
April 13, 15 - vs. Missouri (6:30 p.m., 1 p.m.)
May 11, 13 - vs. Baylor (6:30 p.m., 1 p.m.)
May 15 - vs. TCU (6:30 p.m.)
May 17 vs. Samford (6:30 p.m.)
Fox College Sports
March 16, 17 - Texas (6:30 p.m., 2 p.m.)
March 30 - Kansas State (6:30 p.m.)
April 10 - vs. Arkansas (6:30 p.m.)
May 13 - vs. Baylor (1 p.m.)
May 15 - vs. TCU (6:30 p.m.)
Fox Sports Southwest
May 4 - vs. Oklahoma State (7 p.m. in Tulsa)
May 12 - Baylor (2 p.m.)
ESPNU
April 7 - at Texas A&M (3:30 p.m.)
SOONERS INK 15 FOR 2013 SEASON
Oklahoma signed 15 student athletes as part of the 2013 incoming class back in November.
The OU coaching staff inked 11 high school players, including four of the state of Oklahoma’s best in Jacob Evans, a two-way player from Broken Arrow H.S., Taylor Hawkins, a catcher from Carl Albert H.S., Carson McPherson, a left-handed pitcher from Ardmore H.S., and Colt Pickens, an infielder/outfielder from Yukon H.S.
The Sooners also plucked three of the best south of the Red River in Kolbey Carpenter (infielder from West ISD), Ralph Garza (RHP/INF from New Braunfels H.S.) and Huntey Haley (INF/OF from Central Heights H.S.), while adding Justin Burba (OF from Wichita Campus High), the No. 3 recruit from the state of Kansas.
Overall, 11 of the 15 recruits are from the high school ranks while the Sooners also added four junior college players.
Craig Aiken | OF | R/R | 5-10 | 160
Coppell, Texas (Coppell H.S.)
Justin Burba | OF/1B | L/L | 6-0 | 185
Wichita, Kan. (Wichita Campus H.S.)
Kolbey Carpenter | INF | R/R | 6-0 | 175
Waco, Texas (West H.S.)
Jacob Evans | 1B/LHP | L/L | | 6-2 | 205
Broken Arrow, Okla. (Broken Arrow H.S.)
Ralph Garza Jr. | RHP/INF | R/R | 6-3 | 185
New Braunfels, Texas (New Braunfels Senior)
Hunter Haley | INF/OF | R/R | 5-10 | 175
Nacogdoches, Texas (Central Heights H.S.)
Taylor Hawkins | C | R/R | 5-11 | 185
Oklahoma City, Okla. (Carl Albert H.S.)
Kyle Hayes | INF/RHP | R\L | 6-2 | 210
Santee, Calif. (Santana H.S.)
Anthony Hermelyn | INF | R/R | 6-1 | 200
McKinney, Texas (McKinney H.S.)
Hayden Jones | 1B/LHP | L/L | 6-1 | 190
Houston, Texas (Langham Creek H.S.)
Hector Lorenzana | INF | R/R | 5-11 | 190
San Diego, Calif. (Howard College)
Carson McPherson | LHP | R/R | 6-0 | 190
Ardmore, Okla. (Ardmore H.S.)
Colt Pickens | UTL | R/R | 5-8 | 165
Yukon, Okla. (Yukon H.S.)
Benny Suarez | RHP | R/R | 6-0 | 195
Houston, Texas (Hill College)
Robert Tasin | RHP | R/R | 6-1 | 190
Klein, Texas (Howard College)
