OU Baseball Squad To Host Arkansas and Western Illinois

March 12, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Dates: vs. Arkansas, March 12; vs. Western Illinois, March 13

First Pitches: Tuesday at 3 p.m.; Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Ballpark: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)

Location: Norman, Okla.

Radio: None.

Television: None.

Rankings: Oklahoma is not ranked in any of the three major polls, but is receiving 37 votes in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll. Neither Arkansas nor Western Illinois are ranked or receiving votes.

Coaches: Oklahoma is coached by Larry Cochell, who is 426-253-1 in his 12th season with the Sooners, and 1,222-713-4 over his 35-year coaching career. Arkansas is led by Norm DeBriyn, who during his 32 years in Fayetteville, has compiled a career record of 1,126-622-6. He is ranked 10th among all active coaches in all-time wins. Cochell is sixth on that list. Western Illinois is coached by Stan Hyman, who is in his first season at WIU. Previously at Rutgers-Newark, Hyman was 179-110-1 and never posted a losing season.

Series Notes: Under head coach Larry Cochell, Oklahoma is 1-4 against Arkansas ... The last meeting between the schools was on April 10, 2001, when UA defeated OU 5-4 in Norman ... OU will travel to Fayetteville on Tues., April 9 to face the Razorbacks again ... OU's last win against the Hogs came during the school's 1994 national championship season, an 11-2 win on April 6 in Norman ... Arkansas has five Oklahomans on its roster, including Michael Conner (Roland), Jarrett Gardner (Moore), Josh Merryman (Tulsa, Metro Christian), Ben Barber (Jenks), Charley Boyce (Tulsa, Union HS) ... Barber was a part of the 2000 state championship team at Jenks HS, along with current Sooners Buddy Blair and Tyler Johnson ... Oklahoma and Western Illinois will be meeting for the first time under Cochell ... The Leathernecks also have Big 12 members Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Nebraska and Missouri on their 2002 schedule.

Oklahoma Baseball: At A Glance

Fransz Named Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week

Oklahoma junior outfielder Jason Fransz of Corona, Calif., was tabbed the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Week for his play during the week of March 4-10. Fransz had a career weekend against Missouri as the Sooners (11-4, 3-0 Big 12) swept the three-game series. He hit two home runs, drove in 11 runs, had 14 total bases (including two doubles, a triple and the pair of homers), scored five runs and produced a 1.000 slugging percentage while going 6-for-14 against the Tigers.

Fransz helped OU stay close in an Friday's 10-9 comeback win in 12 innings, and then drove in seven runs with a three-run triple and a grand slam in Sunday's 16-10 OU triumph. Fransz's seven RBI were just shy of the OU school record of nine, most recently set in 1987 by Chris Ebright. The junior left fielder, who transferred to Oklahoma from Riverside (Ca.) Community College, now leads the Sooners with five home runs and 23 RBI to compliment his .404 batting average.

Scouting Arkansas and Western Illinois

Arkansas comes into its series with Oklahoma with an 8-5 record and on the heels of dropping two out of three games to McNeese State. UA won the first game between the clubs, however the Cowboys took the next two games to take the series. Previously this season, Arkansas won a game against nationally-ranked Long Beach State, as well as a contest with Oklahoma City University.

Third baseman Clay Goodwin leads the Razorbacks with a .370 batting average, while Ryan Fox has hit four homers and driven in 14 runs, both team highs. Michael Conner boasts a .368 average with a .763 slugging percentage. On the mound, Arkansas is led by Jonathan Richmond's 0.61 ERA and 2-1 mark. Charlie Isaacson and Gary Hogan, Jr., each have a win and have struck out 14 and 18 batters, respectively.

Western Illinois (1-9) is coming off a series with Kansas State in which the Leathernecks won once. The 5-4 win in the opening leg of Sunday's doubleheader was WIU's first win of the season, however the team has played such formidable competition as Oklahoma State, Saint Louis and Western Kentucky. Western Illinois lost to OSU by scores of 28-4 and 10-3.

Seocnd baseman Pete Tronick is WIU's leading returning hitter, going .357 with 10 HR and 43 RBI in 2001. Joe Rooney mans third base for Western Illinois and had 11 homers and 57 runs batted in last season. WIU's top righthanded pitcher is Shay Butler, who won four games and struck out 55, while the top lefty is senior Brian Lewis of LaSalle, Ill.

OU Sweeps Missouri For Third Straight Year

Oklahoma extended its winning streak against Missouri to ten games with a three-game sweep in Norman last weekend. Prior to the series, Oklahoma's last loss to MU was on April 18, 1999, and the Tigers must now wait to attempt to break that streak after the Sooners won all three games. Friday night's game was a classic, going 12 innings and being sent to extra frames with a four-run rally by Oklahoma in the bottom of the ninth. In the 12th, after Denver Kitch singled and stole second base, Reggie Willits knocked a base hit into center field and brought the speedy shortstop in for the winning run. Kitch was 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored, while both Willits and Matt Bose were 3-for-6 during the thrilling, comeback win.

On Saturday, the Sooners again mounted a comeback and won 9-8 with a run in the bottom of the ninth. MU built an 8-3 lead, however OU erased that deficit and Bose singled home Jason Fransz for the game-winning run. It was Oklahoma's second in in its last at-bat in as many games. Austin Mix picked up the win after throwing 2.2 innings of no-hit relief.

Oklahoma cruised to a 16-10 win in Sunday's game, as Fransz drove in seven runs, including a grand slam in the eighth. Mark Roberts (2-1) picked up the win for Oklahoma after pitching six innings and a third and striking out seven. It was his second win of the weekend. OU had an seven-run eighth inning.

You OUght To Know! Oklahoma has had 10-or-more hits in five consecutive games.

Oklahoma Second In Big 12 In Batting With a team batting average of .337, Oklahoma is currently ranked second in the Big 12 Conference in team batting. Oklahoma State leads the league with a .377 team batting clip. In addition, OU has two players in the conference's top 10 in individual batting. Reggie Willits is currently ranked fourth in the league at .429 while Jason Fransz's .404 batting average is good for seventh in the Big 12. Fransz ranks third among Big 12 players with five home runs and Matt Bose is second in the league with seven doubles.

OU Getting Contributions From Deep Bench Thus far on the season, Larry Cochell and his coaching staff have had a number of tools to work with as the Oklahoma bench has proven to be extremely deep. Greg Kish is batting .455 and Brandon Jones .429, almost exclusively in pinch hitting situations. Matt Fisher had a double and a RBI as a pinch hitter in the Missouri series, and Tyler Johnson, Ryan Richardson (when not starting at catcher) and Matt Arkison have all contributed in pinch hitting situations.

Stealing Sooners As has been his philosophy for many years, Larry Cochell has his players running. OU has stolen 25 bases so far this season and have been caught only five times. Sophomore Denver Kitch is the Sooners' leading base stealer, going 11-for-12 in 2002, good for the top spot in the Big 12. Juniors Reggie Willits and Matt Arkison also blaze on the basepaths, stealing six and four bases, respectively. Jason Fransz has stolen two bases, and Eddie Cornejo and Spencer Wyman each have one.

REG-GIE! REG-GIE! One of Oklahoma's top hitters on the season has been junior Reggie Willits, who transferred to OU from Seminole State College. He currently has a .429 batting average and a team-high on-base percentage of .538. He has four doubles, six stolen bases and 12 RBI. He has shared the center field duties with fellow newcomer Matt Arkison thus far, but has definitely made his presence felt for the Sooners.

Austin Mixes It Up Austin Mix nearly pitched three innings of perfect relief on Saturday against Missouri, earning his second win of the season. Save for one throwing error, Mix did not allow a single hit, run or walk against the Tigers. He benefitted from OU's hot bats and when the team scored the game-winning run in the ninth, Mix picked up the W. He'll look for third win of the year when he starts on Tuesday against Arkansas.

Roberts Wins Two Against Mizzou Mark Roberts doubled his season win total of one when he won two of Oklahoma's three games against Missouri. He pitched an inning of no-hit relief on Friday and got the win when OU scored in the 12th. He relieved Buddy Blair in Sunday's game and pitched 6.1 innings and struck out seven en route to the win. He should be in OU's starting rotation for the Arizona State series.

Frasier's A Steady Force For Sooners Senior Charlie Frasier is a natural right hander and after batting from the left side of the plate last season, he is now switch-hitting and is off to a hot start. In OU's series against Arkansas-Little Rock, Frasier went 7-for-9 (.778), hitting two home runs and driving in nine runs. He narrowly missed winning the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week award and followed that effort by adding a home run and five runs batted in against Southeast Missouri State. He is currently batting .339 with four home runs and 17 RBI.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Baseball Squad To Host Arkansas and Western Illinois

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors