Baseball Faces Early Tests On 2004 Schedule

The 2004 Oklahoma baseball squad will be able to know what they're made of early in the year as the season schedule features an early slate of tough competition as it was officially released on Thursday. Following a pair of tough tournaments on the road to begin the year, the Sooners then turn to Big 12 Conference action which has them facing 2003 NCAA tournament qualifiers in four out of their first five league series.

OU kicks off the season at the Coca-Cola Classic Spring College Baseball Tournament (Feb. 13-15) in Surprise, Ariz. Arizona State, Cal State-Northridge, Gonzaga, Oregon State and Utah round out the tournament field. Two weekends after their trip to Arizona, OU travels back to the West Coast to Fullerton, Calif., to compete against national powerhouses Cal State Fullerton, Georgia Tech and Southern Cal in the prominent Kia Klassic (Feb. 27-29).

"We've got six of our first nine games on the road against some very good competition," commented head coach Larry Cochell. "Participating in the tournament in Arizona and the Kia Klassic in California will be a good test for our players and will allow the coaching staff to see where were at."

"Tough competition like that also helps prepare you for an even tougher Big 12 schedule later in the year," continued Cochell.

Following the preseason non-conference schedule, the Sooners host two-straight Big 12 teams from the state of Texas to open conference play. Texas visits Norman March 19-21, followed by Baylor who comes to town the following weekend, March 26-28. Missouri (April 9-11) and Kansas State (May 7-9) are the two other league opponents scheduled to visit L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Oklahoma hits the road for Big 12 battles with Kansas (April 2-4), Texas A&M (April 16-18), Texas Tech (April 23-25) and Nebraska (May 21-23).

The Sooners' home slate includes a host of unfamiliar foes from Southeast Missouri State (Feb. 21-23), the University of California at Riverside (March 5-7), Creighton (March 12-14), Dallas Baptist (April 6), Western Illinois (April 14), Arkansas Little-Rock (April 27) and Texas-Pan American (May 14-16).

In the recent past, the Sooners have had a history of faring extremely well against tough competition in early season tournaments. Beginning back in 1998, Oklahoma swept through the field at the Houston Invitational and followed the next year by taking two of three at the ACC-Disney Baseball Bash in Orlando, including a 12-0 upset victory of second ranked Georgia Tech in the second game of the season. The 2000 season again brought familiar success in Houston as they knocked off 10th-ranked Houston, 3-1, en route to another Houston Invitational sweep.

Most recently, last year's squad won two of their three contests at the Lamar Tournament in Beaumont, Texas, as they picked up wins over eventual College World Series participant Southwest Missouri State and 22nd-ranked Ohio State.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Baseball Faces Early Tests On 2004 Schedule

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