Baseball Ends Fall Season With Competitive Intrasquad Series

Down 2-0 in the first two games of a best of five series, the White team came from behind with three-straight wins to defeat the Red team, 3-2, in the Oklahoma baseball team's annual Red-White instrasquad series that was held last week. The White team won the series-clinching fifth game in dramatic fashion on Sunday as junior third baseman Brenan Herrera launched a two-run home run to left field to end a 1-1 stalemate and junior relief ace Jarod McAuliff closed out the game to seal the 3-1 win and the series victory.

“The White team really fought back well and had a lot of pride and battled back doing the things that it took to be successful,” commented head coach Larry Cochell.

The series brought an end to the Sooners' five week fall team practice schedule and left the OU coaching staff feeling good about the team's potential for the spring.

“It was a good series where we found out a lot about our guys -- our strengths and our weaknesses -- and I feel real good about where we are right now,” reflected Cochell.

Although he did not officially award a series Most Valuable Player, Cochell credited McAuliff with being the series' outstanding performer.

“He had an outstanding series,” said Cochell. “We used him for both teams and let him close out for whoever was ahead.”

McAuliff's standout performance during the Red-White Series was indicative of the impressive fall he enjoyed. The righthander from Stillwater, Okla., finished the fall sporting a 0.40 ERA after allowing only one earned run in 22.1 innings pitched. Few opposing hitters had the opportunity to reach base and score as he held them to a .164 batting average and posted a 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. According to Cochell, McAuliff converted 12 of his 13 save opportunities throughout the fall season as the team's designated closer.

Other pitchers whose numbers stood out this fall were seniors Charlie House, Mike Swindell and Mark Roberts, and juniors Daniel McCutchen and David Purcey. House posted the top ERA of all the starters at 2.25 as he gave up only five earned runs in 20 innings of work. McCutchen followed House in ERA with a 3.38 average.

Swindell's success in the fall, according to Cochell, was achieved by using a curve ball that he developed over the summer while competing in the Cape Cod League. The junior righty relied on a slider as his other primary pitch last spring.

Purcey and Roberts finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in strikeouts with 27 and 24 a piece. In comparison to his strikeout totals, Roberts also did an exceptional job of keeping his walk totals low as he only issued one free pass for every three strikeouts.

“All our hitters know our pitchers so well because they face them all fall and know what they throw by now. So your own guys are going to hit you harder than the opposing team,” explained Cochell. “However, I thought our pitching looked really good this fall.”

A group of newcomers emerged as the team's top offensive stars. Infielders Brenan Herrera and Ryan Rohlinger put up the best all-around numbers as they tied for the team lead in several categories including home runs (two, along with junior catcher/infielder Matt Bose) and runs scored (14). Rohlinger, a Junior College All-American at Clarendon College last year, also led the team in RBI with 15, triples with three and slugging percentage with a .636 average. Herrera finished second to Rohlinger in RBI and slugging percentage with 13 and .609, respectively. The pair also tied for second on the team with 10 walks each.

Fellow newcomers, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon and junior outfielder Jeff Scuderi, ended the fall period in the top three in hitting on the team. Sheldon registered a .377 average and only struck out once in 53 at bats, while Scuderi hit at a .373 clip with five doubles which tied for team top honors in the category. Like Rohlinger, both Sheldon and Scuderi were also 2003 JUCO All-Americans.

However, a returning starter led the way for the Sooners offensively. Sophomore infielder Russell Raley topped the team with a .380 average. Raley, the long returning starter in the infield, batted towards the top of the lineup and surfaced as one of the fall's top run scorers as he finished in a tie for second on the squad with 12 runs scored.

The Sooners will finish off the fall semester participating in individual workouts.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Baseball Ends Fall Season With Competitive Intrasquad Series

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