Sooners Open Season Against Roadrunners

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Feb. 12, 2003

After inclement weather forced the Sooners to cancel their opening weekend slate of games, the Oklahoma baseball team will be looking to get the season started this weekend against Texas-San Antonio (0-3). The series is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman followed by a Saturday contest at 2 p.m. and a Sunday matchup at 1 p.m.

While the Sooners had to sit out this weekend, the Roadrunners opened the season with a three-game series on the road at TCU. UTSA fell to 0-3 on the young season as TCU completed a sweep of the Roadrunners.

DATES: Feb. 14-16

FIRST PITCH: Friday at 3:10 p.m., Saturday at 2:10 p.m. and Sunday at 1:10 p.m.

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

LOCATION: Norman, Okla.

RADIO: Saturday and Sunday's contests will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with radio veteran James Hale calling the action. The broadcast can also be heard on Oklahoma's official web site www.soonersports.com.

TELEVISION: None.

RANKINGS: Oklahoma is ranked just out of the top 25 in several of the college baseball polls. OU stands 27th in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll and 36th in Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll. Texas-San Antonio is not ranked in any of the polls.

UTSA SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma and Texas-San Antonio will meet for the first time in both school's history ... OU freshman infielder Russell Raley is from the San Antonio area as he hails from Uvalde.

Last Time Out

Oklahoma's scheduled opening weekend series against Southeast Missouri State was cancelled due to poor weather conditions in the Norman area. A snow storm last Thursday caused the Sooners to postpone the series opener, however, future bad weather predictions in the forecast put an end to the series entirely. It marked the first time in OU head coach Larry Cochell's 12 years at the helm that the Sooners have had an opening series cancelled.

There is a probability that the series could be rescheduled for later in the year. Definitive dates and times have yet to be released.

The Sooners' Opening Weekend Success Under Cochell

Here are just a few interesting facts on the success that Oklahoma squads have enjoyed on opening weekend during head coach Larry Cochell's 12-year tenure:

* The Sooners are 12-0 on opening day.

* OU has compiled a 27-3 record over their opening weekend series.

* Oklahoma has recorded five shutouts.

* OU has only been taken into extra frames once in 2001 when the Sooners' emerged with a 4-3 victory over Oklahoma City in 11 innings.

* One of the most significant victories during this span was when the 1999 squad knocked off then-second ranked Georgia Tech, 12-0, in their second game of the ACC-Disney Baseball Bash in Orlando, Fla.

Starting Off Strong

Several Sooner sluggers enjoyed promising debuts in last year's season opening series against Arkansas-Little Rock. Senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo put on a career performance in his first game in a Sooner uniform as he registered a career-high three hits and three runs scored against UALR. Cornejo went on to have easily one of his best series of the season by finishing with a .500 batting average (6-for-12) and five runs scored over the three game span.

Senior first baseman/designated hitter Luke Alexander produced a 2-for-4 outing with two runs scored in OU's 10-4 season opening win followed by a 1-for-3 effort and a career high three runs scored the next day.

After being held hitless in the opener, junior shortstop Denver Kitch and senior centerfielder Reggie Willits turned in a pair of three hit performances in the second game of the series, while Willits added a career high three runs scored and Kitch contributed a run scored and a RBI.

Same Faces, Different Places

Five players that started on opening day last year are projected to start again this season, but in different positions than they debuted in last year. Matt Arkison, Eddie Cornejo, Luke Alexander, Tyler Johnson, Ryan Richardson and Denver Kitch each earned starting spots in 2002, but did not end up in the same position at the end of the season as they had begun. After starting the first three games of the year at shortstop last season, Cornejo only saw eight more starts at shortstop while spending the majority of his starts (50 games) at second base where he is expected to return this year. Filling Cornejo's vacancy at shortstop was Kitch who started at shortstop for 51 games after beginning the year at third base. Kitch is also expected to join Cornejo again in the middle of the infield this season.

Arkison and Johnson both lost their starting jobs in the outfield last year after being the opening day starters in center and right fields, respectively. This year, Arkison is projected to start in right field, while Johnson is a top contender for the leftfielders' job.

Although Richardson remains one of two candidates for the starting catching duties, Alexander has a chance to make an impact at more than one place this year. Alexander's only starting opportunities last year came as the team's designated hitter where he made 46 starts. However, after a strong fall and early spring practicing at first base, he has a chance to become a regular at the right corner of the infield as well as continue seeing playing time as OU's designated hitter.

AT THE PLATE: TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO

About Texas-San Antonio

Texas-San Antonio began the season last weekend on a disappointing note after falling to TCU in three games in Fort Worth, Texas. The Roadrunners dropped the first of three contests to the Horned Frogs 10-4 on Saturday and then suffered two losses on Sunday, 5-3 and 6-1. The team finished the weekend batting .234, while the pitching staff sported a 7.77 ERA. Freshman shortstop Ryan Crew made an impressive Roadrunner debut as he led the team in hitting during the first weekend with a .600 average (6-for-10) with three runs scored. He also added his first collegiate home run to account for his only RBI of the series.

UTSA sent seniors Mike Srp and Trey Rice along with freshman Evin Brewer to the mound to serve as the squad's starting rotation. All three starters suffered the losses in each of their outings after the trio gave up a combined 10 earned runs in as many innings of work.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Open Season Against Roadrunners

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