Michigan Heads Into Town For Weekend Baseball Series

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March 6, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - No. 29/30 Oklahoma (6-2) begins the middle part of its current six-game homestand this weekend as Michigan (3-4) comes to town for a three-game series. The series kicks off Friday at 3 p.m. followed by an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday and the final game coming Sunday at 1 p.m.

Friday's promotional giveaway will be OU baseball magnet schedules that will be given away to the first 250 fans through the gates. On Saturday, OU Foam Noodles will be distributed prior to the game. OU Rally Rags will be the featured giveaway during the series finale on Sunday.

In addition to the giveaways, Baseball Bingo will debut during Friday's contest and continue throughout the weekend. An OU Gift Pack will be given away as the prize for each winner of Baseball Bingo.

DATES: March 7-9
FIRST PITCHES: Friday at 3:10 p.m., Saturday at 11:10 a.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 live 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. Gametracker, which can be accessed through soonersports.com, will also be run throughout the series to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
TELEVISION: None.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma is ranked 29th in the NCBWA ratings and 30th in the Collegiate Baseball poll. Michigan is not ranked.
MICHIGAN SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma leads the all-time series 10-1 ... OU has won eight straight in the series ... The Sooners' one loss to the Wolverines came during the NCAA Midwest Regional in Norman in 1977 ... UM eliminated OU from the tournament with a 5-2 win ... OU head coach Larry Cochell has never lost to Michigan in seven attempts while at Oklahoma ... The last time the two teams faced each other was in 1998 ... Oklahoma emerged with a 21-11 victory at home ... The Sooners swept the Wolverines at L. Dale Mitchell Park in 1996 the last time the two teams met for a three-game series ... OU won those games by scores of 14-2, 7-4 and 13-8 ... OU's other three wins during the Cochell era were also part of a three-game set in Norman in 1993 ... Michigan is the second Big Ten Conference school that Oklahoma will meet this season ... The Sooners defeated then-No. 22 Ohio State, 5-1, last Saturday in the Lamar Tournament of Champions in Beaumont, Texas ... The win improved Cochell's record while at OU over Big Ten opponents to 7-2.

Last Time Out

The 29th-ranked Oklahoma baseball team used an eight run fifth inning to erase a four run deficit as the Sooners came from behind to crush TCU, 13-6, Tuesday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners had six players register multi-hit efforts as the team produced a season high 13 runs and 17 hits. Leading the way for the offense was senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo and junior third baseman Jay Yaconetti who each recorded career bests with three hits a piece. Senior Austin Mix (1-0) was credited with the win in relief as OU improved to 6-2 on the year. TCU fell to 9-7 on the season with its third straight loss.

After beginning the Sooners' rally in the fifth inning with a double, junior left fielder Andrew McGuire capped off the eight-run frame with a two run home run, his second long ball on the season. Earlier in the inning, Cornejo hit a three-run double to bring the Sooners to within a run at 5-4. He then scored the tying run on sophomore catcher Matt Bose's (1-for-4) sacrifice fly to center field three at bats later. Junior shortstop Denver Kitch delivered the game-winning hit with a two-run double to score Yaconetti and junior designated hitter Spencer Wyman (1-for-3) just prior to McGuire's two-run blow.

OU exploded for four more runs in the seventh as the Sooners took advantage of an error early in the inning to plate an unearned run and Yaconetti produced a two-out double to open up a 12-6 lead. Yaconetti scored the final run for the Sooners as he hustled around from second base on a two-base error by the Horned Frogs shortstop.

Diamond Notes

*Oklahoma has opened the season with a 6-2 mark through the first eight games in four of the last five years. The only year that the Sooners did not have such good fortunes was in 2001 when they began with a 2-6 record.

*OU's four double plays in Tuesday's win over TCU fell one shy of the school record of five which hasn't been broken in nearly 20 years.

*The Sooners set several season highs as a team on Tuesday. The squad produced the most runs (13), hits (17), RBI (12) and doubles (6) for a single game performance this season.

*Four Oklahoma players either set or matched nine career offensive marks in Tuesday's win against the Horned Frogs.

Sooners At The Plate

As a team, Oklahoma is batting .285 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI ... With OU's solid offensive performance on Tuesday, the Sooners raised their team batting average by 24 points ... Senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo stands in 22nd place in batting average in the Big 12 Conference rankings ... Senior center fielder Reggie Willits ranks seventh in the Big 12 in on base percentage ... Senior first baseman Luke Alexander ranks fourth in the league in slugging percentage ... Cornejo and sophomore utility player Matt Bose led the Sooners in hitting over the weekend ... The pair both finished with a .364 average, going 4-for-11 at the plate.

Sooners On The Mound

The Sooner pitching staff is currently sporting a 3.17 ERA and has struck out 49 batters while walking 28 ... The Sooners continue to rank as one of the Big 12 Conference's best pitching staffs ... The team's 2.90 ERA through seven games was the second best average in the conference ... With his solid pitching performance over No. 22 Ohio State on Saturday, junior starting pitcher Buddy Blair lowered his season ERA by 75 points ... His ERA now stands at 2.25 which tops all starters on the OU staff ... The Sooners have four individuals that rank among the league leaders in several categories ... Blair, along with fellow juniors Mike Swindell and Mark Roberts and sophomore David Purcey are each listed in the top 20 in the league in ERA ... Swindell leads the conference with a 0.00 ERA in two games ... Blair ranks seventh with a 2.25 ERA ... Roberts is tied for 15th with a 3.00 ERA and Purcey rounds out the group in 20th place with a 3.60 ERA ... Swindell leads the league in a second category as well ... Through his first two games, he held opponents to a league-low .125 batting average ... Purcey is also ranked in the opponent batting average category as his .212 average is good enough for ninth place ... Roberts is tied for fourth in the Big 12 with three wins.

About Michigan

After starting off the season with a 1-4 mark, the Michigan Wolverines (3-4) have picked up steam by winning their last two contests. The Wolverines are coming off a doubleheader sweep of Bethune-Cookman College over the weekend. The two-game set against BCC was part of a four-game swing through Florida for UM in which they lost at Saint Leo (13-12) and to Stetson (7-5).

The Wolverines are loaded offensively as six of their regulars are batting above the .300 mark. Junior outfielder Brandon Roberts leads the team in hitting with a .476 average and leading the team in home runs and RBI is junior catcher Jake Fox who has slugged two homers and driven in 12 runs. Despite only hitting seven home runs on the season, Michigan does posess some power at the plate as they have totalled 25 doubles and two triples in only seven games.

Starting on the mound for Michigan this weekend is expected to be lefthander Drew Taylor on Friday, righthander Michael Penn on Saturday and righthander Bobby Garza on Sunday. Taylor and Garza both carry a 1-0 record into this weekend's games, while Penn is still searching for his first win of the year. At 4.50, Taylor sports the top ERA among the starting staff.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Michigan Heads Into Town For Weekend Baseball Series

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