Jayhawks Fly In To Norman For Weekend Baseball Series

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April 17, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - The Kansas Jayhawks (29-15, 4-8 Big 12) fly in to Norman for a weekend baseball series with the Oklahoma Sooners (13-20, 1-11 Big 12) beginning Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The series opener is scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and will be followed by 2 p.m. start times on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday's game was moved ahead an hour to accomodate those fans wishing to enjoy their Easter fesitivities and the baseball game.

Baseball Bingo will be played throughout the weekend as each game of the series will feature its own special giveaway. On Friday, OU baseball team photos will be given away to the first 200 fans through the gate. Saturday, OU Cheerstixs will be distributed prior to the game and OU Foam Noodles will be handed out prior to Sunday's contest.

DATES: April 18-20
FIRST PITCHES: Friday at 6:35 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
BALLPARK: L. Dale Mitchell (2,700)
LOCATION: Norman, Okla.
RADIO: The games will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Jim Byers calling the action. The broadcasts can also be heard on Oklahoma's official web site www.soonersports.com. Gametracker, which also can be accessed through soonersports.com, will be run throughout the series to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
TELEVISION: None.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma and Kansas are not ranked in this week's polls.
KANSAS SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma is 129-76-1 all-time against Kansas ... That total includes a 70-29 mark in Norman ... Under Head Coach Larry Cochell, OU is 29-19 versus KU ... The Sooners have taken at least two-of-three contests from the Jayhawks every year since the Big 12 Conference began ... The last time OU swept KU was in 2001 on Kansas' last trip to Norman ... Oklahoma won two of the three contests during the regular season match up in 2002 ... The Sooners picked up bookend wins by scores of 8-3 and 6-3 and dropped the middle game of the series 4-1 ... The two teams were forced to play a Saturday mini-doubleheader after the Friday night contest was postponed in the sixth inning due to weather and finished the following day ... Buddy Blair pitched the final leg of the completed game to earn the victory ... He pitched four innings and allowed only two hits during his relief stint ... Reggie Willits, Eddie Cornejo and Denver Kitch each recorded multi-hit efforts in OU's only loss to KU last year ... Willits led the trio with three hits and scored the team's only run in the 4-1 loss ... Cornejo completed the weekend with his third straight two-hit effort in the Sunday tilt against the Jayhawks to bat .500 for the series ... Austin Mix picked up the win in the series' rubber match after throwing 6.2 innings and giving up five hits and three unearned runs.

Last Time Out

Wichita State scored seven key runs in the middle part of the game to outlast Oklahoma 9-5 Tuesday night at Eck Stadium. The Shockers plated seven runs during the middle part of the game to hold off a five-run Sooner rally in the sixth and seventh innings.

The Shockers leveled thier game-breaking blows in three critical innings between the fifth and seventh innings to grab a large enough lead. WSU scored four runs in the fifth off OU starter Casey Brown (1-1) before an out was recorded to jump out to a 6-0 lead. They plated two more runs in similar fashion in the next inning before the Sooner defense recorded an out and a costly error in the seventh frame led to the final Shocker run.

The Sooners climbed back into the game with three runs in the top of the sixth inning by stringing together some hits and capitalizing on a couple of WSU mistakes to cut into the Shockers' 6-0 lead. Junior catcher Spencer Wyman (2-for-4) started off the rally with the first of his two doubles on the night. Back-to-back base hits by senior right fielder Matt Arkison (1-for-5) and freshman left fielder LaFringe Hayes (1-for-4) then brought in Wyman for the first run. After a sacrifice moved Arkison to third and Hayes to second base, both runners moved up on a wild pitch with Arkison scoring on the play. Hayes scored the third run on senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo's (0-for-4) ground out to the pitcher.

Following the Shockers' pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, Oklahoma again capitalized on two more Wichita State errors in the seventh frame to pull to within 8-5. Junior shortstop Denver Kitch (0-for-2) reached base on an error by his couterpart at shortstop and advanced to second on a walk to freshman third baseman Russell Raley (0-for-1). Both runners scored on Wyman's second double of the game with Raley's run benefitting from an error by the Shockers' right fielder.

In making his first career start, Brown worked five innings and gave up all six runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked only two.

Sooners At The Plate

As a team, Oklahoma is batting .258 with 27 home runs and 161 RBI ... OU's team batting average ranks 10th in the Big 12 Conference overall and league only standings ... Sooners in the Big 12 overall standings: Reggie Willits - first in stolen bases, second in on base percentage, third in batting average and tied-10th in walks; Eddie Cornejo - 21st in batting average; Jay Yaconetti - tied-seventh in home runs and Denver Kitch - tied-10th in stolen bases ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: Willits - first in stolen bases, tied-7th in on base percentage and 18th in batting average; Cornejo - tied-5th in triples and tied-8th in walks; Kitch - tied-2nd in stolen bases ... Kitch led the team in hitting for the week ... The junior shortstop continued his recent good fortune at the plate by batting .364 (4-for-11) over the four-game stretch ... Kitch has collected at least one hit in 10 of the last 11 games and has racked up eight runs scored over that span ... His average has risen 61 points during that time ... Sophomore first baseman Matt Bose has also enjoyed a recent upswing in his hitting ... He tied his career high in hits with three on Sunday and also hit at a .357 clip (5-for-14) with three RBI during the Texas series ... Since being held hitless in a doubleheader against Sam Houston State at the beginning of the year, Willits has not been held hitless for more than one game the rest of the season ... The Sooners' senior center fielder is currently enjoying a eight-game hitting streak in which he is batting .344 (11-for-32) with six runs scored and five RBI ... It marks the team's longest current streak, but is not the longest of the season ... Willits also owns that honor with a career high 11-game streak which he put together earlier in the year ... Willits also extended his lead in the Big 12 Conference stolen base race over the weekend by swiping three bags this weekend at Texas ... Willits now has 21 stolen bases on the year which is three more than his next closest competitor ... He also leads the conference in league only games with 10 stolen bases ... Senior right fielder Matt Arkison accomplished a rare baseball feat in Saturday's contest ... Arkison raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run ...Arkison's shot landed just beyond the outstretched glove of the diving Longhorn center fielder and bounced back to deep center field which allowed him to score his second homer of the season.

Sooners On The Mound

The Sooner pitching staff is currently sporting a 4.53 ERA and has struck out 208 batters while walking 104 ... The staff's ERA ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference overall, however, their league only ERA of 5.25 ranks sixth ... Sooners in the Big 12 Conference standings: Jarod McAuliff - tied-1st in appearances, second in ERA, and tied-7th in saves; Mark Roberts - 11th in ERA, sixth in strikeouts, eighth in innings pitched and tied-8th in games started; David Purcey - tied-5th in appearances; Buddy Blair - tied-5th in complete games ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: McAuliff - tied-1st in appearances and second in ERA; Roberts - fourth in strikeouts, 10th in innings pitched and 14th in ERA; Purcey - tied-3rd in appearances ... After being sidelined by back pain for over two weeks, senior reliever Austin Mix has made appearances in the last two weekend series to move into a tie for sixth place on the school's all-time appearances list with his 65 career outings ... Junior righthander Mike Swindell turned in his longest starting performance of the season on Sunday ... Swindell lasted 6.2 innings and scattered eight hits and four runs which were both lows for his last four starts.

About Kansas

This weekend Oklahoma will be facing a Kansas (29-15, 4-8 Big 12) team that is beginning to pick up steam down the stretch. KU has won eight of its last 12 contests, including five of its last six. The Jayhawks are coming off a tough fought conference series with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in which KU escaped with two one-run wins and dropped a third contest by only a one run margin.

Beginning the week, Kansas' offense ranked tied for second in the Big 12 Conference. Six of the team's regulars are batting above the .300 mark, led by outfielder Casey Spanish's .406 average, to aid the team's offensive surge. Spanish also acts as the team's runs scored, slugging percentage and on base percentage leader. At .380, infielder Ryan Baty just trails Spanish in batting average, however, he has clubbed a team high eight home runs and driven in a team high 42 runs.

Lefthander Ryan Knippschild, righty Chris Smart and lefthander Kevin Wheeler will form the Jayhawks' starting rotation during the series. Although Wheeler is slated to pitch the Sunday tilt, he possesses the better of two regular starters ERA's at 5.02 and also carries a 4-2 record into the series. Knippschild owns a 6-3 record and a 5.20 ERA in nine starting assignments this season. Wheeler and Knippschild have combined for five of the staff's six complete games as Wheeler has finished two and Knippschild three. Smart, who totes a 1-2 record and 3.73 ERA with four starts, has recently landed in the starting rotation due to some positive performances.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Jayhawks Fly In To Norman For Weekend Baseball Series

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