Baseball Returns To Bricktown To Face No. 4 Arizona State

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April 29, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - Following two games against Oklahoma State at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark over the weekend, Oklahoma (16-24) continues its brief homestand at the ballpark in Oklahoma City with a mid-week contest against No. 4 Arizona State (42-9) Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The game concludes a four-game series between the two schools which was begun in Tempe, Ariz., back in early March with a three-game set.

DATE: April 30
FIRST PITCH: 7 p.m.
BALLPARK: SBC Bricktown Ballpark
LOCATION: Oklahoma City, Okla.
RADIO: The game will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Jim Byers calling the action. The broadcast 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 is not ranked, but Arizona State is ranked in all four major polls -No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN and the NCBWA and No. 8 by Baseball America.
ARIZONA STATE SERIES NOTES: During the last 13 years spanning Oklahoma head coach Larry Cochell's tenure, the Sooners own a close series edge over Arizona State, 12-11 ... Cochell is a 1964 graduate of Arizona State ... The Sooners and the Sun Devils have faced off each year for the last eight seasons ... ASU holds an 8-4 advantage since 1995 in games played in Arizona ... They also own a slim 4-3 edge in games played in Oklahoma, including a 3-1 mark at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark ... The Sun Devils have won the last three straight in Oklahoma City ... The two teams split a tough fought four game series last year ... OU took two of three in Tempe, while ASU claimed victory in the final game of the year in Oklahoma City ... All four games were two-run margins of victory for the winners ... The Sooners won the first of the three games at Ho Ho Kam Park, 6-3, last year ... After dropping the second game of the series, 6-4, Oklahoma defeated Arizona State, 7-5, in the series finale in Arizona ... The three game set was played at Ho Ho Kam Park (The Chicago Cubs' Spring Training facility) due to renovations at Packard Stadium ... The Sun Devils then pulled out a 7-5 win over the Sooners later in the season in OU's backyard at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City ... Oklahoma sophomore outfielder Brandon Jones recorded a career high with three RBI in the contest in OKC ... During his freshman year at California, Oklahoma junior catcher Spencer Wyman established a career high with three runs scored against Arizona State ... Arizona State won the last two contests of a three-game set earlier this season in Tempe after Oklahoma stole a 6-5 victory in the series opener ... Juniors Jay Yaconetti and Wyman both went deep twice in the series ... Sophomore reliever Jarod McAuliff picked up his only win of the season in the opener ... Senior center fielder Reggie Willits beat a close play at the plate to score the winning run ... Yaconetti drove in all three runs in the Sooners' 10-3 defeat to the Sun Devils in the second game.

Last Time Out

Oklahoma picked up its first Big 12 Conference series win in dramatic fashion in a 6-5 triumph over 20th-ranked and Bedlam rival Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon with a crowd of 7,345 on hand at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark. OU junior reliever Mike Swindell put out an OSU scoring threat in the ninth inning to secure his second save and the Sooners' second straight series victory in The Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series presented by the Oklahoma Ford Dealers. Junior catcher Spencer Wyman was the Sooners' offensive hero of the game as he belted a two run-homer and scored what turned out to be the game-winning run.

Oklahoma's successful two out rallies from Saturday night carried over into the Sooners' first scoring opportunity on Sunday. With two quickly away in the top of the third inning, sophomore left fielder Brandon Jones (1-for-3) and junior shortstop Denver Kitch (1-for-5) laced two consecutive singles into center field to place runners at the corners. A walk to senior center fielder Reggie Willits (1-for-3) loaded the bases for senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo (1-for-4) who doubled down the left field line to plate Jones and Kitch for a 2-0 Sooner lead.

Oklahoma State cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the frame as right fielder Craig Bartosh tagged Oklahoma starter Buddy Blair (3-6) for a lead off home run to center field to get the Cowboys on the scoreboard.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the sixth inning when the Sooners a plated three more runs to extand its lead to 5-1. A lead off triple by sophomore right fielder Greg Kish (1-for-5) turned into the Sooners' third run of the game when sophomore first baseman Matt Bose (2-for-3) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Kish home. After OSU made a pitching change following a hit batsman and the second out, Wyman welcomed Cowboys reliever Shane Hawk to the game with a two-run home run that was crushed to deep center field. The home run was Wyman's second of the series this season and the third in his career against Oklahoma State.

The Sooners got to Hawk, the conference's ERA leader entering the weekend, for one more run in the top of the ninth to cushion their lead at 6-4. Hawk walked and hit the first two batters of the frame before giving up a one out base hit to Willits which allowed Wyman, who reached on the walk, to race around third base and slide underneath the tag on a close play at the plate.

Sooners At The Plate

As a team, Oklahoma is batting .266 with 31 home runs and 196 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, fifth in on base percentage and 11th in batting average; Eddie Cornejo - 19th in batting average; and Denver Kitch - tied-10th in stolen bases ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: Willits - first in stolen bases; Cornejo - fifth in batting average, sixth in on base percentage, tied-9th in triples and tied-10th in walks; Kitch - tied in stolen bases; Brandon Jones - tied-4th in triples ... Sophomore utility player Matt Bose led the team in hitting last week and during the OSU series ... He hit .545 for the week and .467 during Bedlam ... He drove in at least one run in each game of the OSU series and tied a career high with three hits in Saturday's game ... Bose is also currently riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he is batting .357 (10-for-28) with two runs scored and four RBI ... He's two straight games shy of tying his career-high streak of nine games which he put together earlier this year ... Willits had an eight-game hitting streak halted during the Kansas series ... He has since put together another six-game stretch ... In last week's NCAA statistics, Willits ranked 21st in the nation in stolen bases per game ... Sophomore outfielder Greg Kish has been one of the team's leading hitters over the last two weeks ... He is batting .385 (10-for-26) in the last seven games ... Jones is also beginning to heat up at the plate as well ... The sophomore outfielder is hitting at a .308 clip with five runs scored and three RBI in his last eight starts.

Sooners On The Mound

The Sooner pitching staff is currently sporting a 5.14 ERA and has struck out 258 batters while walking 127 ... The staff's ERA ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference overall and eighth in league games only ... Sooners in the Big 12 Conference standings: Jarod McAuliff - 1st in appearances, second in ERA and tied-5th in saves; Mark Roberts - 25th in ERA, seventh in strikeouts, tied-7th in innings pitched and tied-9th in games started; David Purcey - tied-6th in appearances; Buddy Blair - tied-5th in complete games and tied-9th in games started ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: McAuliff - tied-1st in appearances, fourth in ERA and tied-4th in saves; Roberts - tied-3rd in complete games, tied-5th in strikeouts, 9th in innings pitched, tied-10th in games started and 24th in ERA; Purcey - tied-3rd in appearances; and Blair - tied-10th in games started ... In last week's set of NCAA stats, McAuliff stood 30th in the nation in ERA ... McAuliff moved into a tie for seventh place on the school's single-season appearances record with two outings last weekend ... His save on Saturday also tied him for seventh on the single-season saves list ... The sophomore righty from Stillwater has only allowed one of his last six inherited runners to score ... Purcey made one of his more impressive outings of the season on Saturday ... He held the Cowboys scoreless over three innings and only allowed a pair of hits and walks while striking out four ... Blair turned in two of his better pitching performances of the season last week ... In garnering the mid-week start at ORU and starting the Sunday tilt of Bedlam, Blair posted almost identical lines in the games and put OU in position for a victory ... On Tuesday, the junior lefty worked 6.2 quality innings and gave up three runs on five hits ... He gave up the same amount of hits and runs in Sunday's game in an inning less of work ... Junior righthander Mike Swindell made his first relief appearance in over a month in Sunday's win versus Oklahoma State ... Swindell relieved McAuliff after a run had scored and with a runner at first base and recorded the final three outs of the game for his second save ... It marked his first appearance in a relief role after making five straight starts as the No. 3 pitcher in the weekend rotation ... Swindell compiled a 0-4 record with a 9.36 ERA as a starter, however, his bullpen numbers still top the relief staff at 2-0 with a 0.55 ERA and two saves.

About Arizona State

No. 4 Arizona State improved to 42-9 overall and moved into a first place tie in the Pac-10 Conference with a three-game sweep of Washington State over the weekend. The wins extended the Sun Devils' winning streak to four games as they have now won eight of their last 10 games.

In the series against the Cougars, the Sun Devils outscored WSU 51-3, including two shutouts by scores of 21-0 and 25-0. Each member of ASU's torrid hitting lineup is batting above the .300 mark, led by shortstop Dustin Pedroia who is hitting at a .420 clip. Outfielder Nick Walsh is one of the team's hottest hitters lately as he is batting .576 in his last eight games which helped raise his season average over 100 points to its current .387.

Arizona State will be sending lefthander Erik Averill to the mound on Wednesday. Averill is one of two pitchers on the staff to possess a 7-0 record which he compliments with a 3.30 ERA. He started the Sunday contest against the Sooners this season back in Tempe and worked five innings and gave up only one unearned run on three hits to pick up the win.

Last Time Out Against The Sun Devils

No. 29 Oklahoma gave up 10 runs in the first three innings to the nation's top-ranked baseball team Arizona State to dig itself into a hole in an eventual 10-2 loss to the Sun Devils in the series finale at Packard Stadium. The Sooner offense was unable to generate enough runs to help the team overcome the large deficit as four ASU hurlers held OU to seven hits. OU starting pitcher David Purcey (0-1) suffered his first defeat of the season as he was resposible for nine of the runs.

An offensive bright spot for the Sooners in the game was junior catcher Spencer Wyman's (1-for-3) fifth home run of the season, and second of the series, which came in the seventh inning.

The Sooners' only other run came in the third inning when a lead off base hit to sophomore left fielder Brandon Jones (1-for-2) came around to score on senior right fielder Matt Arkison's (0-for-4) sacrifice fly to left field. The run made it a 5-1 ballgame in favor of the Sun Devils at the time.

Arizona State tagged Purcey for four runs in the first inning. Three straight doubles to left field and a base hit to right plated three runs before an out was secured. The first out of the inning, a groundout to shortstop by left fielder Rod Allen, scored the fourth run.

After adding a single run in the second frame, ASU opened up a 10-1 lead with five more scores in the third inning.

It Was Bedlam!

The Sooner baseball team picked up its second straight win in The Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series presented by the Oklahoma Ford Dealers by capturing victories in the final two games of the series. OU won the series this year in similar fashion to the 2002 squad which also clinched the series victory with two consecutive wins in Oklahoma City after dropping the series opener in Tulsa.

Since OU was swept in the series debut back in 2001, the Sooner nine have rattled off victories in five of the last eight games against the Cowboys (including one victory in last year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament in Arlington, Texas).

Clutch Performances

One of the reasons for Oklahoma's series victory over Oklahoma State last weekend was the clutch performances of several Sooner players. Offensively, the Sooner hitters were successful in numerous key opportunities during the series. Although OU is batting .259 against lefthanded pitching for the season, the Sooners hit at a .333 clip against the three Cowboy southpaws they faced. OU also recorded eight runs after two outs were recorded. Several other telling averages added to the team's offensive triumph as they batted .500 with the bases loaded, .667 with a runner on third base and less than two outs and were better than 50 percent with success in advancing runners.

Junior shortstop Denver Kitch and sophomore utility player Matt Bose were both key contributors in these situations during the series. Kitch and Bose combined for five of the team's nine two out-RBI and both players batted .500 with runners in scoring position and above the .600 mark with two outs. Both players also averaged better than 80 percent in advancing runners as Bose was a perfect 7-for-7.

On the mound, Oklahoma received some clutch pitching performances from several of its hurlers. After giving up two early runs in the first inning on Saturday, starter Casey Brown recovered to surrender only two more runs over the remaining four frames before exiting with the lead. Sunday's twirler, Buddy Blair, turned in his second quality start of the week to pick up his first win in his last five outings.

Out of the bullpen, sophomore relievers David Purcey and Jarod McAuliff both pitched at least three scoreless innings during the series while McAuliff closed out Saturday's game for his sixth save of the season. Junior righthander Mike Swindell made his first relief appearance in over a month and retired the final three outs of the game on Sunday for his second save and to clinch the series victory for the Sooners.

Playing The Field (Better)

The Sooner fielding corps have drastically improved their play over their last three conference series. In comparison with the first three conference series of the year where the team committed 23 errors and posted a .936 fielding percentage, Oklahoma has only made 10 miscues for a .971 fielding average during its last nine Big 12 games.

Against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma only committed two errors during the entire series and has not recorded more than one error in a league contest in its last five Big 12 games. The Sooners have also committed less errors than their opponents in the last two conference match ups.

Climbing Up The Charts

Pitchers Austin Mix and Jarod McAuliff are making strong moves up the Oklahoma single-season and career record charts. Mix, a senior reliever, is now 12 strikeouts shy of the Oklahoma career strikeouts record and 14 innings pitched short of the all-time OU record in that category. Mix is also in a tie for fifth place on the school career appearances list of which he trails by 17 outings.

McAuliff, the Sooners' sophomore relief ace, recorded his sixth save of the year in Saturday's win to move him into a tie for seventh place on the school's single-season saves chart. Combined with his two saves from 2002, McAuliff now stands in a tie for fourth place on OU's all-time saves list with eight. He is also entered the top 10 in single season appearances with two more appeances last weekend to place him in a tie for seventh with 27 outings this year.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Baseball Returns To Bricktown To Face No. 4 Arizona State

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