Sooners And Golden Eagles Engage In Intrastate Rivalry

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April 7, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - On Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park, Oklahoma (13-15) and Oral Roberts (14-13) will engage in the first of two battles this season between the intrastate foes. The Sooners are set to reciprocate a home contest on the Golden Eagles home field later in the month.

Both teams are coming off of 1-2 weekends where both schools fell to tough nationally-ranked opponents with OU's series loss coming at the hands of Texas A&M and ORU's losses coming to Miami.

Tuesday's game will be the last "Two For One Tuesday" for at least another month until the season home finale in May. Fans can get a free adult general admission ticket and with the purchase of one. Baseball Bingo and $.50 hot dogs/Cokes will also be the other special promotions during the game.

DATE: April 8
FIRST PITCH: Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
BALLPARK: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)
LOCATION: Norman, 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 game to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
TELEVISION: None.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma and Oral Roberts are not ranked in any of the major polls. ORAL ROBERTS SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma is 31-25 against Oral Roberts over the last 38 years ... Larry Cochell is 11-6 against the Golden Eagles as the head coach of the Sooners ... OU won all three games between the two schools last year ... Two of the wins came in Norman with the first win coming in a Friday night contest in Tulsa ... Buddy Blair helped the Sooners earn a victory in the first game by pitching 5.2 innings and allowing just one unearned run to put OU in a position to come from behind for the victory ... Luke Alexander belted a three-run homer in OU's 7-5 third game win ... Last year's two contests at L. Dale Mitchell Park were the first games in the series played in Norman since the 1998 season ... The Golden Eagles upended the Sooners that year 9-5 in Norman ... ORU won a string of seven-straight games in the series from 1981-84 ... Cochell is a former head coach of the Golden Eagles ... He led ORU from 1977-86 and compiled a 428-171-2 record at the helm, including a College World Series appearance in 1978 ... Cochell also served as the athletic director at ORU the last three years of his coaching tenure ... He is also only one of two individuals to have his jersey (No. 1) retired in Oral Roberts history ... Oral Roberts Head Coach Sunny Golloway was an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 1992-95 under Cochell ... Golloway's newest assistant coach, M.J. Mariani, starred at OU from 1994-1995 ... Mariani was a part of Cochell's 1994 national championship team that also included Golloway (as an assistant coach) and current OU assistant coaches Aric Thomas (1994-1995) and Rich Hills (1992-1995) ... Current ORU junior outfielder Ryan Welborn played at OU as a freshman in 2001 ... Welborn is a former high school teammate of current Sooner shortstop Denver Kitch.

Last Time Out

No. 19 Texas A&M clinched a series victory with a 12-3 win in the rubber match with Oklahoma Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Aggies cranked out 10 runs in the first five innings to present the Sooners with an insurmountable lead. A season high seven errors contributed to OU's demise as the miscues led to five unearned runs for A&M.

OU starting pitcher Mike Swindell (2-3) exited early after giving up six runs in only two innings of work. Three of the runs came on a three-run homer by left fielder Scott Beerer in a five-run third frame for A&M that set OU back 7-0 after the Aggies plated single runs in the first and second innings. Beerer was one of four batters Swindell faced in the third inning when he failed to record an out before being lifted in favor of sophomore reliever David Purcey.

The three OU hurlers that followed Swindell each gave up two runs a piece over the final seven frames. Righthander Charlie House proved to be the most effective of the Sooner pitchers on the day. The junior's outing began shaky as he quickly gave up two earned runs by surrendering hits to three of the first four batters he faced, but he then settled in to retire 10 of the next 14 sluggers over the next 3.2 innings.

The Sooners attempted to climb back into the game with single runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, an errant Texas A&M defense helped Oklahoma produce their first run as two consecutive errors and a single loaded the bases with one out and a walk to senior center fielder Reggie Willits (1-for-4) forced in the run.

OU sophomore first baseman Matt Bose (2-for-4) led off the fourth inning with a single, swiped second base and scored on a double by sophomore right fielder Brandon Jones (2-for-4) to plate the Sooners' second run.

Oklahoma's final run came in the bottom of the ninth inning as a lead off walk to junior shortstop Denver Kitch (0-for-4) scored on a ground out to second by senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo (0-for-5) following a double by freshman left fielder LaFringe Hayes (2-for-5) that placed Kitch in scoring position at third base.

Sooners At The Plate

As a team, Oklahoma is batting .266 with 26 home runs and 148 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, 10th in runs scored and tied-10th in walks; Eddie Cornejo - 17th in batting average; Jay Yaconetti - tied-sixth in home runs and Denver Kitch - tied-10th in stolen bases ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: Willits - first in stolen bases and tied-17th in batting average; Cornejo - tied-third in triples and tied-10th in walks; Kitch - tied-second in stolen bases ... Cornejo led the team in hitting last week ... The senior second baseman batted at a .438 (7-for-16) clip with a run scored and five RBI ... He also paced the Sooners offensively during the Texas A&M series with a .385 average (5-for-13) against the Aggies ... Cornejo hit his first career home run during the week in last Tuesday's contest against Wichita State ... The homer not only marked his first career long ball as a Sooner, but also the team's first in two weeks ... After having only one hit in his last 15 at bats, Matt Bose briefly broke out of his mini slump during the A&M series ... Bose posted the second best average on the team against the Aggies with a .375 mark ... The sophomore first baseman collected at least one hit in two of the three games, including a two-hit performance in the finale ... He also drew a walk in each game ... Kitch recently had a season high seven game hitting streak snapped against Texas A&M on Sunday ... The junior shortstop batted .323 (10-for-31) during the streak with six runs scored, including a run scored in each of the last three consecutive games of the streak.

Sooners On The Mound

The Sooner pitching staff is currently sporting a 4.32 ERA and has struck out 182 batters while walking 84 ... The staff's ERA ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference overall, however, their league only ERA of 4.74 ranks fifth ... Sooners in the Big 12 Conference standings: Jarod McAuliff - second in ERA, tied-second in appearances and tied-sixth in saves; Mark Roberts - 13th in ERA,tied-eighth in strikeouts, eighth in innings pitched and tied-10th in games started; David Purcey - tied-10th in appearances; Buddy Blair - tied-fifth in complete games ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: McAuliff - second in ERA and tied-second in appearances; Roberts - tied-sixth in strikeouts and 14th in ERA ... Oklahoma's bullpen has recorded a respectable 1.44 ERA over the last two weekend series and one mid-week game ... The relief staff has lowered its ERA from 3.29 heading into the recent stretch to its current mark of 2.76 ... They also have stranded eight of their 10 inherited baserunners ... After being tagged for 15 extra base hits in his first six starts, Roberts hasn't given up any in his last two outings spanning 13.2 innings of work ... During that time, Roberts has also posted his highest two single game strikeout totals of the season at eight and seven, respectively ... Junior reliever Casey Brown remained flawless in holding inherited runners scoreless by stranding his fourth runner on Saturday ... Fellow junior hurler Charlie House made his first appearance in two weeks against A&M on Sunday ... Although he gave up two earned runs and three hits to the first four batters he faced, House settled down to hold the Aggies scoreless and retire 10 of his last 14.

About Oral Roberts

Oral Roberts (14-13) enters Tuesday's contest following a 1-3 stint against two top-25 ranked teams over its last four games. In the Golden Eagles' most recent series, ORU fell twice in three tries at No. 7 Miami last weekend. Their lone victory was a 10-1 win on Saturday in dominating fashion as they held the Hurricanes to only three hits in the game while pounding out 12 of their own.

Outfielder Matt VanDerBosch leads the Golden Eagles in several offensive categories including batting average (.346), hits (37) and runs scored (24). He also poses a threat on the base paths with 14 stolen bases already this season. Catcher David Castillo, who is hitting at a .330 clip, has a team high nine home runs and 33 RBI on the year.

Seven ORU hurlers have been responsible for the team's 14 wins as each pitcher is tied for the team lead with two wins a piece. Righthander Dennis Bigley is the only pure starter out of the group as all six of his appearances on the year have come in starting situations. Bigley is 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA and picked up the win in his most recent start over the weekend against Miami.

Production Out Of The Pen

Sophomore closer Jarod McAuliff's appearance near the top of the Big 12 Conference's ERA leader board is no surprise due to his recent relief outings. During the bullpen's resurgence where they have only allowed four earned runs in their last 25 innings of work (a span of seven games), McAuliff leads the way with a 0.00 ERA in 8.2 frames in five appearances during that stretch. Over that time, McAuliff has closed out two games and held all four of his inherited baserunners scoreless.

Dating back to the second game of the Baylor series three weeks ago, McAuliff has only given up one earned run in his last 13.1 innings of work for a 0.68 ERA over those eight appearances.

Mighty Casey On The Mound

Oklahoma's "Mighty Casey" Brown is proving to be a force for the Sooners on the mound rather than at the plate. The junior righthander has quickly picked up four relief appearances over the last three weeks since returning from shoulder surgery and has delivered quality relief stints in each outing. He only recently gave up his first earned run in his last appearance on Saturday against 19th-ranked Texas A&M. Although he served up his first home run of the season, it was the only hit Brown surrendered in his 2.2 innings of work.

The Stigler, Okla., native has shown flawless control by not issuing any walks, throwing any wild pitches or hitting any batters in any of his outings. He has also used four of his 10 strikeouts on the season to strand all four of his inherited runners this season.

Stepping Up To The Plate

With the Oklahoma offense in need of some production over the weekend, true freshman LaFringe Hayes answered the call during the Texas A&M series. Making his first collegiate plate appearance in a pinch hitting role in Saturday's game, Hayes singled to right field and followed with a steal of second base. After remaining in the game as the team's designated hitter, Hayes drew a walk to load the bases in a critical situation with the game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning.

His productive plate appearances in the series' second game earned him his first career start in the series finale on Sunday. Hayes did not waste the opportunity and turned in a 2-for-5 performance including his first double.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners And Golden Eagles Engage In Intrastate Rivalry

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