Oklahoma Takes On Texas In Baseball's Red River Rivalry

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April 9, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma (13-16, 1-8 Big 12) and No. 9 Texas (26-11, 9-3 Big 12) will renew the two school's Red River Rivalry this weekend in Austin. The first pitch of the series is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Disch-Falk Field and will be followed by contests at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

DATES: April 11-13
FIRST PITCHES: Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
BALLPARK: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)
LOCATION: Norman, Okla.
RADIO: Friday and Sunday's games 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 in any of the major poll, but Texas is ranked ninth in the Baseball America and Sports Weekly/ESPN polls. The NCBWA has the Longhorns in 14th place on their list, while Collegiate Baseball has them sitting at No. 15 this week.
TEXAS SERIES NOTES: Texas holds a dominating 112-46-2 lead over Oklahoma in the all-time series ... Under head coach Larry Cochell, OU is 17-25 versus UT ... Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, UT holds a 13-8 edge in the series ... Both schools have competed in at least one regular season match up every year since 1985 ... The Sooners were swept in three game series in their last two trips to Austin in 1999 and 2001 ... The last time the Sooners claimed a series victory in Austin was in 1997 when Oklahoma won the first two games of the set ... Oklahoma picked up a 6-5 game one victory in the series last year, but dropped the final two games 8-2 and 8-1 ... The two schools also squared off twice in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in 2002 ... Texas came away with an 8-5 win in the first of the two games and eliminated Oklahoma from the tournament with a 2-1 victory in the second game ... Mark Roberts picked up his third win of the 2002 season by pitching the Sooners' to their lone win over the Longhorns last year ... Matt Bose drove in the winning run with a RBI-single in the seventh inning to complete OU's four-run comeback.

Last Time Out

Oral Roberts starting pitcher Taylor McIntyre stifled the Oklahoma bats in a 5-1 loss to the Golden Eagles Tuesday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park. McIntyre only allowed one run on six hits in eight innings of work. The Sooners avoided their first shut out of the season by tagging the lefty for a run in the seventh inning.

ORU scored all their runs in two innings with two coming in the second and three more added in the fifth. In the second, the Golden Eagles manufactured their runs with two outs. OU starting pitcher David Purcey (0-2) fanned two batters after placing two on base, however two straight walks forced in the first run and a passed ball that followed allowed a second run to score.

Purcey's lucky wasn't more favorable with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning either. The Golden Eagles placed their first three runners of the frame on with two hits and a walk and scored on a second consecutive walk. Purcey's night was finished following his second bases loaded walk of the game. He completed the night giving up five runs on four hits, walked five and struck out five more.

Junior Casey Brown entered the came and quickly got the first out on a fielder's choice that wiped out the run at the plate. However, the following two batters were able to connect and plate two more runs for Oral Roberts on a sacrifice fly to center field and a RBI-single.

Brown finished off the sixth and seventh frames and allowed only two more base runners the remainder of his stint. Sophomore Jarod McAuliff worked the final two scoreless innings and surrendered only two hits and struck out one.

Oklahoma senior center fielder Reggie Willits (1-for-4) singled home freshman designated hitter LaFringe Hayes (2-for-4), who had doubled in the previous at bat to lead off the seventh inning, for the Sooners' only run of the game.

Junior third baseman Jay Yaconetti (2-for-3) was the only other Sooner to have a promising night at the plate. Yaconetti singled and added two stolen bases in the third inning and collected another base hit in his final at bat in the eighth frame.

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 ... 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 1.20 ERA over the last two weekend series and two mid-week games ... The relief staff has lowered its ERA from 3.29 heading into the recent stretch to its current mark of 2.61 ... They also have stranded nine of their 13 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 ... 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 No. 9 Texas

The defending national champion Texas Longhorns (26-11, 9-3 Big 12) have begun to heat it up down the stretch after winning seven of their last eight contests, including the last five straight. UT recently complete an impressive three-game sweep of the Baylor Bears, who were ranked 10th in the nation at the time, last weekend.

Pacing the Longhorns at the plate is outfielder Dustin Majewski who is batting a team high .374. The senior also leads the team in home runs with eight and RBI with 55. Majewski is also one of three Longhorns that have recorded double-digits in the stolen base department with 10 stolen bases.

UT's rotation for the weekend will feature righthander Danny Muegge on Friday, lefty J.P. Howell on Saturday and southpaw Justin Simmons in the series finale on Sunday. Howell sports the most wins (5) and lowest ERA (2.34) of the trio. Muegge and Simmons both carry ERA's above four at 4.01 and 4.79, respectively, and combined have accounted for seven of the team's wins this season.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Takes On Texas In Baseball's Red River Rivalry

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