Baseball Closes Out Season Home Slate Against Texas-Arlington

NORMAN, Okla. - Texas-Arlington (31-21) comes to Norman on Tuesday to face Oklahoma (21-26) in its final home game of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.

It will be "Two For One Tuesday" where the purchase of an adult general admission ticket will get you a second one for free. Other promotions during the game will be $.50 hot dogs and small Cokes, Baseball Bingo and OU Cheerstixs will be given away prior to the game.

DATE: May 13
FIRST PITCH: Tuesday at 7 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 series to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
TELEVISION: None.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma and Texas-Arlington are not ranked in any of the four major polls.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma owns a 13-5 all-time series edge over Texas-Arlington ... The two teams have competed in a regular home-and-home series in five of the last six years ... The one year they did not reciprocate home games, in 1999, OU competed in a tournament hosted by UTA ... During OU head coach Larry Cochell's 13 years at the helm, the Sooners are 6-3 against the Mavericks ... UTA has won the last three-straight in the series to pick up their wins against Cochell ... UTA secured 10-5 and 15-5 wins in the home-and-home series in 2002 ... Luke Alexander cranked out a home run in the first matchup last year ... Eddie Cornejo and Denver Kitch both contributed run-scoring hits in the game as well ... In the second contest last year, Reggie Willits hit his second home run of the season ... Cornejo and Matt Bose both turned in two hit performances to aid the cause.

Last Time Out

A day after putting up 10 runs on 16 hits against the Wildcats, Oklahoma bettered the game two effort in a 22-6 seven innning run-rule win over Kansas State Sunday afternoon at Frank Myers Field at Tointon Family Stadium to give the Sooners their third straight Big 12 Conference series victory. The Sooner offense exploded for its most runs in a game since the 1998 season when they put up 24 runs in a single contest which also came against the Wildcats. Nine different Sooners accounted for the 18 hits led by freshman left fielder LaFringe Hayes and senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo who each had three hits and three RBI a piece. OU starting pitcher Buddy Blair picked up the win to improve to 4-6 on the year.

Oklahoma leveled the first of its two big blows in the top of the fourth inning as it batted around the order and scored eight more runs to open up a 13-1 lead. OU capitalized with two bases loaded walks to bring home the first two runs of the frame. With the bases still full of Sooners, sophomore right fielder Greg Kish (2-for-2) was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and keep the bases loaded for junior shortstop Denver Kitch (2-for-5) who brought in another run with a RBI-single. Senior designated hitter Luke Alexander (0-for-3) and freshman third baseman Russell Raley (0-for-4) drove in consecutive runs on an error and a fielder's choice, respectively. Hayes then singled in his final two runs of the contest following a single by senior center fielder Reggie Willits (3-for-5).

The Sooners scored all nine runs before an out was recorded in the top of the seventh inning. Sophomore first baseman Matt Bose (1-for-4), junior catcher Spencer Wyman (2-for-4), freshman pinch hitter Scott Rooker (1-for-1), sophomore pinch hitter Tyler Johnson (1-for-1), Kitch and Cornejo all factored in to the scoring with RBI-base hits.

In the first inning, Hayes singled home Willits, who had doubled in the previous at bat, for the first of three first inning runs. The second run came when Cornejo continued the string of hits and drove in Hayes with a RBI-single. Kish then capped off the scoring with a two-out RBI-single which plated Cornejo.

The Sooners then scored single runs in the second and third frames to extend their lead to 5-1. Hayes again drove in Willits to account for the run in the second and then a double play ball with no outs and the bases loaded brought home a run in the third inning.

Sooners At The Plate

As a team, Oklahoma is batting .276 with 34 home runs and 246 RBI ... The team's batting average raised six points during the Kansas State series ... Oklahoma's offense has recorded double-digit hit totals in nine of its last 14 games ... OU's team batting average ranks 10th in the Big 12 Conference overall and eighth in league only standings ... Sooners in the Big 12 overall standings: Reggie Willits - first in stolen bases, fifth in on base percentage, eighth in batting average and tied-8th in walks; and Eddie Cornejo - tied-4th in batting average, ninth in on base percentage and tied-9th in hits ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: Willits - first in stolen bases, tied-6th in runs scored and 13th in batting average; Cornejo - first in on base percentage, second in batting average and fourth in walks and hits; Kitch - third in stolen bases; Brandon Jones - tied-6th in triples ... In last week's NCAA statistics, Willits ranked tied for 18th in the nation in stolen bases per game ... Willits led the team in hitting during the Kansas State series ... He hit at a .538 clip (7-for-13) with six runs scored and a RBI ... He was also a perfect 7-for-7 in the stolen base deparment during the set ... It marked his highest conference series stolen base total for the year ... Cornejo is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak in which he is batting .475 (19-for-40) with 11 runs scored and 10 RBI ... The team's individual best hitting streak this season is 11 games which is held by Willits ...Sophomore right fielder Greg Kish smacked his first career home run in OU's 10-8 win over Kansas State on Saturday ... His two-run shot proved to be one of the differences in the contest as the Wildcats rallied for six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning ... Freshman left fielder LaFringe Hayes established a career high in hits and RBI with three a piece in Sunday's win ... Three other Sooners also tied career highs in that contest including Willits and Cornejo with three runs scored and Kish with two runs scored and two RBI.

Sooners On The Mound

The Sooner pitching staff is currently sporting a 5.16 ERA and has struck out 308 batters while walking 154 ... The staff's ERA ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference overall and sixth in league games only ... Sooners in the Big 12 Conference standings: Jarod McAuliff - 1st in appearances and ERA and tied-2nd in saves; Mark Roberts - 16th in ERA, fourth in strikeouts, seventh in innings pitched, tied-6th in games started and tied-8th in complete games; David Purcey - tied-4th in appearances and ninth in opponent batting average; Buddy Blair - tied-6th in games started and tied-8th in complete games ... Sooners in the Big 12 only standings: McAuliff - first in appearances, tied-1st in saves and second in ERA; Roberts - third in strikeouts and innings pitched, tied-6th in complete games and games started and tied-18th in ERA; Purcey - third in appearances; and Blair - tied-1st in games started ... In last week's set of NCAA stats, McAuliff ranked 24th in the nation in ERA ... McAuliff moved into a tie for third place on the school's single-season appearances record with his 32nd outing of the season on Saturday ... His 32 appearances ties former Sooner Geoff Geary who accomplished the feat in the 1997 season ... McAuliff's eighth save of the season in that game tied him with Geary and Jeff Bajenaru (1999) for third place on the single season saves chart ... Purcey lasted a season high seven frames and issued only two walks in his start against KSU on Saturday ... After giving up two runs in the second inning (only one of them earned), Purcey retired 13 of the next 16 Wildcats he faced ... It marked Purcey's first start in his last eight appearances since returning to the bullpen.

About Texas-Arlington

Texas-Arlington (31-21) has heated up as the season has gone along and is in the midst of winning 21 of its last 31 games. In UTA's most recent Southland Conference series, the Mavericks dropped two of three to Sam Houston State last weekend.

The Mavericks' offense is its most potent threat. In over half of its 31 wins this season, UTA has put up double-digit run totals including its most recent four-game winning streak in which it outscored its opponents 47-10. Eight of their starting nine bat above the .300 mark led by third baseman Ryan Roberts who is hitting at a .417 clip with a team high 57 runs scored, 14 home runs and 62 RBI.

Lefthander B.J. Brandenberger will be given the starting nod against the Sooners. It will mark only his fourth start of the season as the sophomore brings an 0-2 record and a 5.76 ERA into the contest.

Last Time Out Against The Mavericks

Trailing by six runs entering the top of the ninth, the Oklahoma baseball team attempted a late surge and scored three runs in the final frame but fell just short in a 10-7 loss to Texas-Arlington at Clay Gould Ballpark. Despite an unproductive evening at the plate for the Sooners that saw six different UTA hurlers hold OU to four hits through eight frames, Oklahoma junior third baseman Jay Yaconetti provided a bright spot as his patience at the plate and clutch hitting drove in three of Oklahoma's seven runs.

OU's ninth inning rally began with three consecutive walks to leadoff the ninth inning to load the bases for senior right fielder Matt Arkison (2-for-5). Arkison stroked a single up the middle to plate a run and senior center fielder Reggie Willits (2-for-2) followed with a RBI-single of his own. Still with no outs and the bases loaded, senior second baseman Eddie Cornejo (0-for-4) hit into a double play which allowed freshman pinch hitter Scott Rooker (0-for-0) to score from third base. However, another ground out to shortstop by Yaconetti (1-for-3) for the third out ended the game.

Yaconetti drove in his runs in three of his first four at bats. Following his bases loaded RBI walk in the first frame, Yaconetti again drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth to drive in another run to make the score 6-3 in favor of Texas-Arlington. Yaconetti's third RBI came in the sixth frame when he delivered a two out single to center field to drive home Arkison from second base.

What A Weekend

Faced with the pressures of needing to win most of its remaining Big 12 Conference games, the Oklahoma baseball team lived up to the challenge last weekend and took two out of three on the road at Kansas State. The pair of victories allowed the team to secure a win in its third-straight league series which has not been done by a Sooner team since the 2000 season. Entering the weekend in eighth place in the conference standings, the wins also propelled Oklahoma past Kansas into the seventh spot in the Big 12.

Oklahoma's offense enjoyed its best conference series of the season. The Sooners recorded a .364 team batting average during the KSU series marking their top offensive performance for a conference series this year. Their previous Big 12 series best came against Kansas when they hit at a .363 clip. Oklahoma also put up season highs in runs and hits in a Big 12 game with 22 and 18, respectively, on Sunday. Sunday's 22 runs were the most runs put up by the Sooners in a game since the 1998 season in which they defeated the Wildcats 24-9. Also, Oklahoma's nine-spot in the top of the seventh inning in the series finale tied the team's season best for runs in an inning which was also accomplished the feat against Southern Illinois in early March.

Dynamic Duo

Seniors Eddie Cornejo and Reggie Willits have been single-handedly carrying the team's offensive load this season. Both players are currently batting near the .400 mark (Cornejo - .394 and Willits - .390) while neither player has allowed his batting average to slip below the .345 mark all season. The pair have been battling for the team lead in several offensive categories all season as either Cornejo or Willits owns the team lead in all the major offensive categories except for home runs. Both players also appear in the top 10 of the Big 12 Conference batting average and on base percentage standings.

Willits Named To Verizon Academic All-District Second Team

Oklahoma center fielder Reggie Willits proved he can not only perform on the field, but in the classroom as well as he was voted on to the Verizon Academic All-District second team as released by officials last Thursday. Willits, who is a stand out performer for the Sooner baseball team, is also able to carry his weight academically where he is a two-time member of the Big 12 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and a two-time Sooner Scholar selection. It marks the senior management information systems major's first academic all-district selection of his career.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Baseball Closes Out Season Home Slate Against Texas-Arlington

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