Sooner Pitchers Wrap Up A Summer Of Championships

Several University of Oklahoma baseball players recently finished championship seasons while on their collegiate summer baseball teams. Senior righthanded pitchers Charlie House and Casey Brown combined to lead their Havasu Heat team to an Arizona-Nevada League regular season title and to within two games of a NBC World Series championship. Across the country, another Sooner pitching combination of junior lefty David Purcey and senior righty Mike Swindell were major components of the Orleans Cardinals' Cape Cod Baseball League championship team.

House and Brown were a part of one of the top pitching staffs in the NBC World Series Tournament which was held in early August. The Heat's staff entered the tournament with a 1.64 ERA and it was their outstanding pitching performances which helped carry them to a perfect 5-0 start in the tournament. In Havasu's final victory in the classic, House combined with a teammate to hold the Wichita Braves to one earned run, while striking out eight and not issuing a single walk. The Heat were ultimately eliminated by eventual series champion Chinese Taipei two games later.

House was the Sooners' biggest standout from the summer season. House successfully completed his regular season summer campaign without issuing an earned run which tied him with two other pitchers for the top spot in the National Baseball Congress national statistics. House came away with the win in each of his five starts (through updated stats as of July 15) and surrendered only 16 hits in 29.1 innings of work and struck out over a batter an inning during that span.

Brown, House's teammate last season at OU and over the summer, was also a main contributor as one of the Heat's top starters. In his five starts (through updated stats as of July 15), Brown compiled a 3-1 record with a 2.00 ERA. He allowed only 20 hits in 28 frames while striking out 31.

Following his Eastern Division All-Star appearance, Purcey and his Cardinals teammates battled the Brewster Whitecaps to a first place tie in the regular season divisional title race. However, the Cardinals would get the better of the Whitecaps in the divisional championship series as Orleans completed a two-game sweep of Brewster and moved on to face the Bourne Braves in the league championship series.

Purcey started the first game of the two-game set against the Braves and pitched eight strong innings and scattered five hits, walked three and struck out five as the Cardinals went on to win their third-straight in the playoffs with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings. Orleans clinched the league title with a 1-0 win in 14 innings and completed the first league playoff series sweep in six years.

During the regular season, Purcey recorded a 4-1 record with a 1.88 ERA, which was second best amongst the Cardinals' starters. The southpaw also struck out 60 batters in 52.2 innings of work.

Although he didn't receive any playing time during the playoffs, Swindell saw frequent action out of the Orleans bullpen during the regular season and posted a 2-1 mark in 11 outings. Swindell averaged over a strikeout an inning while only allowing 19 hits in 25.2 frames.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Pitchers Wrap Up A Summer Of Championships

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