Sooner Schooner Heads West For Kia Baseball Bash

The Oklahoma (5-1) baseball team hits the road for the second time this season and heads West again to Fullerton, Calif., to compete in the prestigious Kia Baseball Bash this weekend. Annually known for inviting some of the top programs in the nation to be a part of its tournament field, two of OU's three opponents enter the weekend nationally ranked.

Oklahoma draws the host school, 13th-ranked Cal State Fullerton (6-6), in its first game on Friday. The game is slated to begin at 9:30 p.m. at Goodwin Field, Fullerton's home field.

On Saturday, OU faces USC (2-5), who dropped out of the national polls just this week, at 4:30 p.m. Then third-ranked Georgia Tech (6-0) is Oklahoma's final hurdle of the weekend as the two teams square off at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

All times listed are Central Standard Time.

Last Time Out

The Sooner baseball team won their fifth-straight contest as Oklahoma defeated Southeast Missouri State, 10-2, Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park to complete a three-game series sweep of the Indians. The Sooners took advantage of a big six-run third inning to take a large lead and never look back. Senior Mark Roberts (1-1) turned in a solid pitching performance to pick up his first win of the season, while juniors Matt Bose and Ole Sheldon both hit their first home runs of the year.

The Sooners opened up a large 8-0 lead with a six-run, third frame. The Sooners' effort was aided by three Indian errors that prolonged the inning and allowed Oklahoma to bat around the order, including getting the first nine batters on base. The biggest hit of the inning was a triple by Bose (2-for-3) which plated the first three runs of the frame. After another run scored on a sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Brenan Herrera (1-for-1), sophomore catcher Brandon Lance (1-for-2) brought two more runs in with a double.

Roberts, who lasted seven innings, was tested early in the first inning. After loading the bases on two hits and a walk with only one out, he got consecutive batters to fly out and strike out to get out of the jam unscathed.

He went on to give up only one more hit over the next four innings before surrendering a two-run home run to designated hitter Eric Hoffman in the sixth inning to end the shutout. The Owasso, Okla., native ended the day with five strikeouts.

Sooners At The Plate

Oklahoma is batting .284 on the season with 43 runs scored and 33 RBI ... OU is batting .304 during their current five-game winning streak ... The Sooners raised their cumulative batting average 68 points with a productive series against the Southeast Missouri State Indians last weekend ... OU batted .359 during the three-game set ... The team's top hitter over the weekend was junior third baseman Matt Bose ... Bose led the team with a .625 average, scored four runs and drove in six more ... He also clubbed his first extra-base hits of the season with a double, triple and home run each ... The team did a good job of striving to accomplish its season goal of scoring at least one run an inning during the series ... The Sooners were only kept off the scoreboard in eight of the team's 24 turns at bat ... All but one of the Sooner starting nine had at least one hit in each game of the Saturday doubleheader ... All but two starters collected a hit on Sunday ... OU was also successful at executing the bunt during the series ... They bunted seven times, including legging out three for base hits ... Junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi continued to prove his worth as a valuable leadoff hitter ... Scuderi successfully reached base in 50 percent of the times he led off an inning over the weekend ... He also scored two of those times ... His success rate of reaching base to leadoff an inning now stands at 67 percent for the season ... OU has six players currently riding hitting streaks of three games or better ... Leading the way is junior rightfielder Andrew McGuire at six games, followed by freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey at five, Bose and Scuderi at four and junior shortstop Brenan Herrera and junior first baseman Ole Sheldon at three ... Bose, Herrera and Sheldon each hit their first home runs of the season over the weekend ... Catchers Brandon Lance and Josh Stinson each recorded their first career hits during the SEMO series ... Lance totaled three hits on the weekend and also added four RBI, including a career high three on Sunday ... Stinson also collected his first career RBI on his first hit in the second game of the twinbill.

Sooners On The Mound

The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 3.67 ERA and has struck out 44 batters while walking 17 ... The staff lowered its ERA by a full run over the previous weekend ... They also have combined for a 2.00 ERA during the team's five-game winning streak ... The Sooners only walked four batters during the three-game set against Southeast Missouri State ... The bullpen rebounded well to stifle opposing batters during the SEMO series and recorded a 0.79 ERA, after posting a 12.38 ERA during the first weekend of competition ... Five OU relievers combined to allow just one earned run in 11.1 innings of work ... They also struck out over a batter an inning with 15 K's, while walking only two ... Junior reliever Daniel McCutchen made an impressive debut in the second game of the SEMO doubleheader on Saturday ... The Norman, Okla., native fanned seven batters in four scoreless innings of work ... The figure is the top strikeout total by an Oklahoma pitcher in a single game this season ... David Purcey moved into the Friday night role last weekend following his standout performance against No. 7 Arizona State two weekends ago ... The junior tied his career high of seven innings pitched for the fourth-straight start (dating back to his last two starts of 2003) ... He also recorded six strikeouts for the second consecutive start this year ... Purcey also extended his scoreless innings streak to begin the season to nine frames before giving up his only run of the game at the beginning of the third inning against the Indians ... Senior reliever Mike Swindell turned in a strong performance in the second game on Saturday ... Swindell came in during the second inning, after the Indians scored three runs in the frame off starter Casey Brown, and held SEMO to one run and three hits over the next 3.1 frames.

Opening At Home With A Bang

Oklahoma got off to a good start at home last weekend with a three-game sweep of Southeast Missouri State. The series win marked Oklahoma's second sweep of the Indians in the last three years. They also accomplished the feat back in 2002.

The wins also helped OU jump out to its best start at home in four years. The Sooners' 3-0 record is its best mark since the 2000 season when OU won its first three games at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Oddly enough, the series against SEMO was only the third time in the last 30 years that Oklahoma had opened its home season with three consecutive games against the same opponent. The other two times it happened were against Arkansas-Little Rock in 2002 and Missouri-Rolla in 1973.

Cracking The Polls

With a 5-1 record and some impressive victories, including a win over a nationally-ranked opponent, the Sooners are beginning to receive a little respect in the weekly national polls. Oklahoma cracked Collegiate Baseball's top 30 poll this week as it debuted at No. 28, while the NCBWA top 35 poll ranked the Sooners at No. 31 for the first time this season.

Although not listed on their top 25 chart, OU was noted as receiving votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll to rank just outside the poll at No. 37.

Don't Forget About The Defense

Strong pitching and offensive execution haven't been the only ingredients to the Sooners' early success this year. Strong defense can also be added to the mix.

The Sooners are tied for the Big 12 Conference lead in team fielding percentage at .970. After committing four errors in the season-opener, OU has only been charged with three over the last five games. Oklahoma has greatly outplayed its opponents in the process as the Sooners' seven errors significantly dwarfs the 17 committed by their opponents.

Streaking Sooner

Senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire has jumped out to a fast start offensively and is currently riding a career and team best six-game hitting streak. A regular starter in the outfield, McGuire has collected at least one hit in every game this season, including a 2-for-2 effort against Cal State Northridge.

The consistent offensive effort has helped the Sherman, Texas, native to record some of the top averages on the team. He is currently hitting .538 (7-for-13) with five runs scored. At .615 and .714, his slugging and on-base percentages, respectively, are two of the best on the squad as well.

Chart Climbers

A pair of Oklahoma hurlers, senior Mark Roberts and junior Jarod McAuliff, have a chance to continue to leave lasting marks on the Oklahoma program. Both pitchers will have the opportunity this season to improve their standings on several of the school's career pitching charts.

Roberts, a four-year veteran on the squad, entered the season in 10th place on the all-time appearances list and moved into a tie for the No. 8 spot with former Sooner Derek Glascoe (1993-96) with his 64th outing on Sunday. He needs only four more appearances to crack the top five. Serving in both starting and relief roles during his first three seasons, the Owasso, Okla., native is averaging 20.7 appearances a season which puts him on pace to break the career mark of 83 established by Evan Greusel from 1999-2002.

Roberts also inched closer to breaking into the school's top 10 in career strikeouts in his first two starts to give him 214 for his career. He needs only three more to crack the top 10.

McAuliff made his mark on the school record books last year and sits primed to continue his assault on the career charts with another standout season. With four outings to his credit this year to give him 63 for his career, McAuliff is tied for ninth place with former Sooner Darrell "Doc" Rodgers (1982-85) in all-time appearances. McAuliff's nine saves in 2003 placed him in third on OU's career saves chart and his 35 outings last year, which ranks third on the single-season list, allowed him to crack the top 10 in appearances this season.

Settling In At Second

After spending the end of last season at third base, sophomore Russell Raley will begin his sophomore campaign starting at second base. Raley, who started 19 of the final 20 games last year at the hot corner, nailed down the starting second base job heading into the season. Not a novice at second by any means, Raley made 11 starts at the position in 2003 while regular second baseman Eddie Cornejo filled in at shortstop.

The Uvalde, Texas, native has jumped out to a hot start this season as he is one of the team's leading hitters. Although only able to start four games this season due to illness, Raley is batting .500 (6-for-12) and has scored five runs. He has already tied his career high in hits and runs scored this season.

Along with the responsibility of anchoring the Sooners' middle infield, Raley will also have the added pressure of replacing Cornejo, the Big 12 Conference's top performer at the position from a year ago. Cornejo earned first team all-conference honors last year after finishing third in the league with a .393 batting average, which led all Big 12 second basemen. Cornejo's batting average also led the team as he also put up team bests in hits, RBI and total bases.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Schooner Heads West For Kia Baseball Bash

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