Over the next week heading into Oklahoma's first game against Gonzaga, we will be providing a preview of the upcoming season. Today we take an overall look at the year ahead with a special focus on the Sooner pitching staff.

The 2004 version of the Oklahoma baseball team will introduce a new look to Sooner baseball followers. A host of new talent brings with them a fresh new attitude with the hopes of returning the program to the top tier of the Big 12 Conference as well as the NCAA Tournament. Joining the Sooners this season are two new assistant coaches as well as 18 other new prospects who have winning as their primary objective.

“I really like the makeup of this year's club,” said Sooner head coach Larry Cochell as he began to reflect upon his team's prospects. “We have a lot of new blood that are willing to fight the long, hard battle that a full season of Division I competition presents to you. The quality of the new players we have brought in has created a lot of good healthy competition that I think we will see the results of early on this season.”

The challenge facing both the new and returning Sooners this season will be replacing its two top players from a year ago as well as five other vacancies in the field. The Sooners will turn to several players from their incoming class, which was recently ranked ninth nationally by Collegiate Baseball, to help fill those voids.

Although numerous new faces line the Sooners' roster, this collection of talent can hardly be described as a group of rookies. The highly-touted group of newcomers includes three Junior College All-Americans and four former high school All-State selections. Juniors Jeff Scuderi and Ole Sheldon and sophomore Ryan Rohlinger are just a few of the accomplished talents out of the junior college ranks that have come to Oklahoma and immediately stepped in and to capture starting roles. Emerging as impact players among the freshmen are a pair of decorated pitchers from Texas in Charles Benoit and Ryan Mottern as well as a swift local outfielder in Aaron Ivey who are expected to earn valuable playing time in their first season.

For the veteran leadership on the team, head coach Larry Cochell will be forced to rely on the experience of his pitching staff to carry the load this season. The staff returns three of its four reliable starters from a year ago as well as three of its top relievers. Each of the six returning hurlers have logged innings in both starting and relief roles which gives the coaching staff numerous options with its rotations.

Most of the veteran leadership on the staff will be incurred by three members who have at least two full seasons of experience under their belts. Senior Mark Roberts and juniors Jarod McAuliff and David Purcey have been frequently called upon since the beginning of their freshman seasons to play key roles on the Sooners' staff and will once again be looked to serve in similar capacities.

With such a positive outlook surrounding the team's pitching, Cochell places a strong emphasis on the impact of the team's pitching to the team's overall success.

“We will go as far as our pitching will take us,” Cochell proclaimed when turning his thoughts to his team's pitching.

Continuing his thought about his pitchers, Cochell prophesized that the staff they have assembled has the capabilities to take this team a long way.

“We think this group has the makings of an outstanding pitching staff with the combination of the returners and the newcomers that we've brought in.”

Pitching

Amidst the uncertainty of a few of the Sooners' starting roles in the field, OU's pitching staff boasts a different dilemna. With over 70 percent of the team's wins and strikeouts returning from a year ago, the only problem will be, who to throw out on the mound first?

“We feel like we have a lot of choices,” voiced Cochell while pondering the makeup of his staff during fall practice. “Basically we feel like we have outstanding depth in our program which allows us to have some specialists in the starting roles, middle and long relief and closing.”

Beginning with the projected starting weekend rotation, four equally talented candidates will battle for the three coveted spots. The quartet of contenders consists of seniors Mark Roberts and Casey Brown and juniors David Purcey and Jarod McAuliff. Each of the pitchers has logged time in both starting and relief roles during their careers allowing them to be well-prepared for either role.

The least experienced of the group, Brown, emerged as a quality starter mid-way through 2003. After several successful relief stints, he quickly earned a reputation for keeping runners from scoring and a knack for getting the team out of tight situations which quickly moved him into the weekend trio of starters. He experienced much success in the role helping the team to key wins over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech down the stretch.

Familiar to the starting role in his first two seasons, Purcey is certain to hold down one of the spots in the rotation. According to Cochell, the junior lefty has made the most strides in his collegiate career from the conclusion of the 2003 season to this past fall. The difference in his pitching during the fall lied in his ability to better locate his key pitches (fastball and changeup).

The final two prime candidates for a weekend starting job are Roberts and McAuliff. Roberts has spent his last two seasons as a starter, while McAuliff was worked exclusively as OU's closer last year where he garnered second team All-Big 12 honors. McAuliff impressed the coaching staff by proving to be an unhittable during fall practice and compelled them to reconsider him as a starter. McAuliff held hitters this fall to a .160 batting average and allowed only one earned run in 22.1 innings for a 0.40 ERA while successfully converting 12 of his 13 save opportunities.

Roberts' pluses lie in his three years of invaluable pitching experience in the Big 12 Conference and his reputation as a great big-game performer. However, he also has experience as a closer during his career which was a role he excelled in as a freshman.

In the middle relief role, seniors Charlie House and Mike Swindell pitched effectively in similar situations in 2003 and will be looked to be the first hurlers called upon out of the bullpen this season. In addition to being asked to log an inning or two of relief on a consistent basis, the pair is also considered likely candidates to see starts during the week. Each of the two California natives saw action in both roles last year, while Swindell actually put up his best numbers in the relief role with a 2-2 record and a 3.33 ERA in 10 appearances.

Two freshmen, Charles Benoit and Ryan Mottern, will be pushing the seasoned group for playing time and are expected to receive a majority of their action in relief roles. However, both members of the Texas tandem displayed enough maturity in the fall to be called upon for an occasional mid-week start.

“We have a couple of outstanding freshmen in Benoit and Mottern who are pretty accomplished pitchers at this point in their careers and we won't hesitate to use them,” said Cochell of his highly-touted freshman hurlers.

Several other newcomers to the staff figure to make their mark on the mound this season. Two Grayson Community College products, juniors Daniel McCutchen and Garrett Patterson, contribute to the Sooners' depth as they provide quality arms out of the pen. Junior Tyler Gooch, who spent the past two years as the starting quarterback at the University of Tulsa, returns to the game and looks to regain his All-State form from his prep days. Gooch will see time as a reliever in his first year back to the sport.

True freshmen Brent Lysander and Cole Stephenson are expected to spend their first seasons learning the ropes of pitching at the Division I level from the veteran group.

2004 Baseball Preview: General Outlook & Pitchers

Pitching

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2004 Baseball Preview: General Outlook & Pitchers

Pitching

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