No. 16 Oklahoma Faces Texas-Arlington In Mid-Week Action

Carrying its new top 25 billing with them, the 16th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners (8-1) baseball team heads to Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday to face the Texas-Arlington Mavericks (4-6). OU will be looking to snap a four-game skid against UTA when the two face each other at Clay Gould Ballpark at 3 p.m.

Winners of the last eight-straight games, the Sooners will be looking to extend the program's longest winning streak since the 2000 season when that club won nine in a row. OU will also be striving to improve upon its best start since the 1998 season when the Sooners opened the season with a 12-0 mark.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .280 on the season with 63 runs scored and 51 RBI ... OU is batting .293 during their current eight-game winning streak ... The Sooners led the competitive tournament field with a .275 batting average at the Kia Baseball Bash ... The team's top hitter during the tournament was sophomore second baseman Russell Raley ... Raley topped all Oklahoma batters with a .462 average, six hits and .615 slugging percentage ... One of the keys to the team's performance in the tournament was scoring first in each of the three games ... The top four batters in the OU lineup batted .327 (16-for-49) during the event and accounted for over half of the teams runs scored, hits and RBI production ... Junior third baseman Matt Bose continued to swing a hot bat during the tournament ... Bose extended his hitting streak to seven games by collecting at least one hit in every game while hitting at a .375 clip over the weekend ... He has raised his batting average 190 points by batting for a combined .500 average over the last two weekends ... Bose is currently tied with junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi for the team's longest individual hitting streak ... Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon's six-game stretch gives OU three players currently riding hitting streaks of six games or better ... Freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey had a seven-game streak of his own snapped with a hitless performance against No. 3 Georgia Tech on Sunday ... Ivey is proving to be the team's top clutch hitter in the early season ... He improved his team best totals in the game-winning hits and RBI categories to two and three, respectively, by driving in the winning run on Friday night against No. 13 Cal State Fullerton with a single ... Not far behind Ivey is junior shortstop Brenan Herrera who drove in the game-winning run on Sunday with a base hit to give him a pair of game-winning hits and RBI on the young season.

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 2.74 ERA and has struck out 68 batters while walking 30 ... The staff brought its ERA down by almost a full run for the second consecutive week by lowering it 93 points over the previous weekend ... They also have combined for a 1.60 ERA during the team's current eight-game winning streak ... The staff posted a tournament best 0.96 ERA during the Kia Baseball Bash, including a 0.86 ERA by the starters ... In seven innings of work over the weekend, the relief staff surrendered only one earned run and combined for a 1.29 ERA ... The productive weekend lowered the bullpen's ERA over a full run ... Junior lefty David Purcey continued to put up impressive numbers in the No. 1 starting spot ... Purcey held 13th-ranked Cal State Fullerton, who entered the game batting .326 as a team, to two hits and one run in 6.2 innings of work ... The hot-hitting Titans only managed to bat a combined .095 against him ... Junior reliever Jarod McAuliff extended his scoreless innings streak to begin the season to 10.0 frames with 4.1 innings of work over the weekend ... The stretch is a career best for the righthanded closer ... Senior starting pitcher Casey Brown rebounded well from a shaky second start to shine in his third outing against USC ... Brown allowed only seven hits and one earned run in 6.1 innings and picked up his second win of the season ... Fellow senior hurler Mark Roberts capped off the tournament with the staff's third-straight standout starting performance ... The Owasso, Okla., native posted season bests in innings pitched and strikeouts with eight each and held third-ranked Georgia Tech to only five hits ... Junior reliever Daniel McCutchen turned in his second solid relief stint of the season ... McCutchen was able to retire five of the last seven batters to close out the USC game after the Trojans had narrowed the Sooners' seven run lead to four.

How The West Was Won
Oklahoma took home the prestigious Kia Baseball Bash crown with a dominating weekend performance. The Sooners faced some of the competition in the country and left California with a tournament sweep.

On Friday night, junior pitchers David Purcey and Jarod McAuliff teamed up for the second time this season to shutdown a top 25 team. The duo held the 13th-ranked Titans to one run on three hits through 10 innings for the 5-1 victory. Freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey drove in the game-winning run with a single to right field to break the deadlock in extra frames.

Senior starting pitchers Casey Brown and Mark Roberts finished off the final two games of the tournament by following with equally impressive starts on the mound. Brown held USC in check for the first six innings on Saturday and finished the game allowing only one earned run on seven hits. Tournament Co-Most Outstanding Player Ole Sheldon was the team's leading offensive player in the game with three hits and a pair of runs scored and RBI.

Roberts helped OU complete the tournament sweep on Sunday by pitching a season high eight frames and fanning a season best eight batters against No. 3 Georgia Tech. He surrendered only five hits and no earned runs while walking only two. Junior shortstop Brenan Herrera contributed his second game-winning hit and RBI of the season to provide the difference as part of his two-hit effort.

The Sooners turned in the top team performances of the entire tournament in several categories. Over the three games, Oklahoma outscored its opponents 20-9, while the pitching staff's ERA was less than a run.

Most Outstanding Sooner
Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon took home Co-Most Outstanding Player honors from the Kia Baseball Bash last weekend after being a key sparkplug for the Oklahoma offense as they swept through the tournament field en route to the tournament title. Sheldon, who shared honors with USC centerfielder Daniel Perales, hit at a .385 clip during the tournament and drove in a team high four RBI. He extended his season best hitting streak to six games by collecting at least one hit in all three games and established a career high in hits and tied his career high in runs scored and RBI.

He paced the Sooners offensively in their 9-6 win over USC on Saturday with a career high three-hit effort. The Roseburg, Ore., native collected hits in his first three at bats against the Trojans and contributed to scoring efforts in each of the three plate appearances.

In the team's tournament finale against third-ranked Georgia Tech on Sunday, Sheldon drove in a pair of runs with a double in Oklahoma's 6-2 win.

Cracking The Polls
With a three-game sweep of some perenial national powerhouses at the Kia Baseball Bash over the weekend, the Oklahoma baseball team received some much deserved respect from the national media and coaching community on Monday as they broke into the top 25 of all four national polls. The Sooners, who were recently crowned tournament champs after wins over previously-ranked No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 13 Cal State Fullerton and USC, were ranked highest by Collegiate Baseball who listed Oklahoma at No. 16, a jump of 12 spots in their poll. The Sports Weekly/ESPN poll debuted OU at No. 17 followed by Baseball America and the NCBWA polls that had the Sooners at No. 19.

The ranking by Collegiate Baseball was the program's highest regular season ranking in any of the polls since the week of May 18, 1998, when the publication rated the Sooners the 14th-best team in the country. However, Oklahoma did debut at No. 15 in the magazine's 2001 preseason poll.

The last time the Sooners were ranked in the top 25 was during the 2002 season when they were ranked 24th by Collegiate Baseball. The last appearance in Baseball America and Sports Weekly's polls came the previous week when OU was ranked 25th and 23rd, respectively.

At 8-1, the Sooners have jumped out to their best start in five years since the 1998 squad opened the season 12-0. The two wins over the Yellow Jackets and the Titans improved the team's record against top 25 competition this year to 3-0 after they picked up a win two weeks ago against then-seventh ranked Arizona State.

UC-Riverside Game Time Change
The start time for Saturday's contest against UC-Riverside at L. Dale Mitchell Park has been changed to 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

Game times for the other two contests against the Highlanders are set for 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The Stealing Kind
The Sooners are off to a fast start in the stolen base department. Through the first nine games, the team has swiped 21 bases in 23 attempts and has recorded six multiple steal games. At the team's current rate of 2.33 per game, the Sooners are on pace to steal 132 bases this year, the most since the 1994 season when the national championship squad was successful at stealing 138 times.

Six of OU's regular starters in the field have already been successful at at least one attempt on the season. Leading all Sooners is junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi who is a perfect 7-for-7 in the category, followed by freshman leftfielder Aaron Ivey who is 5-for-5.

Purcey Named To Clemens Award Watch List
After making his mark on the national scene early this season with a fast start, junior lefthanded pitcher David Purcey was recognized as one of the top pitchers in the country after being named to the Roger Clemens Award Watch List last week. In its first year in existence, the award was created to honor the nation's top college pitcher each season.

The initial list is comprised of 40 pitchers who were named as preseason All-Americans by either Baseball America or Collegiate Baseball as well as those hurlers who have been honored this season as National Pitchers of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Weekly winners of the writer's award will be added to the list until the first round of voting occurs at the end of April. Additional nominees will be added to the list based on notable performances and NCAA statistical rankings.

The voting committee for the award includes all Division I head baseball coaches, a selected panel of national media and past winners for the Rotary Smith Award.

Opening At Home With A Bang
Oklahoma got off to a good start at home two weeks ago 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.

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. 7 spot with former Sooner Kevin King (1988-90) and current teammate Jarod McAuliff (2002-Present) with his 65th outing on Sunday. 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 broke into the school's top 10 in career strikeouts last weekend and debuted at No. 10 with 222 strikeouts for his career. His season high eight K's over the weekend against then-No. 3 Georgia Tech moved him up among the Sooner elite.

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 six outings to his credit this year to give him 65 for his career, McAuliff is tied for seventh place with former Sooner Kevin King (1988-90) and current teammate Mark Roberts (2001-Present). 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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 16 Oklahoma Faces Texas-Arlington In Mid-Week Action

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