Sooners Host Bluejays In Final Non-Conference Series Before Big 12 Play

Beginning Friday, No. 20 Oklahoma (10-4) will host Creighton (4-7) in its final non-conference weekend series before starting Big 12 play the following week. The three-game set begins on Friday at 3 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park, followed by games on Saturday at noon and Sunday at 1 p.m.

“Can Creighton” is the featured weekend-long promotion at the ballpark. Anyone who donates a canned food item will get a $2 adult general admission ticket ($3 off the regular price). The canned food items will be donated to local food pantries.

Baseball Bingo presented by Gordmans will be played during the weekend where participants will have a chance to win a $10 gift card from Gordmans and OU gift packs.

Every game a fan will have the chance to win a Russ Ortiz or Mark Redman autograph baseball. On Sunday, a fan will have the opportunity to win an Ortiz or Redman autograph picture.

Sunday's game is designated as Church Bulletin Day. Fans that present a church bulletin at the gate will receive a regular adult general admission ticket for $2 ($3 off the regular price). The promotion is based on ticket availability and limited to a maximum of four people per bulletin.

Setting The Scene
DATES: March 12-14
FIRST PITCHES: Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 12 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
BALLPARK: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)
LOCATION: Norman, Okla.
RADIO: Saturday and Sunday's games will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Jim Byers calling the action. The broadcasts can also be heard on Oklahoma's official web site www.soonersports.com.
TELEVISION: None.
LIVE STATS: Live Stats, which can be accessed through soonersports.com, will be run during the game to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma is ranked 17th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll, 19th by the NCBWA, 20th by Baseball America and 21st by Collegiate Baseball. Creighton is not ranked in any of the polls.
CREIGHTON SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma owns a 5-3 record against Creighton over the last 40 years ... OU's record under current head coach Larry Cochell is 2-3 ... The Bluejays left Norman with two wins the last two times the teams met during the 2001 season ... CU took the two game mid-week series by scores of 14-12 and 9-3 ... Senior pitcher Mark Roberts is the only member of the 2004 squad to see action against the Bluejays during that series ... He pitched the final three innings of the Sooners' 14-12 game one loss as a freshman ... He gave up one run on four hits while striking out two ... Cochell coached for two seasons at Creighton from 1970-71 ... He posted a 49-28 record in his two years at the helm.

Last Time Out
Texas-Arlington used a 12-run sixth inning to take a lead it would not relinquish as the Mavericks left L. Dale Mitchell Park with an 18-12 victory over No. 20 Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon. The Sooners put together a solid offensive showing of their own by scoring their runs on 13 hits, including a couple of two-run homers by junior third baseman Kyle Bradburry and senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire, but the effort was not enough to overcome OU's pitching breakdown.

The beginning of the game looked promising for Oklahoma. The Sooners jumped on UTA starter Derek Brehm early and tagged him for five runs on two hits in the first inning. Oklahoma's effort at the plate was aided by two Texas-Arlington errors in the field. Junior shortstop Brenan Herrera (2-for-4) and redshirt-freshman leftfielder Blake Hurlbutt (1-for-2) hit back-to-back two-RBI singles to account for four of the runs. Hurlbutt, who moved over to third base following consecutive stolen bases, eventually scored the fifth run of the inning on a throwing error by the Mavericks' catcher.

Texas-Arlington got all five runs back in the top of the second frame. The Mavericks capitalized on a bases loaded situation as a walk forced in the first run before UTA catcher Brett Lewis drove in two more runs with a single. The final two runs scored on a groundout and a single by leftfielder Hunter Pence.

Oklahoma then doubled their first inning effort with five more runs through the next four innings. In the second inning, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (1-for-4) doubled in sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (2-for-4) for the first run of the frame. McGuire (2-for-4) then followed with a RBI-single to plate Sheldon for the second run and a 7-5 lead.

Bradburry (2-for-4) was responsible for two more runs in the third frame with his first career homer, a two-run shot to left field.

After UTA scored a single run in the fourth inning, junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (2-for-4) put OU ahead 10-6 in the bottom of the fifth frame by singling home Herrera who led off the inning with a double.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .272 on the season with 91 runs scored and 77 RBI ... Oklahoma posted several team season highs against Texas-Arlington on Wednesday ... The Sooners pounded out a season best 12 runs on a season high 13 hits, including another season best 11 RBI ... Four Sooners turned in multiple-hit and multiple-RBI performances during the contest ... Senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire, who hit his first home run of the season in the game, recorded a career high three RBI ... Likewise, sophomore second baseman Russell Raley also registered a career best on Wednesday in the runs scored department with three ... The team's top hitter last week was junior shortstop Brenan Herrera ... Herrera batted .308 (4-for-13) for the week with a pair of runs scored and RBI ... His week included a standout performance at UTA where he collected a career high three hits ... He also scored a run and added a RBI ... His other RBI during the week came in the Sooners' key three-run first inning on Sunday in the series clinching win over UCR ... Herrera scored a career high two runs on Wednesday versus UTA ... A pair of Sooners enjoyed a good hitting series against the Highlanders over the weekend ... Juniors Eric Thornton and Ole Sheldon both batted .400 or better over the three games ... Thornton collected at least one hit in every game, including a key two-hit performance on Friday night ... His two hits in the contest drove in three runs, including the game-winner ... Sheldon accounted for the other RBI in the series opener ... His three-hit effort in the game was his second in a week ... He also scored at least one run in each game ... Sophomore Jon Shackelford hit his first career home run in Saturday's game against UCR in only his second plate appearance ... Junior infielder Kyle Bradburry also went deep for the first time in his career against UTA on Wednesday.

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 3.93 ERA and has struck out 103 batters while walking 47 ... Senior Mark Roberts and junior David Purcey proved what a difference good starting pitching can make ... The duo combined for a 1.54 ERA and recorded a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4:1 in the Sooners' two wins last weekend ... Roberts' eight strikeouts against UC-Riverside moved him up a spot on the OU career strikeout list into a tie for ninth place ... He tied former Sooner Marty Kunkler (1974-76) with 230 for his career ... Junior pitcher Jarod McAuliff moved up two more spots on the school's all-time appearances list into sole possession of fifth place with two more appearances last weekend and one more on Wednesday against UTA ... McAuliff's scoreless innings streak ended at 12.1 frames when he was charged with his first run of the season last Friday night ... The stretch is a career best for the righthanded closer ... Senior Charlie House and freshman Charles Benoit both turned in impressive relief outings last Saturday ... Both pitchers tossed two innings of scoreless relief after UC-Riverside exploded for seven runs in one inning earlier in the game ... House put in another solid effort against UTA on Wednesday ... The righthander allowed only three runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of work against the Mavericks.

Don't Forget About The Defense
The Sooner defense was key in the team's 5-1 win over the UC-Riverside Highlanders on Sunday. They turned four double plays in the game, falling one double play shy of tying the school's single-game record.

Texas Series Start Times Set
Game times for next weekend's Big 12 Conference series opener between Oklahoma and Texas at L. Dale Mitchell Park were released on Monday. Friday's game has been changed from a previously set 3 p.m. start time to 6:30 p.m. The final two games of the series have been set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be played at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Tough On The Competition
With a 2-1 series victory over UC-Riverside this weekend, Oklahoma improved its season mark to 5-1 against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last year. The record also includes victories over nationally-ranked foes Cal State Fullerton, Arizona State and Georgia Tech.

OU is slated to face seven more teams this season that advanced to regionals last year including Texas, Oral Roberts, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M, Wichita State and Nebraska.

RBI Guys
Oklahoma's top two leaders in RBI, juniors Matt Bose and Brenan Herrera, both subscribe to the same success story when it comes to driving in runs. Both players own solid averages in key RBI situations.

Bose, who is second on the team in RBI with 12, is batting .500 (6-for-12) with runners in scoring position and .833 (5-for-6) with a runner on third base and less than two outs.

Similarly, Herrera, who took the lead in RBI with a pair versus UTA on Wednesday, is hitting at a .350 (7-for-20) clip with runners in scoring position. With a runner at third base and less than two outs, the Sooners' starting shortstop's average rises to .462 (6-for-13). Herrera has 13 runs driven in on the season.

Both Sooners each have two game-winning RBI to their credit on the season.

Roberts On A Roll
Senior starting pitcher Mark Roberts has jumped out to an impressive start in his final campaign. Roberts leads the Sooner staff in victories with a 3-1 record after winning his third-straight decision on Sunday. During the three game stretch, the righthander has recorded a 1.29 ERA while allowing only 20 hits and striking out 21 batters in 21 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .241 against him.

In his latest outing against UC-Riverside, the Owasso, Okla., native lowered his season ERA seven points by allowing only one run in six innings pitched. The run was just the first earned run he had allowed in the last 16 innings pitched. Roberts also tied his season high of eight strikeouts for the second consecutive start and lasted at least six innings for the third straight outing.

His season numbers rank him as one of the top pitchers in the Big 12 Conference. Roberts currently ranks tied for third in the league in wins, fifth in ERA, tied for sixth in strikeouts and 10th in innings pitched.

Tough Luck Sooner
Although starting pitcher David Purcey suffered his second-straight no-decision on Friday, the junior lefty again put the Sooners in position to come out with the victory. Purcey pitched 5.2 strong innings and allowed only six hits, one earned run, walked two and tied his season high in strikeouts for the second consecutive week with eight. His outing was additionally highlighted by a string of six straight strikeouts from the first to the third inning. The Dallas, Texas, native left the contest with Oklahoma trailing UC-Riverside, 2-1, as the Sooners would eventually come out on top, 4-3.

Two weeks ago at then-13th ranked Cal State Fullerton, Purcey left the game in the seventh inning with the game tied at 1-1 after holding the Titans to only two hits through the first six frames and tossing a perfect game through the first 3.2 innings. OU also won this game 5-1 in 10 innings.

The Sooners are 4-0 this season when Purcey starts.

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 sole possession of the No. 8 spot with his 66th 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 two weeks ago and moved into a tie for ninth place on the list with eight more strikeouts on Sunday. He is now tied with former Sooner Marty Kunkler (1974-76) with 230 for his career.

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 10 outings to his credit this year to give him 69 for his career, McAuliff continued to move up the chart over the last week and climbed two more spots into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. 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

Sooners Host Bluejays In Final Non-Conference Series Before Big 12 Play

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