Oklahoma and Oral Roberts End Season Series On Wednesday

In a rematch of a game played last Tuesday in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Sooners (15-10) will host the 25th-ranked Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (19-5) Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. OU will be looking to avenge a 6-4 loss in the earlier contest as the two teams close out the season series with Wednesday's contest.

Wednesday's game is Website Wednesday where fans can present a SoonerSports.com pop-up coupon for a regular adult general admission ticket of $2 ($3 off the regular price). The promotion is based on ticket availability and limited to a maximum of four people per bulletin.

Fans will also have the chance to win a Russ Ortiz or Mark Redman autograph baseball.

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

Setting The Scene
DATE: March 31
FIRST PITCH: 6:30 p.m.
BALLPARK: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)
LOCATION: Norman, Okla.
RADIO: The game will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Mike Treps calling the action. The broadcast can also be heard on Oklahoma's official web site www.soonersports.com.
TELEVISION: None, however, The O-Zone, Oklahoma's subscription-based premium content area within SoonerSports.com, will air the game.
LIVE STATS: Live Stats, which can be accessed through SoonerSports.com, will be run during the series to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma is not ranked in any of the major polls, but is receiving votes in the NCBWA and Sports Weekly/ESPN polls. Oral Roberts is ranked 25th in the NCBWA poll, 26th by Collegiate Baseball and is receiving votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll.
ORAL ROBERTS SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma is 31-28 against Oral Roberts over the last 39 years ... Larry Cochell is 11-9 against the Golden Eagles as the head coach of the Sooners ... ORU won a string of seven-straight games in the series from 1981-84 ... Cochell is a former head coach of the Golden Eagles ... He led ORU from 1977-86 and compiled a 428-171-2 record at the helm, including a College World Series appearance in 1978 ... Cochell also served as the athletic director at ORU the last three years of his coaching tenure ... He is also only one of two individuals to have his jersey (No. 1) retired in Oral Roberts history ... Current Oklahoma assistant coach Sunny Golloway was head coach at Oral Roberts from 1996-2003 ... Golloway posted a record of 335-156 with the Golden Eagles ... He also coached 16 All-Americans and three Freshman All-Americans during his tenure ... Fellow Sooner assistant coach Brian Hickman played collegeiate ball at ORU from 2000-01 ... OU junior Eric Thornton played under Golloway as a freshman at ORU in 2002 ... He earned Freshman All-American consideration that year ... Current ORU senior outfielder Ryan Welborn played at OU as a freshman in 2001 ... Sooner sophomore utility player Jon Shackelford's older brother, Josh, played at Oral Roberts from 1998-2001 ... The Golden Eagles swept the Sooners in the two game series last year, 5-1 and 3-2 ... Oral Roberts edged Oklahoma 6-4 in the first game of the season series in Tulsa last week ... Juniors Ole Sheldon and Thornton both went deep for solo homers in the game ... Junior lefty David Purcey suffered the loss in his first mid-week start of the year.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .272 on the season with 143 runs scored and 124 RBI ... The offense raised its season average by four points by batting .295 during the Baylor series ... For the second consecutive week, the Sooners' leading hitter was junior first baseman Ole Sheldon ... Sheldon batted .529 (9-for-17) with five runs scored and six RBI ... The top four batters in the lineup during the week, including Sheldon, senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire, sophomore second baseman Russell Raley and sophomore leftfielder Ryan Rohlinger, combined to bat .338 with 18 runs scored and 13 RBI ... The quartet accounted for nearly 60 percent of the team's runs scored and RBI during the week ... Although not credited with any RBI, two of Raley's hits in the Baylor series opener allowed three runs to score ... Raley tied his career high of three RBI in the next game on his three run homer, his first roundtripper of the year ... McGuire adapted well to his new leadoff role last week ... He has collected a hit in every game, scored six runs and drawn three walks in the last four games in which he has batted at the top of the order ... The Sherman, Texas, native scored a pair of runs in each game of the Baylor series ... McGuire extended his streak of reaching base safely to 19-straight games ... The league's fifth best performer in on-base percentage, McGuire has only been kept off base in one game this year ... Several other Sooners have done notable jobs at reaching base consistently throughout the season ... Raley and junior Matt Bose have been kept off the basepaths only three times this season, while Sheldon has reached base safely in all but four games ... Bose and Sheldon are the only two regular starters batting over the .300 mark against both righthanded and lefthanded pitching ... Bose is currently hitting .417 against lefthanders and .321 against righthanders ... Sheldon is hitting at a .333 clip against lefties and at a .361 clip against righties ... Sheldon raised both averages more than 22 points with a successful week at the plate ... McGuire and junior designated hitter Eric Thornton went deep for their team-leading third home runs of the season last week.

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 4.08 ERA and has struck out 205 batters while walking 83 ... The Sooner staff owns the best strikeouts per nine innings average in the Big 12 Conference at 8.27 ... The bullpen lowered its ERA by 13 points during the Baylor series ... Sooner relievers have almost been automatic in coming in and shutting the door on inherited runners during conference play ... The staff has only allowed one of its six inherited runners to score in its first two conference series, including stranding all four over the weekend against Baylor ... Senior righthander Mark Roberts fanned eight or more batters for the fifth straight start on Friday ... Roberts continues to raise his strikeout-to-walk ratio by issuing only one walk in his latest start ... His ratio climbed from 6.3 to a team-leading 9.96 between his last two starts ... He has only walked two batters in his last three turns on the mound ... Roberts moved into sole possession of fourth place on the school's career innings pitched list and sixth place on the all-time appearances chart last week ... The Owasso, Okla., native needs to log only 29.2 more frames to break the innings pitched record ... McAuliff is expected to break the appearances mark with seven more appearances ... The junior closer currently stands in third place with 77 career outings ... Junior starting pitcher David Purcey made his first mid-week start of the year last Tuesday at Oral Roberts in an experimental measure to ensure the Sooners are more competitive in their mid-week contests, in which they are 0-4 on the year ... The mid-week contests would normally have been a bullpen day for the southpaw.

Breaking Down The Baylor Series
Oklahoma completed its first three-game sweep of Baylor in Big 12 Conference history over the weekend. The sweep also helped improve the Sooners' conference record to 4-2, its best mark through two Big 12 series since the 2000 season, and vaulted them into a first place tie with Texas in the league standings.

All of the Sooners' victories in the series were come-from-behind wins. Friday and Sunday's tilts ended with a 5-4 score with OU scoring the winning run in the final three innings. Friday night, a two-base error allowed a pair of runs to come home for the win in the bottom of the ninth inning, while Oklahoma benefitted from a two out hit in the seventh frame to drive in the game-winning run.

In Saturday's 12-11 OU win, the Sooners erased an 11-3 deficit to complete its largest comeback in seven years. The rally was sparked by a six run frame in the fifth inning which tied the team's season mark for most runs scored in one inning. The last time Oklahoma rallied from a deficit larger than eight runs was during the 1997 season when OU trailed by nine runs to Kansas to come from behind and defeat the Jayhawks, 13-12.

Offensively, the Sooners batted .295 against a tough Baylor pitching staff that entered the weekend ranked third in the conference. Oklahoma broke out the bats early in the games and scored in the first inning in all three contests to account for seven total early runs. Another key to the offense's performance over the three games was OU's ability to come through with some clutch hitting with eight two out RBI base hits, including two each from junior infielders Matt Bose and Ole Sheldon.

On the mound, the Sooner relievers carried the team to victory in each game by shutting the Bears down and allowing OU to climb back into each game. The relief staff was credited with all three wins in the series sweep with junior closer Jarod McAuliff picking up two wins and senior Casey Brown picking up the third victory. McAuliff also closed out the final game for his second save. The quartet of McAuliff, Brown, junior Daniel McCutchen and senior Charlie House, each pitched at least one inning and combined to give up only one earned run in 10 frames for a 0.90 ERA.

Oklahoma-Missouri Game To Be Televised By Fox Sports Net
The second game of the Oklahoma-Missouri series next weekend will kickoff Fox Sports Net's coverage of Big 12 Conference baseball this season as announced by the league office last week. Saturday's game between the Sooners and the Tigers will be the first of three regular season Big 12 contests to be televised by the network. Additionally, the two semifinal games and the championship game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament in late May will be aired by Fox Sports Net.

Former Houston Astros pitcher Greg Lucas and former manager Larry Dierker will form the primary announcing team. Lucas will perform the play-by-play duties and Dierker will handle the expert analysis.

The regular season games will be broadcast by network affiliates in Big 12 markets, while the tournament games will be distributed nationally on FSN's regional networks.

McAuliff Named Big 12 Conference Pitcher Of The Week
Oklahoma closer Jarod McAuliff's standout series performance against Baylor over the weekend earned him Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week honors as released by the league office on Tuesday. McAuliff's weekend long effort was key in the Sooners' first sweep of the Bears' in its Big 12 history. The three-game sweep also helped vault the Sooners into a first place tie in the conference standings with Texas. McAuliff shared the distinction with Oklahoma State starting pitcher Spencer Grogan, while Kansas State outfielder Steve Murphy picked up the player of the week honor.

Credited with two wins and a save in the series, McAuliff allowed only four hits in 5.1 innings of work and struck out five while only issuing one walk. He retired the last 11-straight batters in the series and secured outs at several key moments.

In one of the more critical moments in the series, McAuliff entered game two with runners at the corners and two outs in the top of the eighth inning with the game tied at 11. He fanned the Baylor batter for the final out of the frame to end the promising Baylor threat. The Sooners went on to win the game 12-11, capping off the program's largest comeback (eight runs) in seven years.

The pair of wins improved his season record to a perfect 5-0 on the season to lead the team in that category. The three appearances also pulled him to within seven outings of breaking the school's all-time appearances record.

Surging Sooner
Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon continued his recent hitting surge last week. For the second straight week, Sheldon batted over the .471 mark and led the team in hitting. He paced the Sooners offensively with a .529 (9-for-17) average and hit a series best .538 against Baylor. He also led the team in hits, RBI, slugging and on-base percentage during the week.

As the team's reigning RBI leader, Sheldon drove in at least one run in all four games and scored at least one run in all but one game. He delivered in all six RBI opportunities presented to him during the week, including four times during the Baylor series.

Sheldon was a key figure in OU's first series sweep of Baylor in its Big 12 Conference history. On Sunday, he was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored and drove in the game-winning run to help the Sooners complete their third straight comeback in the series.

The successful week at the plate continued to raise his season batting average 27 points to help him overtake the team lead in hitting. He also recorded three multi-hit games during the week, including a three hit and a career high four hit effort, to increase his team lead in the category to 11 games.

The Silent Type
Junior third baseman Matt Bose is quietly putting together his most solid season as a Sooner. The Midland, Texas, native has been one of the team's most consistent offensive and defensive performers the entire season.

Offensively, he has hit safely in all but three games this season and his batting average dipped below .300 for just the first five games of the year. His average has hovered above the .350 mark since reaching the plateau over two weeks ago. Additionally, he tied his career high hitting streak of nine games (also a team best) earlier in the season and has put together another impressive active streak of seven straight.

Although not currently leading the team in any major offensive categories, Bose ranks second on the club in batting average, RBI, walks and slugging and on-base percentage and appears in the top five in four other categories. He also ranks as one of the top 25 hitters in the Big 12 Conference.

After hitting .304 during the 2002 season enroute to Freshman All-American honors, Bose battled through the dreaded sophomore slump last year. He hit better than .300 for the first five weeks of the 2003 season before falling below the mark and only hitting above it just three more times the rest of the season to finish at .286.

Captain Comeback
Not only is Ryan Rohlinger becoming well-known for his comeback from injury, but the sophomore is also earning a reputation for comebacks on the playing field. In the progress of making a return from a fractured right arm suffered during the preseason, Rohlinger has been a monumental figure in two of OU's most important come-from-behind victories in the last two weeks.

Last Saturday, Rohlinger accounted for the final three runs in OU's eight-run comeback against Baylor in the 12-11 Sooner victory. He saved his first two career home runs for the right moment as his first one, a two run shot in the seventh inning, tied Saturday's game at 11. His second homer, a solo job, provided the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap off the team's largest comeback in seven years.

His difference-making home run was his second key hit to win the game in conference action in the last week. The previous Saturday against top-ranked Texas, he delivered a two run game-winning double in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap off a three run rally to defeat the Longhorns, 3-2.

The West Bend, Wis., native has become a regular in the starting lineup over the last five games and has already become one of the team's top offensive threats. In the eight total games in which he has played, Rohlinger is batting .379 (11-for-29) with four runs scored and six RBI. He currently leads the team in hitting in Big 12 Conference action with a .474 average.

Tough On The Competition
After completing a sweep of Big 12 Conference rival Baylor over the weekend, Oklahoma continues to own a solid season mark of 9-4 against teams that participated in the NCAA Tournament last year. The record also includes victories over nationally-ranked foes Cal State Fullerton, Arizona State, Georgia Tech and Texas.

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

Additionally, OU is 4-2 this year against nationally-ranked teams.

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 sixth place with his 69th 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 eclipse the career mark of 83 established by Evan Greusel from 1999-2002.

Roberts also broke into the school's top 10 in career strikeouts this season and continues to stand in seventh place with 256 strikeouts. He has also quietly moved into fourth place on OU's all-time innings pitched list with 291.1, needing only 29.2 more innings to take the lead.

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 18 outings to his credit this year to give him 77 for his career, McAuliff continued to move closer to the all-time record and now stands in third place on the list, seven more appearances shy of breaking the mark. The record is held by former Sooner Evan Greusel (1999-2002).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma and Oral Roberts End Season Series On Wednesday

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