Two of the Big 12s Best Battle In College Station This Weekend

The 18th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners (23-12, 10-2 Big 12) take their first place billing in the Big 12 Conference into College Station, Texas, this weekend to face the 13th-ranked and fourth place Texas A&M Aggies (30-9, 6-6 Big 12). The three-game set starts on Friday at 7 p.m. at Olsen Field. Saturday's contest is slated for 7 p.m., while the series ends Sunday at 1 p.m.

Setting The Scene
DATES: April 16-18
FIRST PITCHES: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
BALLPARK: Olsen Field (7,053)
LOCATION: College Station, Texas
RADIO: The series will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Mike Treps 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 series to provide fans live updates on the game's progress.
RANKINGS: Oklahoma is ranked 18th by Baseball America, 25th by Collegiate Baseball and 27th by the NCBWA. The Sooners are also receiving votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll. Texas A&M is ranked 13th by Baseball America, 14th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll, 17th in the NCBWA poll, and 27th by Collegiate Baseball.
TEXAS A&M SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma owns a 22-21 all-time series lead over Texas A&M ... The first meeting between the two schools was in 1912 ... OU Head Coach Larry Cochell is 12-15 against TAMU during his 14-year tenure at Oklahoma ... A&M holds an 18-14 edge since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997 ... TAMU won two of the three regular season meetings last year for the fourth year in a row and sixth time in the last seven seasons ... The Aggies also captured a win over the Sooners in last year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Last Time Out
Western Illinois used a bases loaded walk in the top of the 13th inning to bring home the game-winning run as the visiting Leathernecks topped the 18th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 5-4 Wednesday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Both teams went through a host of pitchers as the Sooners sent seven hurlers to the mound, while the Leathernecks spent five of their own.

Junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (3-for-4) got the Sooners on the scoreboard in bottom of the second frame with a leadoff homer, his fourth of the season. Two more extra-base hits, including a triple by sophomore LaFringe Hayes (1-for-3) and a double by freshman catcher Josh Stinson (1-for-4), led to another run. The third run of the inning was plated when sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (3-for-5) brought in Stinson with a two out base hit.

The Leathernecks scored an unearned run in the fifth inning to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Sooners. WIU rightfielder Blake Schultz came around to score from second base on a throwing error by OU shortstop Ryan Rohlinger (1-for-6).

Leatherneck desginated hitter Kyle Malan tied the game with one swing of the bat in the seventh inning as his two run home run to left field knotted the game at 3-3.

After Western Illinois went ahead with a single run in the top of the 12th inning, Oklahoma responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame to keep the game going. Senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire (0-for-4) got things started as he extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29-straight games with a one out walk. Two batters later, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (2-for-5) ripped a two out triple to right field to drive in McGuire and tie the game at 4-4.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .282 on the season with 206 runs scored and 176 RBI ... OU's offense has produced double-digit hit efforts in 10 of the last 12 contests ... Oklahoma set team season bests in six different offensive categories in Tuesday's game against Air Force ... The Sooners recorded season highs in runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs and total bases ... They also tied their best in doubles ... The Sooners outhit their Big 12 opponent for the fourth straight week as they topped Missouri by hitting .296 at the plate as opposed to .178 for the Tigers ... The Sooners' leading hitter last week was junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi ... Scuderi batted .538 (7-for-13) over the four games and drove in three runs while scoring another ... Scuderi and junior first baseman Ole Sheldon are both currently riding career best 12-game hitting streaks ... Sheldon is batting .540 (27-for-50) with 13 runs scored and 10 RBI during the stretch, while Scuderi is hitting .375 (15-for-40) with five runs scored and 11 RBI ... Both streaks are active team bests ... Sheldon sparked both of Oklahoma's ninth inning rallies during the Missouri series with leadoff base hits ... With the game tied at two, Sheldon led off the ninth inning of the series opener with a single and came around to score the game-winning run on an error by the Tiger shortstop ... OU trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom half of the ninth inning on Sunday when the Roseburg, Ore., native led off the frame with a single and scored the first of three runs in the inning to help lift the Sooners to a 4-3 win ... Senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29-straight games over the weekend ... McGuire has only been kept off base in one game this year.

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 3.55 ERA and has struck out 308 batters while walking 116 ... The Sooner staff continues to own the best strikeouts per nine innings average in the Big 12 Conference at 8.55 ... The team's ERA fell 20 points over the weekend after posting a 1.67 ERA during the Missouri series ... It marked the third time this season, and second week in a row, OU has kept its team ERA under 3.00 during a conference series ... The bullpen was a big factor in lowering the team's ERA as it lowered its own by 36 points during the series ... The Sooners did not allow a home run during the three-game set against the Tigers ... Missouri entered the series with the third most home runs in the Big 12 with 36 ... Senior righthanded reliever Charlie House improved upon his stat of stranding his last seven inherited runners over his last six appearances over the weekend ... With two on base on Sunday, House came on and induced an inning-ending double play to get the Sooners out of any further trouble after the Tigers scored three early runs ... Fellow senior righty Mike Swindell enjoyed a couple of standout relief performances last week ... Swindell worked over two innings in each of his two relief outings last week and did not allow any runs to score ... He gave up only two total hits and walked only one while striking out nine ... His five strikeout performance on Saturday tied his career best ... Swindell was credited with the save in OU's game two victory over Missouri ... Senior righthander Mark Roberts fanned eight or more batters for the seventh straight start last Friday ... His eight strikeouts moved him into fourth place on the all-time strikeouts list with 272, 23 strikeouts shy of breaking the record held by former Sooners Austin Mix (2000-03) and Mark Redman (1994-95) ... He also moved into sole possession of fourth place on the career appearances list with his 71st outing and continued to draw closer to the career innings pitched mark with 308 frames logged for third place on the chart ... He needs just 13 more appearances and 13 more innings to break the respective records.

Red Hot Sooners
Oklahoma is beginning to appear on the national radar once again as a hot Sooner baseball team has found its form. Winners of 12 of its last 15 games, OU is currently riding a hot streak which has vaulted them back into the top 25 polls and into first place in the Big 12 Conference standings.

OU took over first place in the Big 12 Conference with a win over Missouri on Saturday and a Nebraska loss to Texas Tech. The Sooners remained in first place after the weekend following their third consecutive Big 12 series sweep of the season. The last time an Oklahoma team won three straight conference series was in 2002 and the last time a Sooner team swept three straight league opponents was in 1984. That year Oklahoma won a pair of two-game sets against Oklahoma State and Kansas and a four-game series over Kansas State.

Additionally, Oklahoma is currently riding a nine-game winning streak in Big 12 play which is the first time since 1986 (when OU was a member of the Big Eight Conference) that the Sooners have won nine straight league games.

Winning It In The Pen
Last weekend during the Missouri set, the Oklahoma bullpen continued to turn in solid relief efforts during Big 12 Conference play. OU's relievers picked up two wins and a save during the series against Missouri and did not allow a run to score in 11.1 innings pitched during the three games. Five hurlers combined to hold the Tigers to only four hits for a .111 opponent batting average, while walking only four and striking out 13 during the series.

On the season, Oklahoma's bullpen has posted a 7-0 record with three saves in conference play. OU's relievers have combined for a 2.29 ERA in the 12 games, while three relievers (Casey Brown, Charlie House and Charles Benoit) with two or more appearances to their credit are sporting flawless ERA's.

Thornton On A Tear
A big reason for the Sooners' recent hot streak has been the offensive production they've been receiving out of junior designated hitter Eric Thornton. Its not a coincidence that the team's midseason upturn has coincided with Thornton's resurgence at the plate.

Over the last 11 games, in which the Sooners have won nine of those contests, the McCloud, Okla., native is batting .432 (16-for-37). Thornton's batting average has risen 60 points during that time to its current mark of .306, which is the first time he eclipsed the .300 mark this season. He has posted six multi-hit games and is currently riding a six-game hitting streak which establishes a new season high. Thornton is batting .458 (11-for-24) with four runs scored and seven RBI during the streak.

Last weekend against Missouri, Thornton batted .417 over the three game set and recorded a pair of hits and RBI in each of the series' final two games.

Finding His Swing
Up until two weeks ago, Jeff Scuderi was struggling at the plate. Since that time, the junior centerfielder has climbed out of the 3-for-32 slump he was hitting in at the time and is the team's third leading hitter over the last 10 games.

Last week, Scuderi led the team at the plate with a .538 average over the four games. In the three games against Missouri, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native batted a series best .600 (6-for-10) and recorded two multi-hit games, including his first three-hit performance since the second week of the season. He also drove in a run in each game of the series.

He collected his first career game-winning hit and RBI with a bases loaded walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to complete the Sooners' three-run comeback for the win on Sunday and the team's third straight conference series sweep.

Scuderi continued his hot hitting during the last two games and extended his career long hitting streak to 12 games. He is hitting .375 (15-for-40) during the stretch and has scored five runs and added 11 RBI.

Best In The Big 12
Not many pitching staffs in the Big 12 Conference can match the effectiveness of Oklahoma's trio of starting pitchers Mark Roberts and David Purcey and closer Jarod McAuliff. In fact, OU is the only team in the league to boast their top two starters in the weekend rotation and its designated closer amongst the league's leaders in several categories.

All three Sooner pitchers appear in the top 10 in the Big 12 in ERA, while both Purcey and Roberts also sit amongst the top 10 in strikeouts, opposing batting average, innings pitched and games started. McAuliff ranks first in appearances, tied for fourth in saves and tied for ninth in wins with Roberts.

In Big 12 games only, all three pitchers rank among the top 15 in ERA. Oklahoma owns or is tied for the top individual spot in several conference only categories including wins (McAuliff), appearances (McAuliff), innings pitched (Roberts) and games started (Roberts and Purcey). McAuliff is also third in saves, while Roberts ranks fifth in opposing batting average and tied for third in strikeouts with Purcey.

As a unit, the trio has been credited with 14 of the team's 22 wins, posted an impressive 2.57 ERA and are responsible for 60 percent of OU's strikeouts this season. All three hurlers combine for an opponent batting average of .210.

Comeback Kids
This year's Sooner squad is quickly earning a reputation of being at its best when the chips are down. Six of OU's last 10 wins, including a string of five in a row, have been of the come-from-behind variety. Beginning with the Baylor series opener and ending with the opening game at Kansas, OU was forced to overcome three one-run deficits, one two-run deficit, a three-run deficit and an eight-run deficit to secure wins. Additionally, the Sooners heroically pulled out five of the victories when either tied or trailing after seven innings.

Five of the wins were decided by one run which helped improve the team's season mark in one-run victories to 9-3. In comparison, the 2003 Sooner club only managed five one-run victories all of last year.

Most recently, Oklahoma was again forced to mount a comeback last weekend in the Missouri series finale. Trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom half of the ninth inning, the Sooners tied the game with two runs on three-straight hits to start the inning. OU then won the game on a walk-off single by junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi with the bases loaded.

In the team's most dramatic comeback victory on the year, OU erased an 11-3 deficit to Baylor in the second game of the series to complete its largest comeback in seven years.

League Leader
Not only does Ole Sheldon own the top spot on several of the Sooners' offensive statistics sheet, but the junior first baseman is also making an assault on Big 12 Conference's leaderboard.

After four straight weeks of batting better than .385 against league competition, Sheldon is leading the Big 12 in hitting in conference games only. Sheldon also tops the league in hits and runs scored and ranks in the top five of several other major offensive categories. His doubles, total bases and on-base percentage each rank third best in the Big 12 as he also ranks tied for fourth in RBI.

The Roseburg, Ore., native is also beginning to appear at the top of a couple of categories in games overall. He jumped nine spots over the weekend into third place in batting average and improved four places in hits into for a tie for fifth.

Sheldon leads the Sooner squad in batting average, slugging percentage, hits and doubles and RBI.

Tough On The Competition
With a three-game series sweep of Missouri last weekend, Oklahoma continued to own a solid season mark of 13-4 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 three more teams this season that advanced to regionals last year including Texas A&M, Wichita State and Nebraska.

Additionally, OU is 5-2 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 fourth place with his 71st outing on Friday. 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 currently stands in fourth place with 272 strikeouts. He has also quietly moved into third place on OU's all-time innings pitched list with 308, needing only 13 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 23 outings to his credit this year to give him 82 for his career, McAuliff continued to move closer to the all-time record and now stands in second place on the list, two more appearances shy of breaking the mark. The record is held by former Sooner Evan Greusel (1999-2002).

With three saves within the last week, McAuliff also moved into second place on the career saves list. He trails the leader, Jeff Bajenaru (1999-2000), by 13 saves.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Two of the Big 12s Best Battle In College Station This Weekend

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