Cochell Bids For No. 500 Against Trojans

Larry Cochell, head coach of the 15th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners (26-16), will be in search of his 500th win as the Sooner skipper against the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (12-21) Tuesday night. Cochell's attempt at the milestone will begin at 7 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

“Two For Tuesday” is the special promotion for the game where fans can purchase two adult general admission tickets for the price of one. The game will also feature $.50 cent hot dogs and small cokes day at the ballpark.

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 OU gift packs.

Tuesday will also by Motown Music Night where only the top hits from Motown will be played during inning breaks.

Setting The Scene
DATE: April 27
FIRST PITCH: Tuesday at 7 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 game 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 entire series.
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 15th by Baseball America, 18th by the NCBWA and 25th by Collegiate Baseball. The Sooners are also receiving votes in the latest Sports Weekly/ESPN poll. Arkansas-Little Rock is not ranked in any of the major polls.
ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma owns a 5-2 record against Arkansas-Little Rock during Sooner head coach Larry Cochell's tenure ... All seven contests have been held at L. Dale Mitchell Park ... The last time the two teams met was during the 2002 season ... Oklahoma opened the season with a three game set against Arkansas-Little Rock ... The Sooners won the first two games by 10-4 and 16-6 scores, but dropped the finale, 4-2 ... David Purcey picked up the save in the opener in his first collegiate appearance ... Mark Roberts pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, while striking out seven, in the series finale.

Last Time Out
Texas Tech centerfielder Cody Fuller hit a walk off single to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning to plate the winning run as the Red Raiders defeated 13th-ranked Oklahoma, 6-5, Sunday afternoon to clinch the series win. Oklahoma had battled back after being down by three runs, but Texas Tech scored the final two runs of the contest to secure the victory. Junior Daniel McCutchen (3-1) suffered the loss on the mound and freshman catcher Josh Stinson and senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire both went deep for solo home runs.

After starting both pitchers held both teams scoreless through the first three frames, Texas Tech got to Jarod McAuliff, who was making his first start of the season, first for a run in the fourth inning. Red Raider first baseman Josh Brady singled and scored two batters later on a RBI-double by third baseman Josh Haney. Tech continued to threaten by loading the bases, but McAuliff worked his way out of the jam by getting a ground out to second base.

McGuire (1-for-4) tied the score at 1-1 with one swing of the bat as he sent his team-leading sixth home run to right field.

Brady and Haney then combined again to plate the Red Raiders' next run. Haney then singled home Brady in the sixth inning and was followed by second baseman Jose Delgado's RBI-double which brought home leftfielder Michael Mask for a 3-1 lead.

The Red Raiders added another run in the next frame as Texas Tech loaded the bases with three consecutive singles and Mask brought in one of the baserunners with a sacrifice fly to right field. McCutchen entered the game in relief of senior Mike Swindell, who faced two batters, to record three straight outs to get OU out of the inning.

The Sooner bats were silenced to three hits until the eighth inning when they broke out for three runs on four hits to tie the game. Freshman leftfielder Ryan Mottern (0-for-3) led off by being hit by a pitch and junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi (1-for-4) hit a one out single. Sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (1-for-5) then loaded the bases with a single before junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (2-for-5) singled to left field to drive in Mottern. Scuderi came around to score on the same play as the Tech leftfielder bobbled the ball allowing him to score on the error.

The Sooners again loaded the bases with a walk to junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (0-for-4) before junior third baseman which allowed junior third baseman Matt Bose (2-for-4) to knock in the tying run with a base hit.

Stinson (1-for-4) recorded his first career home run, and OU's second of the game, to give the Sooners their first lead in the top of the ninth inning.

The lead would only last very briefly as the Red Raiders tied the contest in the bottom of the frame. Tech catcher Cooper Fouts led off the inning with a single and, after being pinch run for, Marcus Lewis scored on a two out double by Brady to end the game into extra innings.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .281 on the season with 254 runs scored and 220 RBI ... In Big 12 games only, the Sooners are hitting at a .277 clip with 107 runs scored and 93 RBI ... OU's offense has produced double-digit hit efforts in 14 of the last 19 contests ... The Sooners' leading hitter last week was freshman catcher Josh Stinson ... Stinson, who is in the midst of a career high eight game hitting streak, batted .417 (5-for-12) with two runs scored and two RBI last week ... He hit his first career home run on Sunday as part of a 1-for-4 effort to keep his hitting streak alive ... Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon had his career and team best hitting streak snapped at 17 games on Saturday at Texas Tech ... He hit .507 (36-for-71) with 17 runs scored and 18 RBI during the stretch ... The streak is currently tied for the second best mark in the Big 12 Conference this season ... Russell Raley has put together a career best hitting streak of his own ... The sophomore second baseman has hit safely in nine straight games in which he is batting .375 (15-for-40) with 10 runs scored and six RBI ... Speaking of streaks, senior rightfielder Andrew McGuire continued to reach base safely in 36-straight games over the weekend ... McGuire has only been kept off base in one game this year ... Sophomore shortstop Ryan Rohlinger went deep for his fifth home run of the year last Saturday at Texas Tech ... Four of Rohlinger's five homers have come during conference play ... Rohlinger's home run now puts him in a tie for second place on the team ... The West Bend, Wis., native has caught up to the Sooner starting nine in several offensive categories despite trailing all other starters in games played by 17 due to a preseason injury that held him out of the first part of the season ... He also currently ranks in the top five of several other offensive categories including doubles (tied-third), walks (fifth) and runs scored (tied-fifth).

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 4.02 ERA and has struck out 365 batters while walking 146 ... In Big 12 Conference games only, OU sports a 4.32 ERA with 155 strikeouts and 73 walks ... In addition to becoming the school's all-time innings pitched leader over the weekend, senior righthander Mark Roberts inched closer to breaking another one of OU's prominent career pitching records last week ... With his five strikeout performance at Texas Tech, Roberts moved to within 13 strikeouts of setting a new all-time strikeout mark ... By picking up the win on Friday, Roberts' career record against the Red Raiders now stands at 4-1 which is a personal best mark against a Big 12 opponent ... Junior righthanded pitcher Jarod McAuliff made his first start in two seasons on the mound in Sunday's series finale at Texas Tech ... McAuliff, who has been the team's designated closer over the past two years, has not received a starting assignment since his freshman season in 2002 ... The Stillwater, Okla., native pitched a season high six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits, issued three walks and struck out five batters ... He received a no-decision as the Sooners went on to lose the contest in extra innings.

Closing In On 500
With 499 wins as the skipper of the Sooners, head coach Larry Cochell is within one victory of reaching the 500 win mark at Oklahoma. The 500-win plateau will be the first time in his career that the 14-year OU captain has surpassed the milestone at any one school. In his six other head coaching assignments at the Division I level, the closest he came to amassing 500 victories was at Oral Roberts where he collected 428 wins in 10 seasons with the Golden Eagles.

Twenty-one year Sooner head coach Enos Semore holds the school record for coaching victories by an individual with 851 which he accomplished from 1968-1989.

Leaving His Mark
Senior righthanded pitcher Mark Roberts eclipsed the program's all-time innings pitched mark in his latest start to capture the first of two OU career records easily within his reach. Roberts' seven innings last Friday at Texas Tech put him over the top with 321 innings pitched in his four year career as he surpassed former Sooner Austin Mix who registered 320.2 from 2000-2003.

The Owasso, Okla., native also moved closer to breaking another school record last Friday night. His five strikeouts in the game put him 13 strikeouts away from breaking the career strikeout record which is also held by Mix and former Sooner Mark Redman (1994-95). Mix and Redman both own the record with 294 in their respective careers.

Freshman On Fire
Over the past two weeks, freshman catcher Josh Stinson has been riding an offensive hot streak. During that time he has put together an active hitting streak of eight games, which is a career high and ranks as one of the five best on the team this year. He is batting .440 (11-for-25) over the streak and the offensive output has raised his season batting average 65 points.

Not only is he hitting better during this span, but he is also contributing in other ways by scoring runs and driving them in. He has scored a run in all but two of the games and he has recorded four RBI, including his first career home run.

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.

The Roseburg, Ore., native has consistently appeared at or near the top of numerous conference games only categories as well throughout conference play. Sheldon moved up several spots in a number of categories last weekend after batting .385 against Texas Tech. He now ranks first in hitting, hits and doubles, and stands second in on-base percentage, tied for second in runs scored and total bases and fourth in RBI.

Sheldon also appears near the top in games overall in two key offensive categories. He ranks first in hits and second in batting average.

Sheldon leads the Sooner squad in batting average, hits, doubles, on-base percentage and RBI.

King Of The Hill
Junior closer Jarod McAuliff became OU's all-time appearances leader with his 84th career outing two weeks ago. He passed former Sooner Evan Greusel who previously held the record with 83 appearances from 1999-2002.

McAuliff's 25 appearances this season put the Stillwater, Okla., native over the mark in only his third year. His appearances total currently ranks first in the Big 12 Conference in games overall and he is also tied for the conference game only mark with 11 appearances in league action.

As the team's designated closer over the last two years, McAuliff made his largest move up the appearances chart last year by making 35 outings out of the bullpen. The total fell two outings shy of establishing a new single-season mark.

He saw most of his action in relief as a freshman in 2002 when he made 24 outings on the mound. He averaged 29.5 appearances during his first two years and is already four outings shy of that mark this year with 24.

McAuliff also has a chance to break another school pitching record. The Stillwater, Okla., native currently stands in second place on the career saves list. He trails the leader, Jeff Bajenaru (1999-2000), by 12 saves.

A Season Of Firsts
The 2004 Sooner baseball squad has already accomplished several firsts in program history and several other feats that haven't happened in quite a while. Here's a brief look at what this team has already accomplished to this point of the season:
Oklahoma took two out of three at No. 13 Texas A&M last weekend to capture its fourth-straight conference series, a first in the Sooners' Big 12 Conference history.
The series win over the Aggies was the first time since the 2000 season that OU has won two conference
road series. During the 2000 season, the Sooners were victorious in three Big 12 road series.
Earlier in the season, the Sooners swept three straight league opponents for the first time since 1984. That year Oklahoma won a pair of two-game sets against Oklahoma State and Kansas and a four-game series over Kansas State.
Oklahoma put together 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 had won nine straight league games.

Tough On The Competition
Oklahoma continues to own a solid season mark of 15-5 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, Texas and Oral Roberts.

OU is slated to face two more teams this season that advanced to regionals last year including Wichita State and Nebraska.

Additionally, OU is 7-3 this year against nationally-ranked teams.