No. 18 Oklahoma Looks To Improve Big 12 Standing In Lincoln

No. 18 Oklahoma (34-19, 17-7 Big 12) closes out the regular and conference seasons this weekend on the road at Nebraska (34-19, 10-14 Big 12). The three-game set at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park will begin on Friday at 6:35 p.m., continue on Saturday with a 2:05 p.m. first pitch and conclude on Sunday with a 12:05 p.m. start time.

The battle between the second place Sooners and the seventh place Cornhuskers will be critical in the final seedings for next week's Big 12 Tournament as well as determining the conference regular season champ. Oklahoma has the opportunity to win the conference title or finish no worse than third, while Nebraska will try to stay out of the eighth spot with no chance of improving into sixth place.

Setting The Scene
DATES: May 21-23
FIRST PITCHES: Friday at 6:35 p.m., Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and Sunday at 12:05 p.m.
BALLPARK: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park (8,486)
LOCATION: Lincoln, Neb.
RADIO: The series will be broadcast locally on KREF (1400 AM) with Mike Treps calling the action. The games 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 18th by Baseball America, 20th by the NCBWA and 21st by Collegiate Baseball. The Sooners are also receiving votes in the latest Sports Weekly/ESPN poll. Nebraska is not ranked in any of the major polls but is receiving votes in the latest Sports Weekly/ESPN and NCBWA polls.
NEBRASKA SERIES NOTES: Oklahoma dominates the all-time series between the two schools 129-88-1 ... The first game of the series was played in 1919 ... OU lost that initial contest, 7-2 ... Under OU Head Coach Larry Cochell, the Sooners are 25-30 against the Huskers ... Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, Nebraska owns an 18-6 edge over Oklahoma ... The Sooners are 2-12 against the Cornhuskers over the last 14 meetings dating back to the 2000 season ... The last time an Oklahoma team travelled to Lincoln and left with a three-game sweep was in 1973 ... Nebraska won two out of the three games in the 2002 series (the last time Oklahoma visited Lincoln) ... The Huskers won all three games in Norman last year ... Mark Roberts carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning in the series opener in 2003 ... He eventually suffered his first loss of the season in the 5-1 defeat ... The Sooners battled back from a 4-0 hole to tie the second game, but fell 8-6 to the Cornhuskers in the end ... Six OU errors led to two unearned UN runs in Nebraska's 5-2 win in the series finale.

Last Time Out
No. 18 Oklahoma threatened to come from behind in the top of the ninth inning but No. 25 Wichita State held on for an 8-7 win Tuesday night at Eck Stadium. After taking a seemingly commanding 5-0 lead after the top of the first inning, the Sooners succumbed to the clutch hitting of the Shockers as Wichita State rallied for all eight of their runs following two outs in an inning.

The Sooners attempted a last minute comeback in their final turn at bat, but came up just short as Shocker hurler Danny Jackson retired the final three batters for his first save of the season. With a pair of Sooners in scoring position after a single by freshman leftfielder Ryan Mottern (2-for-2) and a double by sophomore second baseman Russell Raley (3-for-5) to begin the top half of the ninth inning, junior first baseman Ole Sheldon (1-for-4) brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Oklahoma jumped out to an early 5-0 lead at the end of the top of the first inning. The Sooners chased WSU starting pitcher Kyle Touchatt from the game after the first three batters in the order reached base and a run scored on a RBI-single by Sheldon. Junior designated hitter Eric Thornton (1-for-5) welcomed the new Shocker hurler, Kyle Banick, to the game with another RBI-single to add a second run to OU's total.

After Banick loaded the bases, he walked in the third run by issuing a free pass to freshman catcher Josh Stinson (0-for-2). With the bases still full of Sooners, junior centerfielder Jeff Scuderi (1-for-2) brought in two runs with the Sooners' fifth hit of the inning to cap off the scoring with OU ahead 5-0.

The Shockers responded with five runs over the next two frames, all with two outs, to tie the game. WSU plated a single run in the first inning courteousy of a RBI-base hit by third baseman Brandon Green. In the second inning, the first three Wichita State runs came off the bat of leftfielder Phil Napolitan who hit a three run homer. The next run scored as a walk to first baseman Logan Sorensen following the home run came back to haunt the Sooners as Sorensen eventually scored after two consecutive fielding errors by OU allowed him to advance around the bases and score.

Senior starting pitcher Mike Swindell was responsible for the first five runs after lasting only 1.2 frames with most of the damage caused by the five walks he issued. Fellow senior Casey Brown (5-3), who relieved Swindell, suffered the loss after allowing two more runs to score, including the game-winner, in 3.1 innings of work.

The Sooners briefly took back the lead in the top of the fourth inning with a single run to take a 6-5 advantage. An error by the WSU shortstop allowed Scuderi, who had earlier walked, to come home from third base to score.

Wichita State continued to collect several clutch run scoring base hits in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames to score their next three runs and take an 8-6 lead. Sorensen doubled home a run in the fourth inning to knot the game at 6-6, while catcher Joe Muich and rightfielder Drew Moffitt in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Sooners At The Plate
Oklahoma is batting .293 on the season with 353 runs scored and 301 RBI ... In Big 12 games only, the Sooners are hitting at a .289 clip with 165 runs scored and 140 RBI ... OU's offense has produced double-digit hit efforts in 24 of the last 30 contests, including 10 or more hits for the ninth consecutive game ... The Sooners' leading hitter last week was junior first baseman Ole Sheldon ... He batted .636 (7-for-11) with six runs scored and two RBI, including four extra base hits ... Four of his five hits during the two games against Texas-Pan American went for extra bases, including three doubles and one triple ... Sheldon's triple in the series finale put him in the lead in the category on the team with three ... He hit at a .714 (5-for-7) clip for the series ... His week at the plate raised his batting average 13 points which put him in a tie for 40th in the nation in batting average in this week's NCAA stats ... His current hitting streak has reached 12 games ... During that stretch, the Roseburg, Ore., native is batting .423 (22-for-52) with 13 runs scored and 14 RBI ... Earlier in the year he put together a career best 17 game streak ... Junior designated hitter Eric Thornton's current hitting streak has reached 11 games ... He became the fifth Sooner this season to establish a double-digit hitting streak ... He is batting .486 (17-for-35) during his season best streak with nine runs scored and 12 RBI, including a pair of home runs ... Sophomore shortstop Ryan Rohlinger had a career best eight game hitting streak end last Saturday ... Rohlinger batted only .286 (10-for-35) during the streak, but scored nine runs and drove in 10 more.

Sooners On The Mound
The Oklahoma pitching staff is sporting a 3.97 ERA and has struck out 448 batters while walking 195 ... In Big 12 Conference games only, OU sports a 4.16 ERA with 199 strikeouts and 91 walks ... With all the career pitching records that are falling, junior righthander Jarod McAuliff is quietly climbing his way up one single season list ... His 32 outings this year leaves him five shy of breaking the single season appearances record of 36 held jointly by former Sooners Jeff Bajenaru (2000) and Bucky Buckles (1994) ... McAuliff is averaging a little over two appearances a week which should just put him on target to break the record with at least four expected weeks left in the season ... He fell just one outing shy of tying the mark last year with a career best 35 ... Senior pitcher Mark Roberts accomplished several personal feats in his final start at home on Sunday by picking up his career best eighth win and striking out a career high 11 ... His 23rd career win also moved him into a tie for seventh place on the school's career list ... He additionally eclipsed the 100 strikeout mark for the first time in his career ... Junior David Purcey also set a new career strikeout mark with 12 on Saturday ... He recorded two strikeouts in five of his seven innings of work ... Junior reliever Daniel McCutchen made his first appearance in the ERA category in the Big 12 Conference rankings this week for conference games only ... He ranks eighth with his team best 2.92 ERA in conference action ... He is also third in appearances and tied for ninth in saves in games overall.

Sheldon Captures Second Big 12 Player of the Week Honor
Oklahoma first baseman Ole Sheldon was honored for the second time this season as the Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Week as released by the league offices on Tuesday. The junior helped lead the Sooners to a perfect 3-0 week by topping all Sooner sluggers in batting average, hits, runs scored, doubles and slugging and on-base percentage. He shared the honor with Baylor second baseman Mike Witt and Texas Tech's Corey Gerstner picked up the Pitcher of the Week accolade.

For the week, Sheldon hit at a .636 (7-for-11) clip with six runs scored, two RBI and a 1.091 slugging percentage. Over half his hits during the week went for extra bases, including 4-of-5 in the Texas-Pan American series. He reached base safely in eight of his 12 trips to the plate and extended his hitting streak to 11 games by collecting at least two hits in every game. He also did not strike out for the second straight week.

His offensive performance raised his season batting mark 13 points to just a shade under .400 at .398, which continues to lead all Big 12 hitters.

During the two-game set against the Broncos, the Roseburg, Ore., native batted .714. In Sunday's series finale, Sheldon drove in the game-winning run with a RBI-double and also recorded his team-leading third triple as part of a 3-for-4 effort with two runs scored and two RBI.

A Hot Month Of May
During the month of May, the Sooners have posted a 7-2 record and recently rolled off a string of seven straight victories. Oklahoma has been enjoying its current string of success by improving in all facets of its game.

Since hitting the .281 mark as a team through the second game of the Oklahoma State series three weeks ago, OU's offense has improved its team average in each of the eight games since that time to its current .293 average. Heading into the series with the Cowboys, the Sooners were ranked ninth in team batting average in the Big 12 Conference and are now ranked sixth in the league in the category (in games overall).

The team's ERA has also remained steadily under the 4.00 plateau over the last eight games, just peaking over the mark following one performance.

Oklahoma has drastically improved on the defensive front as well. In the last eight games, OU has committed just six errors for a .981 fielding percentage over that span.

Finding Their Stroke
A major factor in OU's current seven game winning streak is the offensive production it has been receiving out of two critical positions in the field: left field and catcher.

Oklahoma platooned seven players in left field who combined to bat .236 (38-for-161) over the first 45 games of the season. In the last eight games, the Sooners have found a good mix of four players who are producing effectively and are batting .424 (14-for-33) as a group with eight runs scored and five RBI. Sophomore Scott Rooker leads the quartet during the stretch and is batting .320 (8-for-25) with four runs scored and a RBI.

In the 45 games prior to the Sooners' current winning streak, the Sooners' trio of catchers had combined to hit at a .177 clip. Over the last eight games, two OU catchers are batting a collective .269 (7-for-26) with six runs scored and nine RBI, led by freshman Josh Stinson who is batting .304 over the stretch of games.

Making A Difference Down The Stretch
Mike Swindell is making one of the biggest impacts on the team down the stretch for the Sooners. The senior pitcher picked up his second Big 12 Conference win of the season against Kansas State by pitching a career high seven innings and allowing only two runs on five hits.

It was his second win in as many starts in Big 12 action. Prior to Swindell's two consecutive conference starts, the previous three starters on the mound in the conference series finale failed to earn the victory.

The win improved Swindell's numbers in Big 12 play this season to 3-0 with one save and a 3.09 ERA in six appearances.

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. Sheldon leads the league in hitting in games overall and conference games only.

The Roseburg, Ore., native has consistently appeared at or near the top of numerous other conference games only categories as well. He ranks first in hits, tied for second in doubles and RBI and tied for third in total bases, on-base percentage and runs scored.

Sheldon also appears among the league leaders in four other overall games categories. He is second in hits, tied for fifth in doubles, eighth in total bases and tied for ninth in triples.

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

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 18 Oklahoma Looks To Improve Big 12 Standing In Lincoln

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