2004 Baseball Season Highlights

Nineteen Sooners Named To Academic Big 12 Teams
To accompany its second place regular season conference finish and their trip to NCAA postseason, the Oklahoma baseball team also enjoyed some off-the-field success by having 19 players named to two Big 12 Conference academic teams. Five Sooners were named to the baseball Academic All-Big 12 team, while 14 others were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

On the Academic All-Big 12 team, three players garnered first team selections while two more were honored as second team members. Matt Bose, a junior third baseman, made his second appearance on the first team as the marketing major was also honored as a first team member in 2003. Joining Bose on the first team were sophmore Blake Hurlbutt, a university studies major, and senior Mike Swindell, a sociology major, who both made their first appearances on the list. Second team honorees were senior Mark Roberts, a sociology major and junior David Purcey, a marketing major. Both players were first time honorees.

Charles Benoit, LaFringe Hayes, Aaron Ivey, Chad Lembeck, Brent Lysander, Daniel McCutchen, Andrew McGuire, Ryan Mottern, Ryan Rohlinger, Scott Rooker, Josh Stinson, Hurlbutt, Roberts and Swindell all were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. This marks the third time for Roberts and second time for Hayes, Hurlbutt, Rooker and Swindell to be named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll.

2004 Cumulative Statistics | Big 12 Season Review (PDF)

Eight Sooners Named To All-Big 12 Conference Team
The University of Oklahoma baseball team tied its program high with eight All-Big 12 selections as the 2004 all-conference team was announced by the league office. The Sooners, who also had eight All-Big 12 picks in 1998, had two first team picks, four second team honorees and two honorable mention selections. Junior first baseman Ole Sheldon, a second team all-conference selection, also brought home OU's second Big 12 Newcomer of the Year award. The all-conference team was selected by a vote from the league's 10 head coaches.

Sophomore Russell Raley was credited with his first all-conference pick as he was voted as the league's first team second baseman. Also receiving first team recognition for the first time in his career was junior relief pitcher Jarod McAuliff. McAuliff was a second team honoree in 2003. Joining Sheldon on the second team was junior designated hitter Eric Thornton, senior starting pitcher Mark Roberts and junior starting pitcher David Purcey. Receiving honorable mention accolades were sophomore shortstop Ryan Rohlinger and junior relief pitcher Daniel McCutchen.

League Leader
Not only did Ole Sheldon own the top spot on several of the Sooners' offensive statistics sheet, but the junior first baseman also made an assault on Big 12 Conference's leaderboard. Sheldon ranked third in the conference in hitting in games overall and finished the conference season second in the category.

The Roseburg, Ore., native has consistently appeared at or near the top of numerous other offensive categories in conference rankings all season long. He ranked tied for third in hits and tied for seventh in doubles. In addition, Sheldon finished the conference season among the league leaders in numerous conference- games only offensive categories. He ranked first in hits, second in doubles, fourth in RBI and tied for fifth in runs scored. He led the Sooner squad in batting average, hits, doubles, triples and RBI.

Comeback Kids
The 2004 Sooner squad quickly earned a reputation of being at its best when the chips were down. Eight of OU's 12 wins from March 26 through April 18, including a string of five in a row, were 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.

Six of the wins were decided by one run which helped improve the team's season mark in one-run victories to 10-4. In comparison, the 2003 Sooner club only managed five one-run victories.

Oklahoma was again forced to mount a comeback in the Texas A&M series finale. Facing a three run deficit heading into the fourth inning, the Sooners scored six runs in the frame to take the lead for good. Sophomore shortstop Ryan Rohlinger's first career grand slam home run provided the difference in the inning.

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.

King Of The Hill
Junior closer Jarod McAuliff became OU's all-time appearances leader with his 84th career outing during the Texas A&M series. He passed former Sooner Evan Greusel who held the record with 83 appearances from 1999-2002.

McAuliff's 34 appearances in 2004 put the Stillwater, Okla., native over the mark in only his third year. His appearances total currently ranked first in the Big 12 Conference in games overall and he was tied for third in conference games only with 15 appearances in league action.

As the team's designated closer over the last two years, McAuliff made his largest move up the appearances chart in 2004 by making 35 outings out of the bullpen. The total fell two outings shy of establishing a single-season mark.

Not A Sophomore Slump
With his second full season behind him, sophomore second baseman Russell Raley proved that he successfully avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. Raley served as one of Oklahoma's most consistent offensive performers throughout the year and ranked in the top five on the team in seven major offensive categories. Additionally, he never allowed his batting average to dip below the .300 mark.

The first team All-Big 12 Conference performer made an impression on the league by ranking among the league leaders in several offensive categories. In league games only, Raley finished second in runs scored, tied for fifth in hits and 15th in batting average. He also appeared among the league leaders in games overall in batting average (22nd).

Reaching Another Milestone
Oklahoma's 12-3 win over Kansas State clinched head coach Larry Cochell's second milestone victory of the season. The win marked the 1,300th of his career a mark achieved by eight other coaches in Division I history, including four active head coaches.

Earlier in the season in OU's win over Arkansas-Little Rock, he captured his 500th victory as the Sooners' head coach. The 500-win plateau is 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.

Leaving His Mark
After becoming the school's all-time innings pitched leader earleir in the season, senior righthanded pitcher Mark Roberts captured his second Oklahoma career record by becoming OU's career strikeout king. Roberts struck out eight batters against Kansas State to break the record held jointly by former Sooners Austin Mix (2000-03) and Mark Redman (1994-95). The Owasso, Okla., native owns the record with 314 strikeouts over his four year career.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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