Baseball Announces 2007 Slate

NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione and head coach Sunny Golloway announced the Sooners' 56-game 2007 regular season schedule on Tuesday.

The Sooners, who finished 2006 with a No. 9 ranking (Baseball America), a 45-22 overall record and the program's first appearance in an NCAA Super Regional, will face 13 opponents (23 total games) that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament, including two 2006 Super Regional teams (South Carolina and Missouri). In addition, OU will host 28 games at L. Dale Mitchell Park and take part in tournaments hosted by Texas Pan American, UNC-Wilmington and San Diego State.

2007 Schedule (PDF) | 2007 Roster | 2006 Stats

The Sooners face a challenging non-conference schedule that includes a total of seven teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 including South Carolina, UNC-Wilmington, Wichita State, San Diego, Michigan, TCU and UT-Arlington.

“We are excited to release a schedule which we feel is one of the toughest in the country,” said Golloway, who enters his second full-year with the program. “We look forward to playing a tough non-conference schedule that will prepare our student athletes for the grueling Big 12 season.”

OU will open 2007 for the second consecutive season in Edinburg, Texas, at the UTPA Classic on Feb. 2, 3 and 4. The Sooners will square off twice against the host Broncs, in addition to Texas State.

After the UTPA Classic, the Sooners travel to North Carolina to play in the UNC-Wilmington Tournament from Feb. 9-11. OU will battle South Carolina, UNC-Wilmington and Western Kentucky before hosting its first series of the season at L. Dale Mitchell Park against Western Illinois (Feb. 23-25). The home opener begins a span that will see OU play nine consecutive games in Norman which includes a mid-week game with Wichita State, a three-game series with UC Riverside and a two-game set against Creighton.

OU will return to the road to participate in the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. (March 9-11) at the home of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, Petco Park. In the big-league park, OU will take on San Diego, San Diego State and Michigan.

In non-conference play, the Sooners will also travel to Frisco, Texas to take on Dallas Baptist at Dr. Pepper Ballpark (home of the Frisco RoughRiders, AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers) and Wichita State, TCU and UT-Arlington. Additionally, OU hosts Michigan State, TCU and Dallas Baptist outside of conference play.

The 27-game Big 12 schedule will feature home games against Texas A&M (March 23-25). Nebraska (April 13-15), Kansas (April 27-29) and Texas Tech (May 18-20).

OU will hit the road in conference play against Texas (March 30-April 1), Baylor (April 5-7), Kansas State (Apri l20-22), Missouri (May 11-13) and play the annual Bedlam Series at Drillers Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday, May 4 and the remaining two games at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City on May 5 and 6.

For the third consecutive year, the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament will be held in Oklahoma City at the Bricktown Ballpark from Wednesday, May 23 through Sunday, May 27.

The 2006 Sooners finished last season with the program's most successful run in the postseason since its last appearance in the College World Series in 1995. Returning this season from the 2006 squad are 15 letterwinners, including four position starters and two starting pitchers. Also joining this year's squad is the nation's No. 4 recruiting class (Collegiate Baseball).

“We recognize the fact that we lost 12 seniors from a team that was one win away from Omaha and even though we replace them with a large group of newcomers, our goals have not changed,” added Golloway. “Every time we take the field, we are playing to win and that begins with the Big 12 Championship and ends with the College World Series.

“This team is not going to use age or inexperience as an excuse because we fully expect to build off last year's success and get this program back to Omaha. The coaching staff already knows what the returning starters are capable of and we feel that the newcomers will be able to step in right away and compete at a high level to give us a complete team.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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