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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Face Final Big 12 Road Trip
May 11, 2007 | Baseball
NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma Sooners (28-20 overall, 8-13 Big 12) will look to snap a season-high, five-game losing streak when they visit No. 21 Missouri (33-13, 14-7) this weekend in a three-game set in Columbia, Mo.
The series opener on Friday, May 11 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Taylor Stadium. Game two on Saturday is slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch and Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m.
Missouri is in second place in the Big 12 after winning its last three Big 12 series (Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor) with an 8-2 mark in its last 10 games.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The three-game series will be broadcast live on the Sooners' flagship station, KOKC 1520 AM, with Chuck Kelly calling the play-by-play. All three games will be carried live on the internet via Yahoo and Sunday's game will also be available on SIRIUS Satellite Radio on Ch. 140. Pre-game coverage for all games, now begins 25 minutes prior to the first pitch. Fans wanting to hear the Sooners' broadcast inside Taylor Stadium can tune to 90.9 FM.
Fans can E-mail the radio booth by clicking the following link - E-mail your questions to the radio booth and the OU broadcast crew will answer your questions during the Sooners' games.
Live stats for all games this season can be viewed on Soonersports.com. A live webcast will also be available for a fee on www.mutigers.com.
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UPDATING THE SOONERS
After a doubleheader was rained out against Texas Arlington, OU returned to action over the weekend against Bedlam rival Oklahoma State.
The Sooners were swept for the first time this season in a three-game set after losing a pair of leads late in one-run games on Friday and Sunday.
The Sooners lost a four-run lead in the first game and fell 8-7 at Drillers' Stadium in Tulsa. In game two, the Cowboys cruised to a 10-2 victory in Oklahoma City and clinched the series with a 2-0 lead. During Sunday's finale, the Sooners again held a late lead, 7-5 in the ninth, but fell again, 8-7.
PLAYER TO WATCH: AARON BAKER
OU's first baseman, who began the season on a 22-game hitting streak, has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games. In that span, Baker is hitting .326 (16-for-49) with 12 RBIs off two homers, six doubles and a triple.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
The Tigers were picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' poll and currently sit second in the standings after defeating Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas and Nebraska. Texas A&M is the only Big 12 foe to take a series away from the Tigers in 2007.
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Sophomore right-hander Aaron Crow will take the mound in Friday's series opener. Crow, who made 19 appearances (13 starts) last year, is 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA this season. In 88 innings pitched, Crow has 64 strikeouts and 28 walks. In 2006, Crow lasted six innings in a start against the Sooners in a no-decision. Then a freshman, he struck out five and allowed two runs on six hits. Crow was 1-4 last season and ranked third on the team with 77 2/3 innings and 60 Ks.
Offensively, Missouri is led by Evan Frey's .351 batting average. The junior centerfielder leads the Tigers with 59 hits, 53 runs and ranks second with nine stolen bases. Sophomore Ryan Lollis owns a team-best 43 RBIs. The right fielder is hitting .304, third best on the club.
OU leads the all-time series with Missouri, 117-77. In last year's meeting in Norman, OU swept the three-game set, avenging the 2-1 series defeat in Columbia in 2005. OU and Missouri also met in the Big 12 Championship in 2006, where the Tigers handed the Sooners an 11-0 defeat. Since the formation of the Big 12 in 1997, the Sooners lead the Tigers, 22-11, and their only series losses have come in Columbia (2005, 2003 and 1999). The Sooners' career stats versus Missouri can be found on page 8.
FAN APPRECIATION TAKE TWO
After “Fan Appreciation Day” was rained out on May 1, the OU baseball team announced that it will be celebrated on Monday, May 14 against Stephen F. Austin at L. Dale Mitchell Park (6:30 p.m.). All fans will receive free admission and $.50 cokes and popcorn will be available while supplies last. The game, which will also mark Senior Night for eight OU seniors, against the Lumberjacks was added to the schedule earlier this week after the Sooners had three of the last five midweek games cancelled due to inclement weather.
NEXT UP
OU returns home for a four-game home stand to close out the 2007 regular season. The home stand begins with Stephen F. Austin on Monday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. Following the midweek game, OU will host Texas Tech in a three-game set. The series begins on Friday, May 18 at 7 p.m. and continues on Saturday at 3 p.m. The finale on Sunday is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
SOONERS IN THE BIG 12
OU's 4.15 team ERA ranks sixth in the conference. The Sooners rank fourth in overall batting average with a .302 team clip and its .968 fielding percentage ranks sixth in the conference. Below is a look at the current standings:
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OU STAFF LEADS BIG 12 IN STRIKEOUTS
The Sooner hurlers enter this week as the Big 12's leader in strikeouts with 392. Texas A&M is second with 379 and Kansas is third with 378. The OU staff, which is 14th in the country in strikeouts per game with an 8.4 average, features two of the conference best strikeout artists in Stephen Porlier and Nich Conaway. Porlier leads the Big 12 with 86 strikeouts, while Conaway is sixth with 75. In 2006, OU recorded 480 strikeouts, the most since the 1998 season (548). At the end of last year's regular season, the Sooners had 397 strikeouts and recorded 80 K's in 11 postseason games.
CONAWAY SIXTH NATIONALLY IN STRIKEOUT AVERAGE
While OU's staff ranks 14th nationally with an 8.4 strikeout per game average, sophomore Nich Conaway is sixth in the country with a 12.4 average per nine innings. The hard-throwing righty has 75 K's in 54 1/3 innings of work. Conaway's 75 strikeouts ranks sixth in the Big 12 and his 46, in conference play only, ranks fourth.
10 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
The number 10 has proven to be an important statistic in determining the Sooners' record this season. When OU records 10 or more hits on offense, it is 18-7 with losses to Western Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas (2) and Oklahoma State (2). Additionally, the Sooners are 8-0 when they score 10 or more runs. On defense, OU is 5-12 when it allows 10 or more hits and in comparison 0-6 when it allows the opponent to score 10 or more runs this season (South Carolina, Western Kentucky, Nebraska, TCU, Kansas State and OSU). In comparison, OU is 22-4 when it holds the opposition under 10 base knocks.
OKLAHOMA/BIG 12 RPI's
Although not official, Boydsworld.com provides a weekly pseudo RPI system. OU is ranked No. 31 in the latest ranking released on Thursday, May 10. The Big 12 is rated the No. 3 power conference in the nation behind the SEC and the ACC. The Big 12 has four teams ranked in the top 30 along with the Sooners (No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 19 Missouri and No. 24 Nebraska). Kansas State (32), Baylor (40), Oklahoma State (49), Texas Tech (66) and Kansas (114) round out the conference's RPI's.
TOP 25 RANKINGS
OU was not ranked in the top 25 for the fourth consecutive week. Refer to page six for OU's week-by-week rankings.
WILLIAMS FINDS NEW HOME?
Junior catcher Jackson Williams has the most experience for the Sooners at the plate with 536 career at-bats. However, Sunday's appearance batting in the three-hole was just the second time in his career that he hit in that spot in the lineup. Williams finished Sunday's game against Oklahoma State with a 4-for-5 performance with two RBIs. The only other game Williams hit third in the lineup was on Feb. 11, 2007. Williams pinch hit in that game against Western Kentucky and was 0-for-2 with an RBI.
Williams has been swinging a hot bat lately. He finished the Bedlam Series 6-for-13 (.462) with five RBIs and had his career-high, eight-game hitting streak halted. In the last 10 games, the junior has hit safely in nine games with 14 runs driven in and the four hits on May 6 was a career high.
IVEY HONORED BY LOWE'S AND ESPN THE MAGAZINE
Senior Aaron Ivey had a stellar week on the award circuit. Ivey was named one of ten finalists for the Baseball Division of the 2007 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. In addition, Ivey became the second Sooner in program history to garner Academic All-District honors in consecutive seasons. Ivey was named a first team member by ESPN The Magazine and CoSIDA and is eligible for Academic All-America honors.
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Ivey, who was a 2006 CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American in 2006, currently leads the Sooners with a .355 batting average and 18 stolen bases. Ivey has hit safely in 13 of the last 14 games with six multiple-hit performances in that span. In addition, the Oklahoma City native has stolen 13 bases in the last 13 games. Fan balloting is available, from May 10 through June 6, on the award's official website www.seniorclassaward.com, and will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the 2007 award.
PORLIER MAKING HIS MARK
Sophomore Stephen Porlier continues to make his mark in his first season in Norman. Porlier leads the Big 12 with 86 strikeouts and is also first in Big 12 games only with 51 K's. Porlier has four or more punch outs in each of his 13 appearances this season, including a season-high 12 batters against Texas A&M on March 23 and 11 versus Baylor on April 5. He has lasted five or more innings in 11 of his 12 starts.
On April 27 against Kansas, Porlier threw his fifth scoreless outing of 2007 with seven innings of four-hit ball. He tossed the first complete game shutout of his career on April 14 against Nebraska with six strike outs. The four-hit shutout was the first for a Sooner since Daniel McCutchen shut down UC Riverside (10 IP) on March 3, 2006.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
OU is outscoring its opponents 39-15 in the first inning of games played this season. OU is 8-5 when it scores in the first frame, (6-5 when opponent scores in the first) and when the Sooners tack on the game's initial run, they are 17-7 (11-13 when opponent scores first).
TAYLOR ADDED TO WALLACE WATCH LIST
Junior Heath Taylor was added to the field of candidates aiming for the 2007 Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award, the College Baseball Foundation announced on May 2. The list was reduced to the top 112 NCAA players and included the Sooners' left-handed hurler, who is 7-3 this season with 65 strikeouts and a 3.98 ERA. Taylor, a transfer from Vernon Junior College, is 4-3 in his eight starts since moving from the bullpen. In is first start against Michigan State, Taylor recorded 11 strikeouts, tied for the second highest total by a Sooner this season, and limited the Spartans to one earned run off three hits and one walk. Prior to the start, Taylor was impressive out of the Sooners' bullpen with a 3-0 record and 2.14 ERA. In his last five relief outings, the lefty recorded 17 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings pitched.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
OU is 9-8 this season against ranked teams, suffering losses to then-No. 4 South Carolina (13-2), then-No. 8 Texas A&M (7-3 on March 23) then-No. 7 Texas (games one and two), then-No. 27 TCU and then-No 17 Oklahoma State (three games). The Sooners have recorded wins over then-No. 11 Wichita State, then-No. 20 UC Riverside (three games), then-No. 22 San Diego, Texas A&M (twice), Texas (game three) and then-No. 28 TCU.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
The Sooners are 8-1 in midweek games this season with wins over Wichita State and TCU, which are both ranked in the top 25 polls this week. The Sooners one blemish came against TCU in Fort Worth on April 17. In the nine midweek games, the Sooners are hitting .328 and averaging 7.6 runs and 10.8 hits. OU is 20-7 this season against non-conference opponents (22-7 last season).
BASE THIEVES
Oklahoma's 80 stolen bases after 48 games ranks second in the Big 12 behind Texas A&M (116). Aaron Ivey leads all Sooners with 18 swipes and is followed by Aljay Davis (16), Aaron Ivey (13) and Joe Dunigan with 13. The last time an OU team had three or more Sooners steal 10 or more bases in a season was 2003. That OU squad swiped 91 bases (tied for 14th most in school history) and was led by Reggie Willits (37), Denver Kitch (14), Eddie Cornejo (10) and Jay Yaconetti (10).
DAVIS' BIG DAY
After missing his first start of the season in Friday's series opener at Kansas State, Aljay Davis came back in game two to drive in six runs off four hits. Davis' six RBIs marks the first time a Sooner drove in six or more runs since Chris Elbright had nine RBIs on March 28, 1987 against Oklahoma City.
DONE-AGAIN
Joe Dunigan continues to get the job done offensively in his third season in Norman. Dunigan is tied for first on the team with 19 multiple-hit games with Aaron Reza. Dunigan is also tied for second with Reza with 11 multiple-RBI games (behind Aaron Baker'13). Dunigan is currently second on the team with a .349 batting average and leads all Sooners with a .571 SLG% and 8 homers (second with 43 RBIs). In his first two years in Norman, Dunigan hit a combined .273 and drove in 36 runs off five homers. During one stretch, Dunigan hit safely in a career-high nine straight games.. In that span, he had 18 RBIs on 17 hits
BAKER'S HITTING STREAK
Freshman Aaron Baker's hitting streak of 22 games came to an end on Sunday, March 18 against Michigan State, despite being issued two walks. Baker's streak ranks third all-time at Oklahoma behind Derek Wathan's 25-game mark (1997-1998) and Marty Neff's 27-game streak (1991). The first baseman leads OU with 44 RBIs, a mark that ranks eighth in the Big 12. Baker is also third among all Sooners with a .335 batting average. On March 13, Baker tied the OU freshman record for consecutive games hit safely with 19.
The streak is not the only records Baker is setting in his first season in Norman. In game two of the Western Illinois series on Feb. 24, he was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as he tied an Oklahoma record with five hits. Baker became the 22nd player in OU history to accomplish the feat and the first since Greg Dobbs had five base knocks in 2001 (UTA).
REZA'S RETURN
Since Aaron Reza's return to the lineup, the Sooners are 26-19 and the shortstop is hitting .333 with 37 RBIs, marks that ranks fourth and third, respectively, on the team. Reza drove in 33 RBIs in his first season in Norman.
For games played from Feb. 27 through March 4 this season, Reza was tabbed the Big 12 Player of the Week as he helped OU register four wins against ranked opponents (No. 11 Wichita State and No. 20 UC Riverside), Reza hit .588 (10-for-17) with nine RBIs. In that span, Reza was a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts and connected for his second career home run, while tying his career high for hits (3) in two games and setting a career high with four RBIs on March 2 against the Highlanders.
RICHARDS NAMED TO STOPPER OF THE YEAR LIST
Garrett Richards was among forty players named to the midseason watch list for the third annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award. The award will be given to the top relief pitcher in Division I college baseball. Richards is third in the Big 12 with nine saves, a mark that already ranks in a tie for fourth place at OU for a single season. His nine conversions also is tied for fifth best in a career for a Sooner. In his 23 appearances, Richards (1-1) has blown two saves (Feb. 25 against WIU and May 7 vs. OSU) and has struck out 22 batters over 26 1/3 innings pitched. In the series finale against Texas A&M, he tossed a career-high 4 2/3 to record his first career victory and his only loss came against Oklahoma State in the series finale.
Johnson and Carmichael Postgame vs North Carolina
Monday, June 02
BB Highlights: OU 9, UNC 5
Monday, June 02
Johnson, Dickerson, Willits Postgame vs North Carolina
Sunday, June 01
BB Highlights: OU 17, Nebraska 1
Sunday, June 01
