OU Tops SFA on Senior Night

NORMAN, Okla. -- The OU baseball team took care of visiting Stephen F. Austin on Senior Night with a 10-6 victory on Monday at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Before the game, the program honored eight seniors (Aaron Ivey, Chris Henry, Joseph Hughes, Matt Lovelady, Joseph Newman, Joel Pedretti, Jimmy Rollins and Cory Williamson) on the field and presented them with framed jerseys for their careers at OU.

The Sooners finished the non-conference portion of 2007 with a 9-1 record in midweek games and improved to 30-22 overall (9-15 in Big 12) with Monday's win. Stephen F. Austin dropped to 28-25 after surrendering 10 runs off 14 hits. The Sooners' offense has recorded 10 or more hits in 11 of the last 12 games.

OU used timely hitting against the Lumberjacks, recording seven of its 14 hits and four of its six RBIs in two-out situations. Following the game, Sooners' head coach Sunny Golloway stressed the importance of the timely hitting and playing in a midweek game for the first time in four weeks due to inclement weather.

Box Score | 2007 Stats | 2007 Schedule

“Getting clutch hitting is something we've been talking about all year and losing midweek games can hurt that, because you don't get in rhythm,” said Golloway. “This is a big win because it gives us some momentum heading into the weekend. We always stress taking things one game at a time, and now our focus shifts to Friday's game against Texas Tech.”

Senior Aaron Ivey led the way offensively for OU with three hits and his team-leading 20th stolen base on the season. The last time a Sooner swiped 20 or more bags in a season was 2003, when Reggie Willits stole 37 for OU. Aaron Reza also connected for three hits and put OU ahead 8-5 on a run-scoring double down the left-field line in the seventh.

Freshman Andrew Doyle picked up his first win of the season with three effective innings of relief. Doyle allowed two hits and zero walks with one strikeout. For Stephen F. Austin, Heath Koneshcek (0-4) took the loss after giving up three runs on one hit and two walks in one inning of relief.

Next up for the Sooners is a three-game series against Texas Tech in Norman, which marks the end of the regular season for Oklahoma. The Red Raiders defeated New Mexico on Monday in Lubbock. Friday's opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park is set for 7 p.m. and will be followed by games on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Sooners currently are tied for seventh in the Big 12 standings with Baylor and ahead of Kansas (8-15) and Texas Tech (7-16). Below is a look at the Big 12 standings.

Big 12 Standings	Big 12 (Pct.)	Overall (Pct.)
1. Texas	18-6 (.750)	39-14 (.736)
2. Oklahoma State	16-8 (.667)	37-13 (.740)
3. Missouri	16-8 (.667)	35-14 (.714)
4. Texas A&M	13-10 (.565)	40-12 (.769)
5. Nebraska	12-12 (.500)	27-21 (.562)
6. Kansas State	10-13 (.435)	32-19 (.627)
7. Oklahoma	9-15 (.375)	30-22 (.577)
8. Baylor	9-15 (.375)	28-23 (.549)
9. Kansas	8-15 (.348)	27-28 (.491)
10. Texas Tech	7-16 (.304)	27-24 (.529)

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