Completed Event: Baseball versus (2) Georgia Tech on May 31, 2026 , Win , 15, to, 8
Final
Baseball
15
vs (2) Georgia Tech
8
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Baseball Holds Annual Media Day
February 12, 2008 | Baseball
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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Even with only two returning starters in his lineup, Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway is confident the Sooners will be ready to perform when the baseball season begins.
The late start to this season has given Golloway and his staff an extra couple weeks to focus on fundamentals and creating chemistry with the young team.
"We're probably more concerned they'll forget their toothbrush," Golloway said Tuesday at the Sooners' annual media day. "We've got young people that haven't traveled around the country, and I think that takes getting used to."
Oklahoma won't have long to make that adjustment. The Sooners start the season Feb. 22 with a three-game series at UCLA, the No. 1 team in Baseball America's preseason poll, and then face 2007 College World Series participant Rice a week later.
The Sooners have only two of their everyday position players back from last season's squad that went 34-24 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years. Aljay Davis will move from second base to center field, the position he played in junior college, while Aaron Baker, a freshman All-American last season, will be back at his familiar first base position and perhaps help out behind the plate.
The rotation will also be revamped behind right-hander Stephen Porlier, the Sooners' strikeout leader from last season. Porlier, a junior who transferred to Oklahoma from Tulane, said there's more of a sense of camaraderie on this team than previous ones.
"I think it's just coach Golloway getting us all to buy into this one common goal that we all have, and that common goal isn't necessarily Omaha right now," said Porlier, who went 7-5 with 99 strikeouts last season. "It's about working today and taking it day by day.
"We're not looking too far into the future. We're going to remember the past and remember what didn't work, and we're going to focus on getting better today and only today."
Porlier expects the Sooners to be driven by their near-miss on the postseason last year. Oklahoma finished seventh in the Big 12, and the six teams ahead of them in the standings all made it to the NCAA tournament.
"We're not going to let any team off easy and we're going to take that chip on our shoulder to every ballgame, and we're going to remind every team of why we should make the regional this year," Porlier said.
Key losses from last season include catcher Jackson Williams, a first-round pick in the major league draft; outfielder Joe Dunigan, a fifth-round pick; and left-hander Heath Taylor, who led the Sooners in wins and was a 10th-round draft pick.
"Would it be nice to have those guys back? Sure, but that's not college baseball and you don't use that as any type of excuse," Golloway said. "We want our young people to come in, perform at a high level and have the opportunity to sign a professional contract."
Plenty of questions remain with so many new faces. Golloway expects Porlier and fellow right-hander Chase Anderson, a junior college transfer, to start out as two of his three weekend starters in a rotation that will feature Porlier as the only pitcher beyond his sophomore year. But Golloway sees as many as 11 pitchers filling roles.
"I think our depth will allow us to kind of juggle that as we go. We'll start out with three guys in a set rotation for our first weekend, but our people understand that that's subject to change based on performance," Golloway said.
The lineup presents even more decisions for the Sooners' third-year head coach.
"If you asked me our strength, it's definitely pitching first, defense and then being able to manufacture runs," Golloway said. "That's always been the key to have success ultimately in postseason play for NCAA baseball.
"We'll stick to our guns with what we're doing."
The 2007 season was the first time in a decade that Golloway wasn't a part of the NCAA tournament. He made the postseason his final six years as the head coach at Oral Roberts, once as an assistant at Oklahoma and then twice as the Sooners' head coach.
"We have a good feeling that we're going to turn some heads this year," said right-hander Jake McCarter, who transferred from Alabama and will be one of the Sooners' closers. "So I'll be anxious to see what happens."
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