OU Faces Pivotal Series in Lubbock

OU (26-16-1, 4-10-1) at Texas Tech (20-23, 5-13)
Game 44	Friday, April 25 - 6:05 p.m.
Game 45	Saturday, April 26 - 2 p.m.
Game 46	Sunday, April 27 - 1 p.m.
Location	Dan Law Field
Radio	Sooner Sports Radio Network
Online	Live Audio in All-Access \| Texas Tech Webcast
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com / GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF) \| OU Media Guide

LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Oklahoma Sooners (26-16-1 overall, 4-10-1 Big 12) travel to Texas Tech (20-23, 5-13) Thursday in search of their first conference series win on the road in 2008.

This weekend can be pivotal for the Sooners. OU sits ninth in the Big 12 standings while Texas Tech is tenth with three weekends of action remaining in the regular season.

OU will open the three-game set against Texas Tech on Friday, April 25 at 6:05 p.m. at Dan Law Field.

The Sooners and Red Raiders continue the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. and first pitch on Sunday for the series finale is slated for 1 p.m.

RADIO BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three games of the Texas Tech series will be broadcast live on the Sooners' flagship station, KOKC 1520 AM, with Chuck Kelly providing the play-by-play. Saturday and Sunday's game will be joined in progress following OU softball's games versus Texas at 2 p.m. and noon, respectively. Also on Sunday, the game will be aired over the Sooner Sports Radio Network, enabling fans to listen to affiliates across the state of Oklahoma and in neighboring states.

Fans inside the stadium can listen to OU's broadcast on 89.5 FM.

Live audio will also be available on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access,
SoonerSports.com's premium site.

MORE OKLAHOMA BASEBALL ONLINE
WEB CAST: A live web cast for all three of this weekend's games will be available on TexasTech.com.

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available for all games on SoonerSports.com.

SOONER TO WATCH - RYAN DUKE
The freshman lasted five innings in each of his two starts last week, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven batters in 10 IP. Duke earned his fifth win of the year in his first Big 12 start on April 20 vs. Missouri and will start again this weekend.

UPDATING THE SOONERS
Oklahoma has won four of its last seven games and split a pair of midweek games earlier this week. On Tuesday, the Sooners topped TCU, 11-6, for the second straight week. The 11 runs, combined with the 22 scored in the previous game against Missouri, was the most in a two-game span for an OU club since 2005. On Wednesday, the Sooners dropped an 8-4 decision to Southern Nazarene.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
Game 44: Friday, April 25
Zach Stewart | RHP | Jr. | 2-1, 3.90 ERA, 30.0 IP, 28 K, 12 BB
vs.
Andrew Doyle | RHP | So. | 5-3, 3.46 ERA, 65.0 IP, 46 K, 25 BB

Game 45: Saturday, April 26
Chad Bettis | RHP | Fr. | 3-3, 5.09 ERA, 53.0 IP, 32 K, 23 BB
vs.
Jeremy Erben | RHP | So. | 1-0, 4.40 ERA, 47.0 IP, 34 K, 24 BB

Game 46: Sunday, April 27
Nathan Karns | RHP | So. | 2-6, 9.00 ERA, 37.0 IP, 38 K, 31 BB
vs.
Ryan Duke | RHP | Fr. | 5-3, 3.20 ERA, 45.0 IP, 38 K, 18 BB

UP NEXT
The Sooners will host No. 7 Wichita State on Wednesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. in the final midweek game of the season. Following the televised game with the Shockers (Cox Ch. 7 in OKC), OU will hit the road again to battle Kansas for a three-game Big 12 series from May 2-4.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
Record: 20-23 overall, 5-13 Big 12
Ranking: NA
Overall Series: OU leads 26-22-1 (Big 12: 16-16-1)

Since snapping an eight-game losing streak on April 20 with a 19-4 win over visiting Kansas State, the Red Raiders have won their last three games. Texas Tech topped New Mexico in two mid week games on Tuesday (0-0) and Wednesday (0-0).

Offensively, Texas Tech is hitting .289 as a team and ranks sixth overall in the conference. Junior Willie Rueda leads the team with a .343 clip but fellow junior Roger Kieschnick posts the best power numbers with 13 homers and 49 RBIs , which rank first and third, respectively in the Big 12.

On the mound, Texas Tech owns the league's worst overall ERA (6.02) and will be without ace A.J. Ramos who has a partially torn UCL and is out for the remainder of the season. Starting in his spot in Friday's series opener will be junior Zach Stewart. The right-hander is fourth on the team with 17 appearances but will be making his start as a Red Raider.

MORE ON THE OU-TEXAS TECH SERIES
The Sooners won the last three-game series with Texas Tech in 2007 at L. Dale Mitchell Park. After OU won games one and two by one run, Texas Tech rallied in the third game to post a 15-5 run-rule victory, ending OU's nine-game winning streak in the series. The Sooners swept the last series played in Lubbock in 2006.

- OU leads overall series 26-22-1
- OU and TTU have split the Big 12 meetings 16-16-1
- Texas Tech has won six of the 11 Big 12 series
- The 2001 series in Norman was split with a tie in the series finale (7-7)
- Sooners swept the series in 2003, 2005 and 2006
- The 2006 sweep is OU's only series win in Lubbock
- OU is 7-10 overall in games played in Lubbock
- OU won the series opener in each of the last five series
- OU is 7-3 in one-run games against Texas Tech, winning three of the last five games in that fashion

SOONER HOME RUNS BY THE NUMBERS
After 43 games, the Sooners have connected for 39 homers in 2008. That total surpasses the 37 hit last season in 58 games played.Below is a closer look at OU's homers in 2008:

20 - Number of OU home runs with zero runners on base
11 - OU has led off an inning 10 times with a HR
10 - Number of Sooners that have homered on the first pitch
10 - Number of OU home runs hit with two outs
10 - OU has nine multi-homer games this season, including a season-high four against Western Illinois and Houston
9 - Number of go-ahead home runs hit when OU is tied or trailing. OU has five game-tying homers.
3 - OU has led off a game three times with a homer this season, including the last time on April 18 (Jamie Johnson vs. Missouri). Mike Gosse led off the Houston game and on March 8 vs. WIU with homers.
3 - Number of times OU has homered twice in the same inning (last: April 20 vs. Missouri)

MORE ON THE RUN RULE OVER MISSOURI
The 22 runs scored on April 20 is the second most by an OU team in a Big 12 regular season game and tied the mark set in 2003 against Kansas State (W, 22-6) ... That game on May 11 was also the last time OU run ruled a Big 12 team during a regular season game ... OU's 22-4 victory marked the largest margin of victory in a Big 12 regular season game for the Sooners ... The Sooners connected for more hits with runners in scoring position on April 20 (17), than the previous two games (8).

SCORING FIRST
The Sooners are 14-6-1 this season when scoring first, suffering losses to Texas A&M (GM1&2), Baylor (GM3), Nebraska (GM1), Missouri (GM1) and Southern Nazarene (GM2). The Sooners have struck first in seven of their 15 Big 12 games. OU has also scored in the first inning on 20 occasions and holds a 13-6-1 record in those contests with losses to SNU (GM2), Missouri (GM1), Texas A&M (GM1&2), Baylor (GM3) and Washington State (GM1).

SUCCESS IN THE FOURTH
The Sooners have found offensive success in the fourth inning this year. The Sooners' top totals this year have come in the fourth frame, including a .377 batting average, 51 runs scored, 69 hits, 47 RBIs and 11 homers.

OU UNDER GOLLOWAY IN EXTRA INNINGS
The Sooners have had success early on with games played in extra innings. OU is 4-1-1 this season with wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, Houston, Baylor, TCU and a tie at Nebraska. The only loss was suffered against then-No. 11 Missouri on April 19. In his fourth season at OU, head coach Sunny Golloway is 12-1-1 when his Sooners play in extra frames.

10 OR MORE IS A PLUS
OU has 10 or more hits in 24 games this season owns a 16-7-1 record in those contests. The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs on 10 occasions and are undefeated in those contests. In comparison, opponents have connected for 10-plus hits in 20 games (9-10-1 record). In addition, OU is 0-4 when opponents score 10 or more runs.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS
Oklahoma is 14-1 this season in midweek games this season, topping the opposition by an average of 5.3 runs. The Sooners are averaging 8.67 runs per game and hitting .333 as a team. In addition, the pitchers have held their own, posting a 2.91 earned run average. Until the loss to Southern Nazarene, OU was the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference in midweek play.

FREEMAN NAMED A FINALIST FOR LOWE'S AWARD
OU senior Jarod Freeman was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2008 Lowe's Senior Class Award on April 17. Freeman's selection marks the second consecutive year that a Sooner has appeared on the finalist list (Aaron Ivey - 2007). The 10 student-athletes were chosen from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete, including: classroom, community, character and competition. The 10 finalists will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award baseball ballot for a nationwide vote (April 17-June 2. Fan balloting, available on the award's official website www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the winner.

QUALITY STARTS AND RELIEF
The Sooners have found success on the mound when receiving quality starts from their pitchers. Only 11 starts have been under five innings and 14 have lasted six or more innings (OU 9-5 in those games).

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Sooners have are 5-11-1 so far this season against ranked competition with wins against then-No. 1 UCLA, then-No. 20 Baylor (2), then-No. 14 Texas and then-No. 11 Missouri. OU also lost to then-No. 9 Rice, then-No. 22 Nebraska (2), Texas (2), then-No.11 Texas A&M (3) and then No. 11 Missouri (2). OU still has four games remaining against teams ranked in the top 25 this week; 1 vs. Wichita State (No. 7)and 3 vs. Oklahoma State (No. 14).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors