No. 16 Sooners' Road Trip Continues

Feb. 26, 2009

No. 16 Sooners (5-1) at Washington State (0-3)
Location	Pullman, Wash. \| Bailey-Brayton Field
Game 7	Friday, Feb. 27 - 5:30 p.m. CT
Games 8 and 9	Saturday, Feb. 28 - 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT
Game 10	Friday, Feb. 27 - 5:30 p.m. CT
Radio	KOKC 1520 AM - Games 9-10
Online	Live Stats \| Live Audio
Game Information	Game Notes \| 2009 Media Guide

PULLMAN, Wash. -- No. 16 OU (5-1) continues the second longest road trip of the season as they head to Pullman, Wash., for a four-game set with Washington State (0-3) at Bailey-Brayton Field. The series begins on Friday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. CST. On Saturday, the teams play a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday at 2 p.m.

OU and WSU have met on eight previous occasions with the Cougars owning a 6-2 advantage. They last meeting was in 2008, a 3-1 series victory for WSU in Norman. OU won the last game 14-2 and the other win in the series came in 1977, a 5-4 Sooner victory in Las Vegas. Prior to that series, the two last met during the 1987 season, also a series win (2-0) for the visiting Cougars. The first meeting came on the sport's largest stage, the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. WSU won that game 6-1.

The Cougars, under sixth year head coach Donnie Marbut (115-115), were swept in the opening weekend series at Arkansas. WSU was picked to finish eighth in the Pac 10 after finishing in that same spot with a 30-26 overall record last year and an 8-16 conference mark.

The WSU pitching staff has a 4.91 ERA. Matt Way, Jared Prince and Chad Arnold will start and also comprised last weekend's starting rotation and saw action last year versus OU. Offensively, sophomore Shea Vucinich leads the way with a .429 clip. He was a All-Pac 10 honoree and was 5-for-16 (two RBIs) last year against Oklahoma.

WASHINGTON STATE SERIES INFORMATION
WSU leads 6-2
In Norman WSU leads 5-1
Neutral Tied 1-1
First Meeting: WSU won 6-1 | CWS - June 12, 1976 (Omaha, Neb.)
Last Meeting: OU won 14-2 | March 16, 2008 (Norman, Okla.)

GAME 7 - Friday, Feb. 27
First Pitch 5:30 p.m. CST
OU Starter Andrew Doyle - RHP (1-0)
WSU Starter Matt Way- LHP (0-1)
Audio All-Access/Soonersports.com

GAME 8 - Saturday, Feb. 28
First Pitch 2 p.m. CST
OU Starter Antwonie Hubbard - RHP (1-0)
WSU Starter Jared Prince - RHP (0-0)
Audio All-Access/Soonersports.com

GAME 9 - Saturday, Feb. 28
First Pitch 5:30 p.m. CST
OU Starter C.J. Blue - LHP (1-0)
WSU Starter Spencer Jackson- LHP (0-0)
Audio KOKC 1520 AM and Soonersports.com

GAME 10 - Sunday, March 1
First Pitch 2 p.m. CST
OU Starter Garrett Richards - RHP (0-0)
WSU Starter Chad Arnold - RHP (0-0)
Audio KOKC 1520 AM and Soonersports.com

PLAYER TO WATCH - ANDREW DOYLE
The Sooners' ace will get the nod in game one of the Washington State series. Doyle was effective in the 2009 opener, lasting six innings with nine strikeouts to record the win. He was also the only Sooner to defeat Washington State in Norman last year.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
The first two games of the series will be broadcast live on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access, SoonerSports.com's premium paid site. The final two games of the series will be aired live on KOKC 1520 AM with Chuck Kelly calling the play-by-play.

LIVE STATS
Live stats are available for all games on SoonerSports.com to both media and fans. This feature allows individuals to follow a live box score of the game. The box score gives a detailed play-by-play as well as updated stats as the game progresses. All home games and most of the team's road games can be viewed on www.SoonerSports.com.

UP NEXT
OU returns home on March 3 to host a doubleheader with Arkansas Little Rock at L. Dale Mitchell Park. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. in Norman. Following the midweek contests, OU welcomes No. 9 UCLA to L. Dale Mitchell Park for a three-game series over the weekend (March 6-8).

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners split a two-game series at No. 11 San Diego. OU cruised past the Toreros, 11-2, in game one and dropped the second game, 10-7.

SCORING RUNS
The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs in four of the six games this season with a 12.83 average per contest. OU is 4-0 when they score 10-plus runs in a game in 2009. In addition, the Sooners are averaging 14.5 hits per game with 10 or more hits in all but one game. The Sooners have outhit the opposition in each of their six games.

OU IN BIG 12 RANKS
The Sooners can be found up and down the Big 12 statistics released on Feb. 26. The Sooners' offense leads all conference teams in batting average (.405), runs (77), hits (87), doubles (20), triples (50), homers (9) and RBIs (68).

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Individually, Bryant Hernandez ranks second in batting average (.625), first in hits (15) and doubles (4), third in runs (12) and fourth in slugging percentage (1.042). Jamie Johnson is not far behind as he ranks fourth in batting average (.600), first in hits (15) and runs (16), second in doubles (2) and second in slugging percentage (1.200).

5-0 STARTS
Following Tuesday's win at San Diego, OU improved to 5-0. The last time an OU team started a season 5-0 was in 1998 when the Sooners rattled off 12 straight wins to begin the campaign.

EFFECTIVE RELIEF
The Sooner relievers were effective in the four-game series against Western Illinois and allowed just four runs off 10 hits. The bullpen did not allow a run in the first three games and surrendered just four hits in eight innings of action during that three-game span.

SOONERS LEAD THE WAY
Through four games, the Sooners have trailed for just 7 2/3 of the 48 innings played.

BASEBALL AMERICA TABS SOONERS NO. 16
The Sooners were slotted at No. 16 in Baseball America's top 25 preseason poll. The last time OU was ranked in the preseason was prior to the 2006 season, when the Sooners went on to win the NCAA Norman Regional. It also marks the highest preseason ranking for OU by Baseball America since the 1996 season when it appeared at No. 14.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
Oklahoma will face 12 opponents, for a total of 27 games, that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament, including nine teams that finished the season ranked in the top 25. Six of those opponents (Nebraska, Oklahoma State, San Diego, TCU, Texas A&M, Wichita State) posted 40 wins a year ago, while Texas A&M and Wichita State both advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Sooners will face seven of the teams ranked in Baseball America's preseason poll for a combined 18 games. Six of those contests will be played at L. Dale Mitchell Park with No. 12 UCLA (March 6-8) and No. 1 Texas A&M (May 15-17) coming to town for a pair of three-game series.

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