Duke Earns National Distinction

March 11, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. -- Two days after being named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, sophomore closer Ryan Duke was selected to this week's "National All-Star Lineup" announced by the College Baseball Foundation and Diamond Sports. Honorees are nominated by college coaches, staff, and baseball media contacts.

The Sooners' closer did not allow a run and recorded three saves in three consecutive days last week to lead OU to a series sweep over UCLA.

Click here to see the complete lineup for week 3.

In 3 1/3 innings of shutout action against the Bruins over the weekend, Duke did not surrender a walk and only allowed one hit in the three relief appearances. He also struck out four batters and held opponents to a .091 batting average.

After recording three saves in three straight days, Duke became the first Sooner pitcher to accomplish the feat in four years (Will Savage, 2005). On Friday, Duke recorded his first career save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and duplicated the feat after facing the minimum number of batters on Saturday. During the series finale, Duke posted his team-leading third save despite giving up his one blemish of the weekend, a leadoff double.

Duke (1-0, 3.00 ERA) has not allowed a run in five of his six games this season and has held the opposition to one hit or less in each of those appearances.

Oklahoma (15-3), winner of its last eight games, travels to Tampa, Fla., this weekend to play in the USF Bulls Baseball Classic. OU will begin the tournament on Friday with Bethune Cookman on the South Florida campus. On Saturday, the Sooners will play the host Bulls before concluding the weekend with Eastern Illinois on Sunday

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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