Sooners Host Bears Tuesday 7 p.m.

March 23, 2009

No. 10 Sooners (20-5) vs. Central Arkansas (12-9)
Location	Norman, Okla. \| L. Dale Mitchell Park
Game 26	vs. Central Arkansas - March 24 - 7 p.m.
Promotions	$.50 hot dogs and cokes
Web cast	Oklahoma All-Access
Online Audio	Oklahoma All-Access
Live Stats	SoonersSports.com
Game Information	Game Notes \| 2009 Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -- Fresh off a 2-1 series win over then-No. 26 Kansas State last weekend, the No. 10 Sooners (20-5) return to action at home on Tuesday, March 24 against Central Arkansas (12-9). First pitch at L. Dale Mitchell Park is slated for 7 p.m.

OU is ranked as high as No. 10 this week in the NCBWA poll. The Sooners come in at No. 11 in the USA Today/ESPN poll, No. 12 by Baseball America and No. 15 by Collegiate Baseball.

Central Arkansas started 2009 with a 9-3 mark, with two of the losses against then-No. 13 Ole Miss. Since then, the Bears have dropped six of the last nine contests. Last weekend, the Bears suffered two losses in a three-game home set against Southeastern Louisiana.

The Bears return 14 letterwinners from a 2008 team that finished ninth in the Southland Conference (13-16-1) and 27-27-1 overall. Head coach Doug Clark entered his seventh year at the helm with a 168-148-1 record.

Central Arkansas enters Tuesday's contest with a .286 batting average is led by junior Tye Throneberry. The junior outfielder leads the club offensively with a .414 average, three homers and 22 RBIs.

The Bears own a 4.74 team ERA and they will send sophomore Reece Cross, a 2008 all-conference honorable mention to the mound. Cross is 2-1 this season with a 6.10 ERA in six appearances (three starts).

GAME 26 - Tuesday, March 24
First Pitch:  7 p.m. CST
OU Starter:  Garrett Richards - RHP (1-1, 9.37)
UCA Starter:  Reece Cross - RHP (2-1, 6.10)
Live Audio:  All-Access/Soonersports.com
Live Video:  All-Access/Soonersports.com

TICKETS
Seats remain for Tuesday's game and gates will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch. Tickets are available at the gate, online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU. The office is open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday on the plaza level of the Asp Avenue parking garage.

WEEKLY PROMOTIONS
Tuesday is $.50 hot dog and coke night ... On Friday, the first 250 fans will receive an OU baseball souvenir cup and a soft drink ... On Saturday, the first 250 fans will receive an OU baseball t-shirt ... On Sunday, the first 250 fans will receive No. 1 OU foam fingers.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Tuesday's game will be available on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access with Chuck Kelly calling the play-by-play. A live webcast will also be available on All-Access. Live stats will be available on SoonerSports.com. A live video webcast will be available

CENTRAL ARKANSAS SERIES INFORMATION
Tuesday's game is the first meeting between OU and Central Arkansas.

LAST TIME OUT
OU finished 2-1 in its opening weekend in Big 12 action. The Sooners dropped Friday's opener at then-No. 26 Kansas State, 9-1, but rallied to win games two and three, 12-11 and 29-4, respectively. The series win marked the fifth straight season that OU rallied to win a series against KSU after dropping the opener.

BIG 12 SERIES OPENERS
The series win over Kansas State marked the fourth time in five years that OU was victorious in its first conference series of the season.

RECORDS FALL IN SOONERS' 29-4 VICTORY
The Sooners' school record 11 home runs in Sunday's finale at Kansas State tied a Big 12 record (OSU hit 11 versus Chicago State) and was two shy of tying an NCAA record. OU hit five home runs in the first inning of that game after putting 17 batters at the plate to score 13 runs (one run shy of tying school record). In the fifth inning, OU hit four more dingers to plate 11 more runs. The Sooners' 29 runs in Sunday's victory is tied for the fourth most runs scored in school history and the most since 1986. OU scored 20-plus runs for the second time this season and the sixth time under head coach Sunny Golloway, three of those games against Big 12 opponents.

UP NEXT
The Sooners continue their four-game home stand over the weekend against Nebraska. The three-game series marks the home opener for Oklahoma in Big 12 play.

EXTRA INNINGS UNDER GOLLOWAY
OU is 2-0 this season in games played in extra innings with victories over Bethune Cookman (5-4 in 10 innings) and Washington State (game two, 9-7 in 11 innings). Since Golloway took over the helm of the Sooner program at the end of the 2005 season, OU is 14-1-1 in extra innings. The lone loss came against Missouri on April 19, 2009.

10-PLUS WINNING STREAKS
The Sooners' recent 10-game winning streak was the fourth under head coach Sunny Golloway since he took over the program four years ago. In addition, since 1962, OU has recorded 14 winning streaks over 10 games and Coach Golloway was at the head of three of those (13-2006, 11-2007 and 11-2008). The 13-game winning streak in 2006 is tied for the seventh best in school history.

12-0 AT HOME
Oklahoma won its 12th game in as many chances on March 10. The perfect start matches the second best by an OU team at home. The 1975 Sooners started the home campaign with a 12-0 mark while the 1974 team started 17-0.

SCORING RUNS
The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs in 11 of the 25 games this season with a 9.92 runs/game average . OU is 11-0 when they score 10-plus runs in a game in 2009. In addition, the Sooners are averaging 12.36 hits per game with double digit hits in all but eight games. The Sooners are 16-1 when they connect for 10-plus hits in a contest.

OU IN BIG 12 RANKS
The Sooners can be found up and down the Big 12 statistics for overall games released on March 23. The Sooners' offense leads all conference teams in batting average (.348), runs (248), hits (309), doubles (63), triples (9), homers (40) and RBIs (222).

ONE-TWO PUNCH
The Sooners have a productive 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup and the proof is in the Big 12's overall statistics as of March 23. Individually, Bryant Hernandez ranks first in hits (37), second in runs (33) and batting average (.424), third in RBIs (29), fourth in total bases (66), and tenth in slugging percentage (.667). Jamie Johnson ranks first in hits (33), runs scored (42), home runs (9), triples (3), total bases (84), and in slugging percentage (.808), third in doubles (9), fifth in batting average (.404), sixth in on-base percentage (.492) and seventh in RBIs (25).

JOHNSON LEADS OFF
Jamie Johnson has been highly successful as OU's leadoff hitter this season and for a majority of 2008. So far in 2009, Johnson has already surpassed his home run total of five from a year ago. Johnson is tied for the Big 12 lead with nine and seven of Johnson's 14 career bombs, have led off a game, including four this season.

MORE ON JOHNSON'S HOMERS
All but three of Jamie Johnson's team-leading nine homers this year have been game tying or go-ahead shots. His first HR against Western Illinois tied the game at one apiece. Against San Diego, his grand slam gave OU a 4-2 lead. In games 11 and 12 of the season against UALR, his leadoff homer gave OU a 1-0 lead. Johnson's solo homer against Bethune Cookman tied the game at one apiece. Finally, Johnson's leadoff homer in game three of the KSU series gave OU a 1-0 lead.

BAKER WALKING
Aaron Baker is tied for second in the Big 12 in walks with 20 on the season. The total was boosted on March 3 during game one of the Arkansas Little Rock doubleheader. Baker walked four times in that game, a first for a Sooner since Feb. 21, 2004 when Eric Thornton was also issued four walks.

THE BIG INNING
The Sooners have hit through the batting order on 15 occasions this year and scored five or more runs in 11 different frames. OU is 8-1 when the plate five or more runs in a game. The only loss came in the second game of the San Diego series. The Sooners had two big innings (5-plus runs) in game three of the Western Illinois series and game three of the Kansas State series.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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