OU Set for Road Series at Missouri

April 2, 2009

No. 10 Sooners (23-6, 4-2) at Missouri (14-14, 4-5)
Location	Taylor Stadium
Game 30	Friday, April 3 - 6:30 p.m.
Game 31	Saturday, April 4 - 2 p.m.
Game 32	Sunday, April 5 - 1 p.m.
Radio	KOKC 1520 AM - All three games
Television	Saturday - Cox Channel 7 in OKC, Cox Channel 3 in Tulsa
Live Stats	SoonersSports.com
Internet Audio	Oklahoma All-Access - All three games
Game Information	Game Notes \| 2009 Media Guide

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 10 Oklahoma (23-6 overall, 4-2 Big 12) has won five of its last six and hits the road to battle Missouri, who is coming off a 2-1 series defeat at Oklahoma State, for a three-game Big 12 series in Columbia this weekend.

The Tigers got off to a 1-7 start and have won 13 of their last 20 contests. Missouri is led by its Friday night ace, Kyle Gibson, who leads the Big 12 with two complete games and ranks fifth in the nation with 57 strikeouts.

Missouri (14-14) is 4-5 in Big 12 play after being picked fifth ahead of OU in the preseason coaches' poll. The Tigers return 20 letterwinners from a 2008 team that was 39-21 overall and finished fourth in the Big 12 at 16-11. Missouri went 1-2 in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

MISSOURI SERIES INFORMATION
OU leads: 120-80 (since 1942)
In Big 12 play: OU Leads 23-12
In Columbia: MU leads 37-35 (since 1962)
In Norman: OU leads 53-19 (since 1962)
Last Game: OU won 4-3, May 22, 2008 in Big 12 Championship
Last Series: Missouri won 2-1, April 18-20, 2008 (Norman, Okla.)

GAME 30 - Friday, April 3
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. CST
OU Starter: Andrew Doyle - RHP (3-2, 4.97)
MU Starter: Kyle Gibson - RHP (4-2, 2.63)
Radio: KOKC 1520 AM
Live Audio: All-Access/Soonersports.com

GAME 31 - Saturday, April 4
First Pitch: 2 p.m. CST
OU Starter: J.R. Robinson - LHP (3-1, 6.44)
MU Starter: Ian Berger - RHP (2-2, 5.79)
Radio: KOKC 1520 AM
TV: Cox Ch. 7 in OKC (Ch. 3 in Tulsa) | Fox Sports Midwest
Live Audio: All-Access/Soonersports.com

GAME 32 - Sunday, April 5
First Pitch: 1 p.m. CST
OU Starter: Antwonie Hubbard - RHP (1-0, 3.00)
MU Starter: Nick Tepesch - RHP (1-2, 5.54)
Radio: KOKC 1520 AM
Live Audio: All-Access/Soonersports.com

PLAYER TO WATCH - STEPHEN PORLIER
OU's 2007 Friday night starter tossed an inning of shutout baseball in the seventh inning (two strikeouts) against Central Arkansas on March 24, marking his first appearance in an OU uniform since May 25, 2007. Porlier missed the entire 2008 season due to shoulder surgery.

MORE ON THE OU-MISSOURI SERIES
OU dropped the last series meeting with Missouri, 2-1, in Norman in 2008. The two also met in the Big 12 Championship, with the Sooners posting a 4-3 victory.

- The Sooners have won seven of the 12 Big 12 series.
- The home team is 9-3 overall in series played since Big 12 play began in 1997.
- Missouri has won four of the six series meetings in Columbia (OU won in 2001 and tied in 1997).
- Nine of the 12 Big 12 series have been decided after the first two games.
- 39 of the games in the series have been decided by one run with OU holding a 21-18 edge.
- Since 1997, the team that wins the series opener has won 10 of the 12 series meetings.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
The entire series at Missouri can be heard live on KOKC 1520 AM with Chuck Kelly calling the play-by-play. All three games will also be available on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access. Saturday's game will be televised by Fox Sports Midwest (DirecTV Ch. 671 and Dish Network Ch. 418) with Chris Gervino and Gene McArtor providing the on-air talent. The game can also be seen in Oklahoma on Cox Ch. 7 in Oklahoma City and Cox Ch. 3 in Tulsa.

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners won games one and three en route to a series victory over Nebraska last weekend. OU won the opener 12-9 before its rally fell short in game two during an 11-9 loss. The Sooner offense exploded for 15 hits, including seven home runs in the finale, a 16-6 OU win.

UP NEXT
OU will play at Wichita State on Wednesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. inside Eck Stadium. Following the midweek game, the Sooners return home to host Texas Tech (April 10-12). The series opener will be televised live by the Sooner Sports Network (Cox Ch. 7 in OKC and Cox Ch. 3 in Tulsa).

BIG 12 SERIES OPENERS
The back-to-back series wins over Kansas State and Nebraska marked the first time since 1997 that OU won its first two Big 12 series of the season. In 1997, the Sooners topped Iowa State and Kansas to begin that campaign. The last time OU won three consecutive conference series to begin a season was in 1996 (Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa St.).

OU IN BIG 12 RANKS
The Sooners can be found up and down the Big 12 statistics for overall games released on April 2. The Sooners' offense leads all conference teams in batting average (.350), runs (297), hits (359), doubles (67), homers (54) and RBIs (271). Turn to page 6 for national rankings.

SCORING RUNS
The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs in 14 of the 29 games this season with a 10.24 runs/game average . OU is 14-0 when they score 10-plus runs in a game in 2009. In addition, the Sooners are averaging 12.38 hits per game with double digit hits in all but eight games. The Sooners are 19-2 when they connect for 10-plus hits in a contest. OU ranks third nationally in total hits and runs this season.

HOME RUN NOTES
OU has homered in each of the last six games with 29 in that span ... That total is more than half of the teams' season totals in the Big 12.

With seven home runs on March 30, the Sooners have 54 this season, a mark that already has tied the 2008 total after 63 games ... The total also is tied for the most in a season in the last seven years (OU had 76 in 2002).

OU has 27 homers in Big 12 play, marking the most in conference play since 2002 (30).

The Sooners have homered in all but seven games this season and have 11 games with multiple homers, including a Big 12 record during the series finale against Kansas State last weekend.

OU has 14 homers this season that led off an inning, including four from Jaime Johnson that began a game.

After 29 games last season, the Sooners had 26 home runs, the only time OU surpassed 20 after 20 games.

Despite the 1.8 HR/game average this season, the 2009 Sooners are still behind the school record of 114 homers hit in 1998 in 62 games, also a 1.8/game. That team had 69 dingers after 29 games.

Since the NCAA schedule expanded in 1972, OU already has more homers this season than 15 OU teams since that year.

DOUBLE PLAY MACHINE
The Sooners lead the Big 12 with 32 double plays turned this season in 29 games and rank 23rd in the nation. OU has turned a double play in the last four games and six of the last seven. In addition, OU has turned multiple double plays in seven games this season. In 2008, OU finished 12th in the nation with 65.

14-0 START AT HOME
Oklahoma won its 14th home game in as many chances on March 29 against Nebraska. The perfect start is the second best by an OU team at home. The winning streak was snapped by Nebraska later that day and was at 16 games after dating back to last season. The 1974 Sooners started the home campaign 17-0. OU is currently 15-1 in 2009 at home.

ONE-TWO PUNCH
OU has a productive 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup and the proof is in the Big 12's overall statistics and the national rankings released on March 29. Johnson and Hernandez combine to rank atop six different categories in the conference. Johnson leads the Big 12 in runs (46), triples (3) and total bases (89). In addition, he ranks second in the nation in runs scored and ranks in the top 10 in total bases (5th), and runs per game (6th). Hernandez leads the Big 12 in hits (51), RBIs (38) and batting average (.443). Hernandez ranks sixth in the country in hits and 14th in RBIs and runs.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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