OU Begins Big 12 Championship Wednesday

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 15 OU baseball team will open the 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday, May 26 against the No. 7 seed, Kansas. The Sooners, seeded second, will battle the Jayhawks at 7:30 p.m. at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

The Sooners recently swept Kansas to finish second in the Big 12 standings for the second straight year with a 15-10 conference record and 42-14 overall mark. It marks the first time the Sooners have produced back-to-back top two finishes in Big 12 play and it's the first time since the 1994 (second) and 1995 (first) College World Series teams accomplished the feat. The 42 regular season wins is also the most since the 1989 team won the same amount .

Oklahoma will continue pool play on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the tournament's No. 6 seed, Baylor. On Saturday, OU will play the third and final opponent in its pool, No. 3 seeded Kansas State, at 4 p.m.

The Big 12 introduced a two-division, pool play format for the championship in 2006. Each of the eight teams competing is guaranteed a minimum of three games. The two teams with the best record within their pool will advance to the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m., with the winner earning the Big 12's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Head-to-head competition will break ties within each bracket. In the event that more than two teams are tied for the top spot within a bracket, the highest seeded team will advance to Sunday's winner-take-all Championship game.

The Sooners are 6-6 in the format and 22-22 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament after claiming the conference's initial crown in 1997

The Brick, which was opened on April 2, 1998 and seats 13,066 fans, serves as the home facility for the Class AAA Oklahoma Redhawks. The facility is hosting the 11th baseball championship in the league's 14-year tenure.

Oklahoma City and AT&T Bricktown Ballpark will host the Phillips 66 Baseball Championship through the 2011 season. The event has been contested in Oklahoma City 12 of the last 13 years (All Sports Stadium - 1997; Bricktown Ballpark - 1998-01, `03, `05-07).

Live game action and postgame press conferences from the 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will be video streamed for free on the Big 12 Conference's official web site, www.big12sports.com, for the fourth year in a row. Audio from the web cast will also be broadcast on XM Radio (Channel 214), a Big 12 corporate partner.

Past postseason championship winners include Kansas (2006), Nebraska (1999-2001, `05), Oklahoma (1997), Oklahoma State (2004), Texas (2002-03, 2008-09), Texas A&M (2007) and Texas Tech (1998).

TICKETS ON SALE
Single-session tickets go on sale Monday, May 24 at 9:00 a.m. Single-session ticket prices range from: $44 for club-level, $27 for field box, $20 for terrace reserved, $16 for field bleacher and $13 for general admission.

All-session tickets are still available from: $232 for club-level, $127 for field box and $92 for terrace reserved.

For tickets to the Big 12 Baseball Championship, call the Oklahoma City RedHawks Box Office at (405) 218-1000 or visit www.ticketreturn.com.

For more information on OU baseball, visit www.soonersports.com.