Sooners Face New Mexico in Albuquerque

March 1, 2012

No. 16 OU (4-3) at New Mexico (2-5)
Game 8	Friday, March 2, 6 p.m.
Game 9	Saturday, March 3, 4:30 p.m.
Game 10	Sunday, March 4, 12 p.m.
Location	Albuquerque, N.M. \| Isotopes Park (11,124)
Radio	Sooner Sports Network \| KREF 1400 AM
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com
Webcast \| TV	N/A
Game Info	Game Notes \| 2012 Media Guide \| Baseball Blog \| Twitter

NEW MEXICO PREVIEW
• No. 16 Oklahoma (4-3) returns to the road for a three-game series at New Mexico (2-5) on Friday (6 p.m.), Saturday (4:30 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.).
• The Sooners have won three of the last four games since starting the year 1-2 at Pepperdine.
• OU is ranked No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 17 by the NCBWA, No. 22 by USA Today/Coaches and No. 23 Baseball America.
• The Sooners return five position starters from the 2011 squad that finished 41-19 overall and third in the Big 12 (14-11).
• The Lobos have dropped three out of four games over the weekend at UT-San Antonio after starting 1-2 vs. Nevada at home.
• New Mexico returns 17 letterwinners from the 2011 team that was 20-44 overall after winning the Mountain West Tournament.
• The Lobos return six position starters from last season and are picked to finish third in the MW Conference preseason poll.

WEEKEND ROTATIONS
Game 1 - OU: LHP Dillon Overton (1-0, 4.91 ERA) vs. NM: RHP Sam Wolff (0-1, 3.27 ERA)
Game 2 - OU: LHP Steven Okert (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. NM: LHP Rudy Jamarillo (1-0, 5.87)
Game 3 - OU: TBA vs. NM: RHP Austin House (0-2, 7.94 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
• The OU radio broadcast with play-by-play announcer Chris Plank and Craig Moran on color can be heard throughout the weekend on the Sooner Sports Network (KREF 1400 AM in Norman/OKC). Friday's game will be joined in progress after OU softball (6 p.m.).
• Audio for every game in 2012 is also available online at SoonerSports.com. Live stats are also available on SoonerSports.com.

PLAYER TO WATCH - HUNTER LOCKWOOD
Freshman catcher Hunter Lockwood has not had trouble adjusting to DI college baseball so far after seven games. Lockwood had four home runs in the last four games and leads the Big 12 in that category. He also leads the conference with an .929 slugging pct. and 26 total bases, and ranks third in RBI (11), sixth in batting average (.393).
2012 Season Stats: .393 avg., 4 HR, 11 RBI, .929 slg. pct.

OU vs. NEW MEXICO SERIES NOTES
- OU leads the series 12-1 with five straight wins.
- The Sooners and Lobos will meet for the second straight year but first in Albuquerque since 1964. OU swept that three-game series and has won all three weekend series.
- OU won the four-game set in 2011 at home by outscoring New Mexico 28-10 in the final weekend of the season. Sunny Golloway is 5-0 against the Lobos as the Sooners have plated 46 runs in those contests opposite 19.
- In 1988, the two split a pair of games in Norman with the Logos winning the last 11-2 on March 15, snapping a seven- game skid in the series.
- OU has scored double digit runs in six of the 13 meetings with one game decided by one run in 1977 (OU won 4-3 in series opener).

LAST TIME OUT
Oklahoma dropped a 10-3 contest against UT-Arlington at home on Wednesday. It marked just the second midweek loss at home in the last four seasons for the Sooners (DBU in 2011).

ON DECK
The Sooners return home to host a two-game midweek set with Arkansas Pine Bluff (March 6-7) before flying to Oregon for the Nike College Showcase. In Eugene, OU will play Connecticut (March 9) and a day/night doubleheader against West Virginia and Oregon (March 10). On Sunday, March 11, OU plays at Oregon State in Corvallis.

GOLLOWAY GETS WIN No. 600
On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, the Sooners recorded an 8-3 victory, marking the 600th in head coach Sunny Golloway's career. At OU, Golloway has won 265 games, the third most in school history and just 16 behind Jack Baer, who coached OU to the 1951 National Championship. In his 14 full seasons as a DI head coach, Golloway's teams have averaged 42.14 wins per year.

SOONER DEBUTS
On opening day, five newcomers made their career debuts, including three in the starting lineup. Freshman Hunter Lockwood started at catcher, sophomore Matt Oberste started at designated hitter and junior Garrett Carey started at third base. All three of the newcomers collected two hits apiece and drove in a run during the 4-3 victory. In addition, junior Damien Magnifico made his debut in the ninth inning on the mound and recorded a strikeout in his first career save.

OU PICKED THIRD IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
The Sooners were picked to finish third in the 2012 Big 12 Coaches' Preseason Poll on Feb. 14. It marks the fourth straight year that the Sooners were picked in the top four spots in the preseason poll.

Texas A&M was selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2012 Big 12 baseball regular season title, followed by Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma State,Texas Tech, Kansas and Kansas. A complete poll is listed on page 5.

PRESEASON TOP 25 POLLS
Oklahoma is ranked in the top 25 preseason polls for the fourth straight year, with its highest recognition coming from the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) at No. 14. OU is also ranked No. 15 by the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll, No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 19 by Baseball America. Turn to page four for all the preseason listings.

WHO'S BACK
The Sooners return 15 letterwinners and seven starters (five position players, two pitchers) from the 2011 team. In the offseason, the coaching staff signed a class of 21 players that were ranked as high as No. 4 (Collegiate Baseball) in the recruiting rankings. View the listing of each player on page 3.

2011 DRAFT RECAP
OU will feature some new faces in 2012 as 11 Sooners were drafted last June, a mark that led the Big 12 and marks the most taken in program history, topping the 10 selected in 1998 and 1995. The 11 selections ranked in a tie for second place in the nation behind Vanderbilt (12). Arizona State, Florida and South Carolina also had 11 while Texas was eighth with nine selections. The most players drafted in the Sunny Golloway era was nine, accomplished twice in 2009 and 2006. Overall, 43 Sooners have been drafted on Golloway's watch, including at least four in every season but one. In addition, 22 of the players came to Norman undrafted in their careers. Of the 11 Sooners taken in 2011, eight were selected for the first time and two others improved their draft status by at least four rounds.

DRAFTED PLAYERS ON 2012 ROSTER
Below is a look at the nine players taken in the Major League Baseball Draft on the current roster. It spans the last three years and includes seven players taken a year ago, including two-time draftees Jonathan Gray and Steven Okert.

Chris Burgess (2011 - 30th round - Tampa Bay)
Adam Choplick (2011 - 17th round - Arizona)
Jonathan Gray (2011 - 10th round - NY Yankees and 2010 - 13th round - Kansas City)
Jordan John (2011 - 28th round - Houston)
Hunter Lockwood (2011 - 17th round - LAA Angels)
Damien Magnifico (2009 - 5th round - NY Mets)
Steven Okert (2011 - 33rd - Milwaukee and 2010 - 43rd round - Milwaukee)
Dillon Overton (2010 - 26th round - Boston)
Drake Roberts (2011 - 49th round - Minnesota)

BREAKDOWN OF 2012 SCHEDULE
- 30 home games, including four Big 12 series
- Home Big 12 series with Texas, KSU, Missouri & Baylor
- Non-conference home games vs. Oral Roberts, Air Force, Arkansas, DBU and TCU
- Other key non-conference games vs. Pepperdine, New Mexico, Connecticut, Oregon, West Virginia, Oregon State and Oklahoma State.
- Bedlam Series in Tulsa and OKC, May 4-6
- 12 opponents from 2011 NCAA Tourney (28 games)
- 8 teams that finished 2011 ranked in top 25
- Seven foes with 40-plus wins a year ago
- Two 2010 CWS participants (Texas & Texas A&M)
- Three other Super Regional teams (DBU, Oregon State and Connecticut)
- First time opponents in Oregon, Connecticut, West Virginia, Alabama State, Hartford and Samford

BASEBALL ON KREF 1400 AM IN 2012
The 2012 season marks the second with KREF 1400 AM serving as the flagship station of Sooner baseball. The partnership provides expanded coverage for OU fans to listen to 50-plus regular season games live over the air and extends into postseason play.

Additionally, 18 of the 24 Big 12 games are set to be carried on the Sooners Sports' Network, enabling fans to listen to OU baseball on various stations across the state starting on March 30 against Kansas State. Overall, 23 games will be carried on the network with non-conference games against Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts and TCU.

The entire 56-game regular season schedule will also be broadcast live on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access, OU's premium content site.

2012 TELEVISION SCHEDULE
The University of Oklahoma announced the television schedule thru the month of March for the 2012 Sooner baseball schedule. Eight baseball games produced by the Sooner Sports Network will be televised in the state of Oklahoma on Cox Communications Cable (Cox Ch. 3/703 HD) and some of the games will be aired nationwide on DirecTV via Fox College Sports (Ch. 617 or 623).

Each of the games will be televised live from Norman with local sports personality Chad McKee calling the play-by-play and additional contests will be added throughout the season. Please check your local cable or satellite provide for coverage in your area.

The Sooners are also scheduled to appear in two games on Fox Sports Southwest. The first of the two nationally televised games will be played on Friday, May 4 in Tulsa, Okla., for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Bedlam Series. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa. The second game comes during the final Big 12 series of the year against Baylor. The Sooners and Bears will tangle at 2 p.m. on Saturday May 12 on FSN.

Sooner Sports Network-Cox Ch. 3 in OKC/Tulsa)
March 16 - Texas (6:30 p.m.)
March 17 - Texas (2 p.m.)
March 18 - Texas (1 p.m.)
March 20 - Air Force (6:30 p.m.)
March 21 - Air Force (3 p.m.)
March 30 - Kansas State (6:30 p.m.)
March 31- Kansas State (2 p.m.)

Fox Sports Southwest
May 4 - vs. Oklahoma State (7 p.m. in Tulsa)
May 12 - Baylor (2 p.m.)

ESPNU
April 7 - at Texas A&M (3:30 p.m.)

SOONERS INK 15 FOR 2013 SEASON
Oklahoma signed 15 student athletes as part of the 2013 incoming class back in November.

The OU coaching staff inked 11 high school players, including four of the state of Oklahoma's best in Jacob Evans, a two-way player from Broken Arrow H.S., Taylor Hawkins, a catcher from Carl Albert H.S., Carson McPherson, a left-handed pitcher from Ardmore H.S., and Colt Pickens, an infielder/outfielder from Yukon H.S.

The Sooners also plucked three of the best south of the Red River in Kolbey Carpenter (infielder from West ISD), Ralph Garza (RHP/INF from New Braunfels H.S.) and Huntey Haley (INF/OF from Central Heights H.S.), while adding Justin Burba (OF from Wichita Campus High), the No. 3 recruit from the state of Kansas.

Overall, 11 of the 15 recruits are from the high school ranks while the Sooners also added four junior college players.

Craig Aiken | OF | R/R | 5-10 | 160
Coppell, Texas (Coppell H.S.)

Justin Burba | OF/1B | L/L | 6-0 | 185
Wichita, Kan. (Wichita Campus H.S.)

Kolbey Carpenter | INF | R/R | 6-0 | 175
Waco, Texas (West H.S.)

Ralph Garza Jr. | RHP/INF | R/R | 6-3 | 185
New Braunfels, Texas (New Braunfels Senior)

Hunter Haley | INF/OF | R/R | 5-10 | 175
Nacogdoches, Texas (Central Heights H.S.)

Taylor Hawkins | C | R/R | 5-11 | 185
Oklahoma City, Okla. (Carl Albert H.S.)

Kyle Hayes | INF/RHP | R\L | 6-2 | 210
Santee, Calif. (Santana H.S.)

Anthony Hermelyn | INF | R/R | 6-1 | 200
McKinney, Texas (McKinney H.S.)

Hayden Jones | 1B/LHP | L/L | 6-1 | 190
Houston, Texas (Langham Creek H.S.)

Hector Lorenzana | INF | R/R | 5-11 | 190
San Diego, Calif. (Howard College)

Carson McPherson | LHP | R/R | 6-0 | 190
Ardmore, Okla. (Ardmore H.S.)