Baseball Travels to DBU Tuesday Before Big 12 Play

March 12, 2012

No. 17 OU (11-5) at Dallas Baptist (9-6)
Game 17	Tuesday, March 13, 6:30 p.m.
Location	Dallas, Texas \| Patriot Field (1,500)
Radio/TV	N/A
Live Stats	SoonersSports.com
Internet Audio	SoonersSports.com
Game Info	Game Notes \| 2012 Media Guide \| Baseball Blog \| Twitter

DBU PREVIEW
• No. 17 Oklahoma (11-5) concludes the current five-game road stand at Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday marks the first of two meetings between the Sooners and Patriots who will face off in Norman on April 25.
• The Sooners have won 10 of the last 13 games since starting the year 1-2 at Pepperdine. including a 4-2 mark last week.
• OU is ranked No. 17 by NCBWA, No. 17 by the USA Today/Coaches, No. 21 in Collegiate Baseball, and No. 22 by 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).
• DBU improved to 9-6 over the weekend with a three-game sweep of Houston Baptist at home. DBU is 9-1 at home in 2012.
• The Patriots return 17 letterwinners from the 2011 team that was 42-20 overall and lost in the NCAA Berkeley Super Regional.

PITCHING MATCHUP
OU: RHP Jacob Rhame 1-0, 6.35 ERA vs. DBU: LHP Andrew Elkins (1-0, 2.00 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
• The OU radio broadcast with play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland and Ross Hubbard on color can be heard Tuesday on SoonerSports.com.
• Live stats are also available on SoonerSports.com.

PLAYER TO WATCH - JACK MAYFIELD
The junior second baseman had six hits, including three doubles, and four runs driven. Mayfield had the go-ahead RBI in the Sooners' 5-2 win over West Virginia on Saturday in the Nike Showcase. He also drove in two runs in the ninth inning a day earlier as OU mounted a late rally but fell 8-7 to Connecticut in the tournament opener. He leads OU with a .455 OBP.
2012 Season Stats: .302 batting avg., 10 walks, 8 RBI

OU vs. DBU SERIES NOTES
- OU leads the all-time series 21-4.
- OU had won six straight in the series before dropping two games in the series in 2011, including a 3-2 loss in 10 innings in the first round of the NCAA Fort Worth Regional.
- The two have met in eight of the last nine years. DBU's two previous wins both came in Norman (9-3 in 2006 and 7-5 in 2004). OU won 14 straight games prior to the 2004 loss.
- 10 of the 23 games have been decided by three runs or less (OU, 7-3), including four one-run games split between the two. DBU won both games in 2011 by a score of 3-2.

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners went 4-2 last week with two midweek wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff and a 2-2 split in the Nike Showcase in Oregon. At Eugene, OU dropped an 8-7 contest to Connecticut in the opener on Friday but bounced back with two wins on Saturday over West Virginia (5-2) and No. 9 Oregon (3-2). On Sunday, OU blew a 7-0 lead during an 11-7 loss at No. 22 Oregon State.

ON DECK
Tuesday's road game is followed up by the start of Big 12 play as Texas travels to Norman for a three-game set over the weekend. Friday's opener is set for 6:30 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game two is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and the finale gets underway at 1 p.m. All three games against Texas will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network on Cox Ch. 3/703 HD in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Friday and Saturday will also be carried on Fox College Sports, check your local cable or satellite provider for coverage in your area.

OVERTON AND GRAY COLLECT BIG 12 WEEKLY HONORS
Two Sooner hurlers earned Big 12 baseball weekly honors on Monday for games played March 5-11. Dillon Overton earned the Pitcher of the Week award after winning two games last week, including a complete game win against West Virginia in the Nike Showcase. Jonathan Gray was tabbed the Newcomer of the Week after striking out 10 batters in the win over No. 9 Oregon.

JOHN NAMED BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt sophomore reliever Jordan John was named the Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 5 after tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings in two games at New Mexico over the weekend. John allowed one hit in the two appearances, combined for a shutout and held opponents to a .059 batting average.

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.

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 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.)