Carpenter Uses Return to Rebuild

April 26, 2013

No. 11 Oklahoma (31-10, 8-4 Big 12) vs. Texas Tech (19-22, 5-10)
Game 1	Friday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. CT
Game 2	Saturday, April 27, 2 p.m. CT
Game 3	Sunday, April 28, 1 p.m. CT
Location	Norman, Okla. \| L. Dale Mitchell Park
Television	Game 1: FCS Central / FS Southwest Plus Game 2 & 3 : FCS Central
Radio	KREF Sportstalk 1400
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com
Promotions	Weekend Promotions and Giveaways
Additional Info	Twitter \| Instagram \| Media Guide \| Game Notes (PDF)


	Dillon Overton

Overton Out
The Big 12-leading Sooners suffered a blow Thursday as head coach Sunny Golloway announced starting pitcher Dillon Overton (8-2, 2.52 ERA) would miss two to four weeks with inflammation in his elbow on his pitching arm.

The southpaw pitched six innings of OU's 14-5 win against New Orleans last Saturday. Overton has 66 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings pitched, second in the Big 12 Conference only to teammate Jonathan Gray.

While Gray usually pitches Fridays, Golloway did not name a replacement for Saturday.

NORMAN, Okla. -- It's a fantastic coincidence that Friday evening at L. Dale Mitchell Park is Hometown Heroes Night. A fire engine will be on display and the Norman honor guard will present the colors during pre-game ceremonies. Fireworks will follow whatever sparks fly on the field.

It's all meant to honor first responders. And what would be a normal baseball game will have a different meaning every time eyes turn towards OU's freshman first baseman.

Kolbey Carpenter returns to the Sooners following a week helping relief efforts in his hometown of West, Texas, where 15 were killed, including 11 first responders, and nearly 200 injured when a fire caused an explosion at a fertilizer plant on April 17.

"I was in study hall ... and I got a call from my mom," Carpenter said. "She said that the fertilizer plant was on fire. I didn't really think anything of it. But as the night went on, I was getting more phone calls, people were sending me pictures and telling me there was an explosion and that it was bad and that half the town was destroyed.

"I was up all night just trying to get in touch with everyone and make sure everyone was OK. Just a bad deal."

The morning after the explosion Carpenter drove to the devastated town. By this point, he knew that a family friend and his best friend's father were among the fatalities.

"I knew one of the volunteer firemen [William "Buck" Uptmore]. He was actually a really good family friend of mine. I'm really big into hunting and me and my buddies went out and hunted a lot of his land and we'd grown to know him pretty well. His daughter was a member of my class that I graduated with.

"My best friend through high school, his dad [Kenneth Harris] was at the fire and was the Dallas firefighter. But the morning I texted him and he texted me back and said that they were still looking for him. Then around 10:30 he texted me and said they found him but that he didn't make it.

"Right there I just decided to go ahead and go home because they're really close to our family and we've been long-time friends with them. I just thought it would be best if I went home."

What Carpenter found barely resembled the town in which he grew up. Carpenter said he had driven past the fertilizer plant more times than her could count. Less than one year ago, he sat in classrooms at the high school directly across the street from what is now a crater 93 feet wide and 10 feet deep.

"The whole town was just crowded and all the roads were pretty much blocked off. You had to go through checkpoints to get through town. They kind of set up the center for all the supplies and everything.

"People who I actually knew were coming through who had lost their homes. They were coming through get clothes and supplies because they didn't really have anything. They had lost everything. It was just definitely, really an eye-opening experience. It was really just a huge shock to me."

"There were so many people there, so many people donating and helping with the relief. Just so many people coming together and trying to help out and trying to help all the families the best they can."

Like all citizens of West, Carpenter is still reeling from the disaster. Though this week's practices have helped him return to normalcy, he will be looking forward to taking the field and have his mind off the events for even a few moments.

"I think everyone is still in shock. It's on my mind 24/7. It's going to take so much to rebuild and it's going to take so long to rebuild everything."