Baseball Wraps Up Fall Season

Line Score
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Team Texas	0	1	0	5	3	1	0	10	12	1
Oklahombres	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	5	8	3

Pitching
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Neuse	4.0	2	0	0	1	4
L - Curran	3.1	4	3	0	0	1

Individual Leaders
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
TT - Aikin	5	2	4	1	0	0
TT - Neuse	5	1	1	3	0	1
OK - O'Brien	4	2	3	0	1	0

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma baseball team concluded its fall season with the final game of a three-game intra-squad series at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Wednesday afternoon. Team Texas defeated the Oklahombres, 10-5, to sweep the series and win on an aggregate score of 21-11.

“I thought our approach was really good this fall,” stated head coach Pete Hughes. “I think guys are locked in and motivated. It started in the weight room. We have good leadership. Our clubhouse has leaders top to bottom this year, and I think that it showed in the way that we came to practice each day. Our team got better and our team got closer.”

Sophomore infielder and pitcher Sheldon Neuse (Fort Worth, Texas) and junior center fielder Craig Aikin (Coppell, Texas) shared the Most Valuable Player honors. Neuse was credited with the win in a four-scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out four. At the plate he blasted a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Aikin went 4-for-5 at the plate, knocking a single in each of his first four at-bats, and scored a pair of runs with one RBI.

Freshmen Kenny Saenz (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Chandler Wagoner (Temecula, Calif.) each registered a two-hit game.

Saenz, who is listed on the roster as a left-handed pitcher played in left field. He is one of several players that took the opportunity to gain repetition at different positions. Neuse, last season's Big 12 Rookie of the Year, was Oklahoma's only two-way player in 2014. This fall, veteran pitcher Jacob Evans (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Robert Tasin (Klein, Texas) regularly grabbed a bat or played in the field.

I love the fall because of the team building standpoint and our guys have really embraced that.
Pete Hughes

“These guys are competing for jobs. It is a lot like spring football,” said Hughes. “Jobs are won and lost here; roster spots are made, travel squads are all made in the fall. It is a good chance for us to get a look at some of the young guys. I love the fall because of the team building standpoint and our guys have really embraced that.”

Last season, Oklahoma saw catcher Mac James emerge out of fall ball to become a constant in the OU lineup. After just nine at-bats in 2013, James started at five different positions, was named an All-Big 12 selection and was selected in the sixth round of the MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.

For the Oklahombres, junior left-hander Jeffrey Curran (Long Beach, Calif.) turned in 3.1 innings of four-hit ball in the losing effort. Sophomore first baseman Austin O'Brien (Owasso, Okla.) went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Freshman outfielder Cameron Frazier (Boulder, Colo.) hit a two-run jack in the sixth inning.

Curran had a strong finish to 2014, his first season in Norman, with a 1.71 earned run average and 25 strikeouts to two walks. He will look to compete for more innings in a more experience pitching staff for the Sooners. Oklahoma returns 51 of its starts from a year ago, including redshirt-junior left-handed pitcher Adam Choplick (Denton, Texas), who pitched the seventh and final out of the game.

“It is huge for coach [Jamie] Pinzino [to be here],” offered Hughes. “It was tough; him not being around in the fall last year. This is where you get to know your freshman and tweak some things mechanically with your upperclassmen. You can't depend enough time in the fall creating that bond with your players as far as your player- coach expectation. We have a huge task ahead of us. We are one year in, but we are miles ahead of where we were last year."

The Sooners will return to the field at the start of the spring semester in January 2015 and will host Notre Dame on opening day, February 13.

Players Mentioned

Craig Aikin

Craig Aikin

Adam Choplick

Jeffrey Curran

Jacob Evans

Cameron Frazier

Mac James

Sheldon Neuse

Sheldon Neuse

Austin O'Brien

Kenny Saenz

Kenny Saenz

Robert Tasin

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics