Sooners Open Big 12 Play vs. Tech at Home

No. 10 Texas tech

Oklahoma

March 20-22 | Norman | L. Dale Mitchell Park

Pitching Match-Ups
Oklahoma	Texas Tech
RHP-Jake Elliott 3-1, 2.76, 32 Ks	RHP-Ryan Moseley 1-2, 4.26, 14 Ks
RHP-Alec Hansen 2-2, 3.81, 37	LHP-Cameron Smith 2-1, 3.29, 27
TBA	TBA

On the Air
Radio	1400 AM \| 1560 AM SoonerSports.tv Chris Plank
TV	FCSP (Friday) FSSW+/FCSP (Saturday) FSSW+/FCSC (Sunday) Chad McKee \| George Frazier

Player to Watch
Kolbey Carpenter // Jr. // 2B Carpenter hit a team-leading .438 in a four-game series at Hawai'i last week. He went 7-for-16 with two doubles and a triple.

NORMAN, Okla. – Big 12 play has arrived as the Oklahoma baseball team is set to host a three-game series against No. 10 Texas Tech at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game one of the series is scheduled for 6:00 pm Friday night.

The Sooners enter the Big 12 portion of their schedule with a 15-8 record in non-conference play. Oklahoma is hitting a collective .282 and holds a team earned run average of 2.74. Four hitters are batting .300-or-better, including junior center fielder Craig Aikin (.368) at the top of the order. He has scored a league -leading 25 runs. Sophomore shortstop Sheldon Neuse (.318) is fourth in hitting for the Sooners with a league-leading 24 RBI, while slugging .545 with a team-high five home runs. Juniors Kolbey Carpenter (.338) and Anthony Hermelyn (.333) round out OU's group of .300-hitters. Carpenter is slugging a team-high .588 with four homers, while Hermelyn has driven in 18 runs. Oklahoma starting pitchers sport a 2.71 ERA and .231 batting average against. Sophomore RHP and Friday starter Jake Elliott (3-1) owns a 2.76 ERA.

Promotions

Big 12 play marks the start of “Friday Night Fireworks” at the ballpark along with a post-game toss under the lights. A 2015 OU baseball trading card set will be given away on Saturday, while supplies last. Sunday will be the first “Sunday Sundae” of the season as the first 200 fans will receive a free ice cream sundae in a mini OU helmet. Saturday and Sunday will both be “Cane's Challenge” games.

Scouting the Red Raiders

Under third-year head coach Tim Tadlock, a former Sooner assistant, Texas tech is 15-6 and ranked as high as No. 10 in the national polls. The Red Raiders are coming off a trip to Omaha in 2014; a season in which they won 45 games. Designated hitter Corey Raley, brother of former Sooner Russell Raley, leads the 2015 squad with a .411 batting average and .548 slugging percentage. First baseman Eric Gutierrez is hitting .329 with a team-high 21 RBI on nine doubles and two home runs. At the back-end of the bullpen, RHP Dominic Moreno (1-2) holds a 2.59 ERA with three saves, while striking out 39 in 24.1 innings.

Hits By Pitchers

Redshirt-senior Robert Tasin made 37 appearances on the mound, including five starts, in his first two seasons with OU. This year, he has pitched in eight games with two starts to a 3-1 record, 1.35 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20 innings. To add depth to the Sooner bench and lineup from the left side of the plate, Tasin picked up a bat this offseason and is currently hitting .310 (9-for-29) with two RBI and six starts at DH. Junior Jacob Evans has also stepped to the plate for five at-bats this season and has two hits with two RBI.

Big 12 Openers

The Sooners are 9-9 in the first Big 12 match-up of the season after an 11-4 win over K-State (3/21/14). OU has won four of its last five conference openers. Oklahoma won its first Big 12 game in the league opener vs. Iowa State on March 7, 1997; 7-4.