Sooners Roll in to Bakersfield for Four

Mar. 17-19 | Bakersfield, Calif. | Hardt Field

Oklahoma

CSU Bakersfield

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Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 7-9-1 (0-0 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (3rd Season) Career Record/Years: 594-450-3/19 Rank: NR

CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners
Record: 5-10 (0-0 WAC) Coach: Bob Macaluso (1st Season) Career Record/Years: 5-10/1 Rank: NR

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NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma baseball team's five-game swing in California to begin a 10-game stretch on the road rolls in to Bakersfield for a four-game series with CSU Bakersfield. Game one is set for an 8:00 pm CT first pitch. Senior right-hander Keaton Hernandez will be on the bump for his first start of the season.

Oklahoma picked up its first road win of the season and first win in a one-run game at Fresno State on Tuesday night. The Sooners defeated the previously undefeated at home Bulldogs, 3-2, to improve to 7-9-1. Oklahoma's top hitter, junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse, missed the game due to a pulled muscle in his lower back suffered in Sunday's game against Long Beach State. Neuse is hitting .340 with a team-high four home runs and 14 RBI. Junior Jack Flansburg, who has started at all four infield positions, appeared at shortstop on Tuesday. He is second on the team at .339 with a team-leading 14 runs scored. Senior Alex Wise, who has started at first base and in the outfield, has seen his average climb to .258. During the month of March, he is 10-for-33 for a .303 batting average. Wise drove in the go-ahead run on Tuesday at Fresno, his sixth of the year. Hernandez, who gets the ball in game one, has made only one other start in his career; a three-inning, no-decision against Dallas Baptist (4/14/15). In six relief appearances, Hernandez is 0-1 with a 2.25 earned run average and 12 strikeouts in 17 innings. Junior right-handers Alec Hansen, Jake Elliott and freshman right-hander Chris Andritsos round out the rotation.

CSU Bakersfield is 5-10 overall after a strong start to the year, which included series wins over CSU Northridge and St. John's. The Roadrunners are directed by first-year head coach Bob Macaluso, a 1987 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College. Right-hander Steven Gee goes to the mound in game one for Bakersfield. He owns a 5.40 ERA and 1-2 record through four starts and 21.2 innings of work. Center fielder Dustin Frailey enters the weekend a .458 hitter, slugging .688 with 14 runs scored. First baseman Max Carter is second on the team at .370 with 11 runs driven in.

Weekend Rotation

Game	Oklahoma	Fresno State
Thursday	RHP-Keaton Hernandez, Sr. (0-1, 2.12, 12 K)	RHP-Steven Gee, Jr. (1-2, 5.40, 12 K)
Friday	RHP-Alec Hansen, Jr. (0-3, 6.00, 22 K)	RHP-Andrew Hansen, Fr. (1-2, 4.18, 9 K)
Saturday (1)	RHP-Jake Elliott, Jr. (0-0, 3.57, 13 K)	RHP-AJ Monarrez, RSr. (1-1, 3.47, 18 K)
Saturday (2)	RHP-Chris Andritsos, Fr. (2-1, 2.81, 12 K)	RHP-Chance Gusbeth, Sr. (1-0, 4.76, 9 K)

Last Time They Met

Oklahoma swept the first ever meeting between the two programs at home in 2014. The Sooners picked up a 4-2 win in the opener before taking both ends of a doubleheader by scores of 17-4 and 4-3. In game two, the score was tied 4-4 after six until OU erupted for 10 runs in the seventh. Hunter Haley and Neuse hit back-to-back triples to give the Sooners their first lead of the day. Leading 8-4, Austin O'Brien came off the bench and drilled a three-run home run. Neuse finished the game going 3-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBI; the most by a Sooner since 1987. In the finale, Oklahoma erased a narrow deficit with a pair of runs in the eighth to register the sweep. Haley doubled and Joshua Ake singled ahead of Anthony Hermelyn's go-ahead base hit.

Iron Man Streak Ended

At Fresno State (3/15), head coach Pete Hughes wrote out his lineup card without Neuse on it for the first time since the two arrived at OU together for the 2014 season. Neuse had a stretch of 135 consecutive games started snapped. It is the longest streak on record at Oklahoma (2003-present). The previous record was held by Jack Mayfield at 120 (5/7/12-6/8/13). Neuse's former teammate, Craig Aikin was left out of the lineup just once in his career and had separate 91-game streak to start and end his career.

Bullpen Bagels

The OU bullpen owns a 1.88 ERA with four saves and two wins on the season, while holding opponents to a .228 batting average. Sooner relievers have totaled 58 shutout innings in 66 complete innings pitched. Oklahoma relievers had a stretch of 13 consecutive scoreless innings snapped on against Long Beach State (3/12).

Fresh Faces

Coach Hughes started a season-high six freshmen in the lineup against Wichita State (3/8), including RHP Kyle Tyler making his first career start. The Sooners have started three or more freshmen in each of the last six games and seven times this season.