Baseball Welcomes WVU, Bark in the Park

April 22-24 | Norman, Okla. | L. Dale Mitchell Park

West Virginia

Oklahoma

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Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 18-19-1 (4-8 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (3rd Season) Career Record/Years: 605-460-3/20 Rank: NR

West Virginia Mountaineers
Record: 19-16 (5-6 Big 12) Coach: Randy Mazey(4th) Career Record/Years: 293-255-1/10 Rank: NR

On the Air
Radio	KREF 1400 AM TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland Ross Hubbard
TV	Sat./Sun.: FSOK+/FCS-Central Chad McKee (PBP) George Frazier (Color)
Stream	FOX Sports Go

Player to Watch
SS-Sheldon Neuse, Jr. Neuse pushed his career total to 72 extra-base hits with a pair of doubles on Tuesday. A .348 hiter in seven games against WVU, he leads OU with a .378 average on the year.

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma baseball team welcomes West Virginia to L. Dale Mitchell Park for a three-game, Big 12 series this weekend. Play begins Friday night with a 6:00 pm first pitch.

The Sooners are in a four-game slump after a narrow 4-3 non-conference loss to Oklahoma State on home on Wednesday night. Oklahoma is 18-19-1 overall and 4-8 in the Big 12. Junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse leads an OU offense that is hitting just .252 with a .378 batting average, which ranks third in the Big 12. He is slugging .667 with 20 extra-base hits, including 11 doubles, five triples and six home runs. Neuse also fills the Sooners' closer role and has made 11 relief appearances. In 17 innings, he has struck out 17 with a 3-1 record, four saves and held opponents to a .164 average. Freshman center fielder Steele Walker enters the weekend having lifted his season average to .267, while hitting .419 (11-for-31) over a nine-game stretch. He is tied for second on the team with 10 doubles and has added 17 runs and 15 RBI. Senior Alex Wise has settled in to the everyday right fielder with a team-leading six outfield assists. Offensively, he is second on the team with a .282 average and 10 doubles. Freshman right-hander Chris Andritsos (4-3) toes the rubber in game one for Oklahoma. He owns a 3.38 earned run average and leads the Big 12 with a 0.91 WHIP.

West Virginia is 19-16 overall and 5-6 in the Big 12 under fourth-year head coach Randy Mazey. The Mountaineers are hitting .276 as a team with a .417 slugging percentage. Right fielder Darius Hill is hitting a team-high .353, while slugging .566 with 14 doubles. WVU has managed to keep a steady rotation throughout the season with all three pitchers making three starts this season. Right-hander Chad Donato (1-3) gets the start in game one followed by lefty Ross Vance (4-3) and righty BJ Myers (4-3). Donato sports a 3.86 ERA and has struck out 70; the second highest total in the Big 12

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups

Game	Oklahoma	West Virginia
Friday	RHP-Chris Andritsos, Fr. (4-3, 3.38, 26 K)	RHP-Chad Donato, Jr. (1-3, 3.86, 70 K)
Saturday	RHP-Jake Elliott, Jr. (0-1, 4.66, 25 K)	LHP-Ross Vance, Sr. (4-3, 5.44, 33 K)
Sunday	TBA	RHP-BJ Myers, So. (4-3, 3.12, 39 K)

Bark in the Park

Saturday will be the Sooners' second annual Bark in the Park game. Fans are invited to bring their dogs to the game with the first 100 dogs getting a free dog toy at the gate. Friday night's game will feature a free photo booth and postgame fireworks. Sunday is family Sunday with families of up to four eligible for $4 tickets. The first 200 fans will also receive a OU baseball mini-helmet ice cream sundae.

Last Time They Met

Right-hander Robert Tasin pitched Oklahoma past West Virginia in an elimination-game at the 2015 Big 12 Championship in Tulsa end the Mountaineers season with a 6-1 Sooner win. Tasin allowed one run on seven hits with five strikeouts in seven innings. Anthony Hermelyn went 3-for-4 at the dish, while Sheldon Neuse drove in four runs, including a bases-loaded double in the eighth. In the regular season, OU took two out of three from WVU in Morgantown last year. Right-hander Jake Elliott struck out eight in 7.1-scoreless inning with just two hits against him to win the opener. A two-run home run from Kolbey Carpenter stood up for a 2-0 Oklahoma win. A three-run seventh game West Virginia a come-from-behind win on Saturday before the Sooners pounded out a 10-2 win on Sunday. Tasin got the win in 7.2 innings of work as Neuse and Carpenter picked up three hits and Craig Aikin tallied four.

All-Time Meetings

Year	Result	Location
2015	Win, 6-1	Tulsa
	Win, 10-2	Morgantown
	Loss, 5-6	Morgantown
	Win, 2-0	Morgantown
2014	Loss, 5-9	Norman
	Win, 5-3	Norman
	Loss, 0-7	Norman
2013	Loss, 6-9	Charleston, W.Va.
	Loss, 3-9	Charleston, W.Va.
	Win, 4-3	Charleston, W.Va.
2012	Win, 5-2	Eugene, Ore.

All-Time vs. WVU

Since West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2013, the series is even between the two sides, 5-5, with the Mountaineers holding a 5-4 edge in regular season match-ups. All-time, Oklahoma holds a narrow 6-5 advantage; having won the first ever meeting on March 10, 2012 in Eugene, Ore. at the NIKE Showcase. No. 16 OU beat WVU, 6-2, behind a complete-game from Dillon Overton.

Milestone Tracker

Senior left fielder Hunter Haley enters the weekend with 98 runs scored and 99 runs driven in over the course of his Sooner career. He looks to become the first OU player to reach 100 runs and 100 RBI in a career since his one-time teammate Max White (2010-13). Beginning with Jackson Williams (2005-07), seven Sooners reached the milestone over the next seven years. Haley would become the first to join the group having done so entirely in the BBCOR era. All-time, 39 players have reached the 100-run, 100-RBI mark as a Sooner. The first to do so was Keith Drumright (1974-76) with 147 runs and 114 RBI.

Young Arms

Sooner freshmen pitchers have combined for 12 of the team's 18 wins, which is the second highest total among Big 12 staffs. Collectively, OU freshmen have posted a 3.78 ERA, 7.37 K/9 average and 1.88 K-to-BB ratio. Chris Andritsos and Austin Hansen have each won four games, while Jake Irvin has struck out a class-leading 35.

Double Down on Steele

Freshman center fielder Steele Walker has been in the OU lineup for 36 of 38 games this season and is tied for second on the team with 10 doubles. His 10 doubles are tied for ninth most by a freshman on record (1993-present) with Kolbey Carpenter (2013). In 2014, Sheldon Neuse doubled 17 times, which ranks second by a Sooner freshman. Matt Bose (2002) owns the record at 18.